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Manhunt Underway for Tunisian Museum Attackers; Looking Forward to 2016 U.S. Elections. CNN Anchor Climbs Mount Kilimanjaro. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired March 18, 2015 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

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BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Just past the bottom of the hour. You're watching CNN. We got some breaking news here. Back to this manhunt for three suspected killers, that's under way right now in the North African nation of Tunisia. Authorities say these men dressed in military gear rushed the Bardo National Museum in the capital city of Tunisia in Tunis. They shot and killed 19 people and took dozens more hostage.

I can tell you that of those 19, 17 of the victims were tourists. None American. In addition to that number, 22 others were wounded. Police managed to kill two of the gunmen. They have freed the hostages since but three terrorists are still on the run.

Now a map. A visual. This always helps me figure out what we're talking. You see this National Bardo Museum, right? That museum is steps away from the National Parliament Building.

Today the prime minister of Tunisia said the attackers were targeting the capital's economy by going after the tourists.

[15:35:03] So let's go to London, to our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour.

And, Christiane, before we get to the actual shooting, I think just perspective for our American viewers. When I think of Tunisia, the birth of Arab spring and hope, and just months ago, you know, successful democratic elections and I'm left wondering what has happened.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, here's the thing. It was and is the hope of the Arab spring and it's the success story of the Arab spring. The very fact that thousands of tourists are going there unlike any other parts of North Africa right now is pretty dramatic, so what actually happened?

Well, they are saying, and I spoke to a senior member of parliament today and the Charge d' affaires at the Washington embassy for Tunisia. And then basically saying look, these people all right marginalized, they tried to attack, all the success we've had -- we've had these democratic elections, we've had a peaceful transition of power. None of these sort of terrorists or failed states that we see in Libya or the authoritarianism of next-door Egypt.

This really has been a success story so they say very strongly that we will continue to fight this. They use words like we will not surrender. They point to all these Tunisians who came out today, and really from anger, came out in solidarity to stand firm, but there are issues -- Libya, that failing state next door, is a very dangerous influence. They believe, according to the official from the Washington embassy, that these people may have been part of a group called -- I think it's Ansar Sharia who has a branch in Libya, but they are waiting for full confirmation of who the terrorists were.

BALDWIN: We talk so much about how it appears they've targeted these tourists, which thus would be targeting, you know, the economy there, the successful tourism, as you point out and the government. But I think it's also important to point out that they had initially, according to reports, had gone to this parliament building before turning away and going to the museum and at the time I understand, Christiane, that legislators at parliament, they were discussing an anti-terror law.

Is that correct?

AMANPOUR: Well, listen, we asked the MP that. It appears that they were in the vicinity of parliament. They didn't go into parliament. They were shooting as tourists came off the bus, and the fact of the matter is, according to the parliamentarian that the parliament and the museum are practically, you know, side by side. So as they were shooting the parliamentarians, she told me, opened the parliament door and dragged in some of the tourists for safety.

And, yes, they were discussing these emergency measures and they are having more discussions in parliament right now.

BALDWIN: Incredibly frightening, the timing, the locations of the tourists, and three of them, three of these terrorists are still on the run.

Christiane Amanpour, thank you so much.

A millionaire real estate heir charged with first-degree murder is now on suicide watch. Sheriff's officials in New Orleans say Robert Durst has been moved to another facility in Louisiana that houses inmates with acute mental illnesses. His attorneys say they don't believe he suffers from mental health issues.

But police arrested Durst over the weekend. He's charged with killing a close friend. He was acquitted in a neighbor's murder, and his first wife -- the body of his first wife has been missing for decades.

At the end of this HBO documentary "The Jinx" Durst could be heard on his open mike, he's essentially saying, essentially sounds like a confession, saying, I killed them all.

Next there may be a whole lot of names on the list for the Republican presidential candidate come 2016, but it looks like a lot of voters have no clue who most of them are. We talk about our new CNN polls coming up next.

Plus, oh, boy, I am finally giving you this inside look into my climb, seven-day makeup free, shower-free, most difficult thing I've done in my life, my climb in Africa, Mt. Kilimanjaro. I can't wait to share this with you. Here's a preview.

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BALDWIN: It's like this mountain has this crazy force, and you learn as you go. You can see the summit. We're going very high. We're going 15,000 feet.

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BALDWIN: My entire journey just ahead.

[15:59:16]

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BALDWIN: We now can tell you that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has called and congratulated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his win and President Barack Obama is expected to do the very same in the coming days.

Netanyahu is expected to remain in power for a fourth term. Despite trailing in the polls and now being dogged by racism allegations. Critics says his 11th move reversing his support for a Palestinian state and his tirade against Arab citizens being bussed to the polls, swayed enough voters to push him to victory.

The Palestine Liberation Organization or PLO summed up the outcome this way, quote, "The result of the Israeli elections show the success of a campaign platform based on settlements, racism, apartheid and a denial of the fundamental human rights of the Palestinian people."

Now to another election, this one here at home. I'm talking, I know, we're just starting 2015, but we got to talk about 2016.

E-mail scandal or not, Hillary Clinton is still at moment the candidate to beat, according to this new CNN/ORC poll. Hillary Clinton holds a nearly 50-point lead over her closest Democratic competitor. You can see here on the screen. Second being Vice President Joe Biden. And even when it comes to the top Republican candidate she holds at least a 10-point advantage in a series of hypothetical general election matchups.

So our go-to guy here, CNN political director David Chalian joins me now live from Washington. And politics is so fun, as we are now March 2015.

[15:45:07] Let's begin, Mr. Chalian, with Hillary Clinton here, and she stacks pretty high, as we saw those numbers, you know, among both Democrats and Republicans. No one is within, as we mentioned, 10 points of her and we looked at when this was taken date-wise. This is, you know, after the whole e-mail, private e-mail scandal proving to have little effect, it looks like.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Right. I mean, we asked voters questions specifically about the e-mail scandal, and clearly there -- it had some little effect on her but not when it comes to the grand prize. Looking ahead to November 2016, I mean, this is a dream vision for any candidate at the starting gate of a presidential campaign, Brooke.

She -- Hillary Clinton is in a very formidable position, as you showed. I mean, between 10 and 16-point lead or 11 and 16-point lead against every top Republican. That is a really envious position to be in. It's a strong one.

BALDWIN: Let's talk about envy because on the flipside, on the Republican side, you have Jeb Bush leading that pack and I'm wondering, though, is there a danger, David, in leading the pack, being so far ahead so far out from Election Day.

Don't you want the other guys to be number one right now?

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CHALIAN: It is nice because you know what happens when you're number one, of course, you get the target on your back.

BALDWIN: Right.

CHALIAN: But take a look at those numbers there. Bush at 16 percent, Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, at 13 percent, Rand Paul, the senator from Kentucky, at 12 percent. They are bunched up. The story here, if you look at what you showed earlier with Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden is a story of two totally different quests for party nominations. She is way out in front. Nobody is really challenging her.

She could basically start a general election at the get-go. These guys on the Republican side have a real fight on their hands. I mean, their battle to the Republican nomination is going to be even tougher than your climb up of Kilimanjaro, I promise you. They are so bunched up there so I don't think there's a danger for Jeb Bush to be out in front because he's not out in front that much.

He's got a real battle on his hands, and I think at least being on top of the heap helps him with the fundraising, helps him get around the country and in all the right rooms with all the right people. They know he is the guy to watch on the Republican side, but he is still in the pack, Brooke. That's a challenge for him.

BALDWIN: Good one, David Chalian. I imagine climbing and politics is much more difficult than a little mountain I climbed in Africa. More on that in a minute.

Meantime, back to politics. So I'm thinking, too, when you look at some of these names, listen, America knows Bush. They know Clinton. But I know once upon a time there was a then senator Barack Obama and people who were saying who? I mean, does it matter if Americans don't know some of these names right now?

CHALIAN: Well, it does matter in this. I mean, those numbers are amazing, right? Scott Walker, 55 percent, no opinion or haven't heard of him. Marco Rubio, 40 percent, no opinion, haven't heard of him.

BALDWIN: Yikes.

CHALIAN: Those two guys are real serious contenders for the nomination. But here's what it is, Brooke. It's a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because that means there's tons of room for them to introduce themselves and frame their narrative. The curse side of it is of course there's tons of room for their opponents to define them and frame their narrative, and that is the challenge for these candidates who are not that well-known.

Now they are at the starting blocks. They're going to get out there and start defining themselves before their opponents define them.

BALDWIN: Blessing and a curse, Chris Christie, he has no problem with name recognition but he is polling, David Chalian, in the single digits. Why?

CHALIAN: Brooke, this is one of the most astonishing swings I've ever seen a politician take. Yes, he's at 7 percent at the horse race but, you know, that's OK. He hasn't really been fully out there yet in the mix and we're at the starting gate.

What is shocking is -- are his favorable and unfavorable numbers. We asked people, do you have a favorable impression of him or an unfavorable impression of him, and he has gone from -- he's at 44 percent unfavorable now, 25 percent favorable. That's a minus 19. Three years ago, two and a half years ago, Brooke, in August of 2012 when we asked his favorable-unfavorable, he was at a plus 16. He's taken a 35-point swing in the negative direction on favorables. That's trouble.

BALDWIN: David Chalian, thank you, my friend. We'll be talking about this a heck of a lot more in the coming year I know.

CHALIAN: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, speaking of climbing, we'll take you inside for the very first time here on CNN, inside my challenging, rewarding, life-changing, most difficult thing I've ever done in my life, (INAUDIBLE) climb to the top of Africa's tallest peak, Mt. Kilimanjaro. I tried to hang on to a camera as much as I possibly could, and it got a little emotional at times.

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BALDWIN: Climbed from about 6,000 feet to 10,000 and we just found our camp, and I am overwhelmed by this, of course.

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BALDWIN: We will show you what it was like to get to the top six and seven days later.

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BALDWIN: All right. Quickly before I take you to Africa and my recent two-week trip, let me just update you on what's been going on in Mesa, Arizona. Police are looking for a gunman they say shot six people, one of them fatally. Authorities say it was a shooting spree. It all began at a motel. Two women and a man were shot there, the male victim died.

The violence then continued in multiple locations, including a restaurant where one student was shot. He is expected to survive. At that same restaurant the suspect allegedly carjacked someone. He then is suspected of shooting two more people at an apartment building where he allegedly then committed a home invasion. The FBI is now assisting in the manhunt.

"THE LEAD" will have more in just a couple of minutes. But before I let you go today, I have been back in the United States for just about a week. My head is still a little bit in the Kilimanjaro clouds and so many of you have been with me on Twitter and on Facebook, and I cannot thank you enough because I want to share this with you here on CNN.

[15:55:02] This is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life but also the most rewarding, climbing this mountain this mountain. Mt. Kilimanjaro stands at a cool 19,341 feet above sea level in Tanzania. It is the tallest peak in Africa. It is the tallest free-standing mountain in the world.

Traveling to Africa, it's been a dream of mine for decades. And since it took me basically 35 years to get there, I couldn't just go to Africa. I had to climb a damn mountain and thanks to some Swahili singing and the stars and this amazing guide by the name of Dismass Mariki, seven days later, I made it. Take a look.

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BALDWIN: So we've begun. Let me throw some numbers at you. 24, the number of hours it took to get from New York to Tanzania. Six, the number of people hiking this crazy mountain with me. Plus one amazing guide. 41, the number of porters carrying all our stuff which makes us really (INAUDIBLE). One -- day one today.

So we just finished day one hiking six, six and a half hours. We climbed from about 6,000 feet to 10,000 and we just found our camp.

I am overwhelmed by the support, and the singing. There is something about the magic of Swahili music. There are 41 people who are helping us get up this mountain, and to have them welcome us into the camp like that, it took me 35 years to get here, I am so grateful.

Day two. Where is everyone. We made it. Day two. So we're now at 12,500? Go, team. Yes. It's like this mountain has this crazy force and you learn as you go.

So we're gearing up. It's crazy windy. You can see the summit. We're going very high. We are going 15,000 feet.

Wish us luck.

There's a saying in Swahili, slow, slow. It's no joke.

We arrived at have come up from 13,000 and 15,000 and you can't see because we're in the clouds but behind me, there she is, the beginning of the summit.

Today's the day. And it's going to be a blur. We're all a little nervous. None of us have done anything like this before. None of us probably will do anything like this again. Hopefully the next time I turn this camera on, you will see me at the top.

We made it. Eight plus hours. Walking in the dark. You can see this, top of Africa. Phenomenal. 19,341 feet. These guys helped us do this. Literally up the mountains. This is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. Not something I want to do again but I'll never forget this. And I'm grateful.

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