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Donald Trump To Forego Fox News' GOP Debate On Thursday Night; Bernie Sanders Gaining Momemtum In Iowa, According To New Poll; U.S. Officials Confirm Case Of Zika Virus In Minnesota; Oregon Wildlife Refugee Standoff Turns Deadly. Aired 12-1a

Aired January 28, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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


[00:00:10] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN Newsroom live from Los Angeles; ahead this hour:

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Doubling down and refusing to show. Donald Trump will not reconsider taking part in the Fox News republican debate.

VAUSE: No cure, no treatment, mosquito born disease is spreading quickly across the Americas. We'll tell you what you need to know about the Zika virus.

SESAY: And, go home. Protest leader Aamon Bundy askes his followers still occupying a wildlife refuge in Oregon to leave.

VAUSE: Hello everybody; great to have you with us. We'd like to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm John Vause.

SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay; Newsroom L.A. starts right now.

VAUSE: We begin with the escalating war between U.S. Presidential Candidate Donald Trump and Fox News. The Republican frontrunner plans to hold a fundraising event for military veterans instead of taking part in the Thursday's debate.

SESAY: Meanwhile, Trump went on Twitter Wednesday to continue his battering of Fox News anchor, Megyn Kelly and her network saying, "I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo because that would not be politically correct. Instead, I will only call her a lightweight reporter. it was the childishly written and taunting PR statement by Fox that made me not do the debate, more so than the lightweight reporter Megyn Kelly."

VAUSE: Still, Mr. Trump did an interview with Kelly's colleague, Bill O'Reilly; and this was his 133 appearance on the Fox News Channel, and Mr. O'Reilly told Trump that skipping the debate is not good for America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL O'REILLY, TALK SHOW HOST, "THE O'REILLY FACTOR": When the American public elects a president, they elect two tracks: they elect policy and a person. Would you say that right now Donald Trump, all right, is a person who can let petty things, and that's what I think this is all about, petty things influence him to the extent that he doesn't do what maybe he should do?

DONALD TRUMP (R-NY) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, let me put it a little differently. I don't like being taken advantage of. In this case I was being taken advantage of by Fox; I don't like that. Now, when I'm representing the country, if I win, -- if I'm representing the country, as president, I won't let our country, because that's a personality trait -

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Now two of Trump's republican rivals, Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush, saying not showing up to the debate just days before the Iowa caucuses will cost him support.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Other candidates has chosen not to attend.

[Applause]

CRUZ: Apparently Mr. Trump considers Megyn Kelly very, very scary, and you know, Donald is a fragile soul and she might ask a mean question and who knows what could happen. I mean, his hair could stand on end.

[Laughter and Applause]

CRUZ: You know, I've got to say, it is an amazing statement for a presidential candidate to say I'm not willing to show up for the debate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, earlier this week Cruz challenged Trump to a one on one debate. On Wednesday, Trump's campaign manager told "Good Morning America" it could happen if it becomes a two-man race. Meanwhile, Bush suggests Trump is acting like a child.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JEB BUSH (R-FL) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's a little weird. I don't see the benefit of him not debating. he seems to be worried about unfair questions, when, in fact, he just dominates the press. it's a strange thing for him to suggest. If that's hard, I mean, he's in the same position as Barack Obama, he doesn't do interviews with Fox. that just seems kind of weird; and the fact that he thinks he's being treated unfairly, when he's going to be president of the United States? Life is unfair. You have to make tough decisions. You have to challenge things. You have to deal with foreign leaders that don't agree with you. You can't take your toys and go home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: You can't take your toys and go home. Well I want to bring in Political Commentator and Trump Supporter Andy Dean. Andy, so good to have you with us.

ANDY DEAN, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you.

SESAY: Let me ask you this: this decision by Mr. Trump to boycott Thursday's debate, is this a shrewd political move or major miscalculation in your view?

DEAN: Well I think it's a smart move, and, by the way, I always feel bad for Jeb Bush whenever I see him being interviewed. He just -- he doesn't seem like he's having any fun and he definitely feels like he's come down with a cold.

SESAY: You do sound like your -

DEAN: I am. So, for tomorrow night's debate, I worry about Jeb Bush. We really hope he gets his energy level up. But, as far as Trump --

VAUSE: (Inaudible) the question.

[00:05:020 DEAN: Yes, stick to the question. I think it's a political master stroke and history will prove this because Ronald Reagan, in 1980, of course was running in his primary battle and he skipped the Iowa debate.

VAUSE: And lost the caucus.

DEAN: Well he did lose but the next week, because I was going to talk about what happened the following week because it's an allegory about control. So he had control. Ronald Reagan presented the perception of control. So he skipped Iowa, but then when he got to New Hampshire he (no audio) the terms of the debate. He paid for the debate, actually, and when he went up against the Nashua paper, and there's the famous moment, I paid for this microphone, and because of that moment, the arc of the race changed;

But my point of why he skipped Iowa and then took control over New Hampshire is Reagan was always in control because the Republicans were looking to elect the anti-Carter. Carter was out of control: the economy was terrible; oil was spiking; Iran Hostage crisis, right. So we're looking for the anti-Obama. So when Trump presents this type of control, we like this.

SESAY: It's not really about Fox at all; this is just theatre. Because it's just what you say; it's about control.

DEAN: All politics is part theater, right?

SESAY: Yes.

DEAN: I mean, historically, that's been true since George Washington, but I think it was the Fox News announcement, the PR statement that really -- they tried to do it in an insulting and comedic fashion and what I like about CNN, and I've got to say this, you behave like a professional news organization. You're not part of the story, you report the news.

VAUSE: Write that down.

DEAN: Fox News thinks they are the news. Please feel free. You can turn this into a promo - but Fox News thinks they are the story. That's not the place of a news organization to taunt a candidate. That's just not appropriate.

VAUSE: Okay, turn to the politics, I'm going to put it to you. I don't think anyone knows how this is going to turn out. If Trump wins by a landslide in Iowa, he's a genius.

DEAN: Right.

VAUSE: If he loses Iowa in a landslide, then this is the moment everyone is going to say that is what happened; right?

DEAN: I think that's brilliant; right? We look back, hindsight is 20/20. I agree, you know, if Trump wins, I'll be on here a week from now saying that it was a brilliant master stroke.

VAUSE: Absolutely.

DEAN: And if he loses, we'll talk about why he's going to win New Hampshire.

VAUSE: Can I put to you - and I mean, this is going to sound like Megyn Kelly's question, but does Trump have a problem with women? He called Hillary Clinton's bathroom break disgusting; Bette Midler extremely unattractive; Arianna Huffington unattractive, both ugly inside and out; the comment about Carly Fiorina's face; Rosie O'Donnell is a fat pig. You know, he's called out female reporters, Sara (Inaudible) from CNN, Katie (Inaudible) from MSNBC. You know, there is a long list.

He's very good at seeing off the guys, you know, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul and Ben Carson, one by one by one. He's been very tough, but when it comes to the women, there seems to be an argument there that there seems to be

an issue.

DEAN: Well, with all respect, John, I think you answered your own question in the sense that yes, he goes after women but also he equally goes after men. I mean, Jeb Bush was labelled low energy. If that was towards a woman is it sexist? No. Donald Trump is an equal opportunity offender. I think he's actually just talking the truth. I don't think he has a problem with women. I mean, I worked at the Trump Organization for seven years and there were many, many women in leadership positions; and the idea that you could run a multibillion dollar company saying oh, well, I don't like women; I don't trust women I think isn't accurate. One final thing, before your question -

SESAY: Sure. DEAN: -- is that Donald Trump is going to be running most likely against Hillary Clinton. We're going to have to bring up the fact that Hillary Clinton - we're not going to talk so much about Bill Clinton and yes, this guy has some serious issues with women, but it's more about Hillary Clinton and how she helped Bill destroy these women that were coming forward trying to tell the truth. So if Hillary Clinton is going to be, all of a sudden, this champion of women's rights, why did she help destroy these women that were trying to tell the truth about Bill?

SESAY: You know, if that indeed becomes a sustained line of attack with Hillary Clinton, we'll deal with it then, but let's come back to Donald Trump and this issue about him being equal opportunity offender, if you will. You cannot, or maybe you can deny it, the fact that he has gone after Megyn Kelly in a sustained systematic -- I mean, we heard the comments made by Trump's campaign manager just yesterday saying, you know, she's had a couple of tough days, post the August debate, that could happen again. There was something particularly acute about the way he's gone after Megyn Kelly. Why is that? I know you say he doesn't have a problem with women but he seems to have a problem with Megyn Kelly, a woman who asked him what many people consider to be a fair question.

DEAN: Look, I think he has a problem with her the journalist, I don't think he has a problem with Megyn Kelly because she's a woman. I don't think that that's accurate at all. Donald Trump goes on Greta Van Susteren show and all the women on CNN, -- Erin Burnett, he's on her show all the time on CNN. So, the idea he has issues with anybody because of their gender or race is absolutely not accurate.

Now Megyn Kelly, I will say this, I mean, if we look that facts, the August 6th debate, which was the first in Cleveland, the opening question was Megyn Kelly just lambasting, just going after Trump.

SESAY: Was she lambasting him? Did you really think so?

DEAN: I think she was.

SESAY: I mean, seriously -

VAUSE: I'm with you. I think that was a real -- I think it was a tough question but -

DEAN: But think about this: it was a brutally tough question, the first question of the debate to say, what's your problem with women. If Trump hadn't thought of the Rosie O'Donnell thing, to deflect it with humor, that [00:10:03] could have doomed his candidacy. I would ask, where was Megyn Kelly when Marco Rubio was being asked these difficult questions? I hate to be the one to bring this to the front, but the individual at Fox News, the executive who runs these debates, his daughter, and I won't name names, but she's the head of communications for Marco Rubio. So there are things like this, we just want them to be disclosed and I think Trump is doing that.

VAUSE: You know, one thing which is interesting about this whole Fox News thing and Donald Trump. I was listening to Rush Limbaugh today and, you know, the Mack Daddy of all conservative radio talk show hosts, he said that Fox News is no longer considered to be as conservative as it once was, it's no longer considered to be, you know, essentially a conservative media outlet by many conservatives, like the many republicans in the country. Is that true, do --

DEAN: I think that's accurate. I think conservatives are more leaning towards talk radio to hear more of the truth. I think that Fox News, five or ten years ago, -- well, they started in 1996; they were an upstart. So there's a sympathy for the underdog and battling the mainstream media. So Fox News was the upstart against that, but now we're 20 years in and the way that Fox News has been behaving isn't an underdog upstart. They're acting like the 800-pound gorilla that can treat anybody the way they want to; and I don't think that conservatives like that. They don't like being pushed around. They don't - being a conservative, myself being one, it is in a way, an anti-establishment. It's small government, limited government, trust in the people; and Fox News, I believe, is losing sight of that.

SESAY: And as you talk about the people, let me close with asking you about -

DEAN: Sure.

SESAY: -- the people of Iowa.

DEAN: Sure.

SESAY: How would they not feel or why should they not feel disrespected by the fact that Donald Trump has refused to take part in the final debate before the Iowa caucuses?

DEAN: Great question; I will say this: there have been six of these debates before and the people of Iowa are going to get a choice when they vote, but they're also going to get a choice tomorrow night, at 9:00 p.m. They can tune in to a debate, without Donald Trump, and they can watch it and decide or they can tune into CNN where they're going to get see Donald Trump get to talk about his issues and, more importantly, celebrate our veterans; the people will decide. So we will see what happens.

VAUSE: Thanks for coming in.

DEAN: My pleasure, it's an honor. Thank you.

SESAY: Please come back.

DEAN: Anytime. Thank you.

VAUSE: Well, a little advice from one billionaire to another; media mogul Rupert Murdock says former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg should run for president. In a tweet on Wednesday Murdock said, "This is Bloomberg's last chance. You never know until your hat is in the ring; events change everything, especially during elections."

SESAY: Well Murdock also says he thinks a Bloomberg run hurts Hillary Clinton more than Donald Trump. Bloomberg is considering an Independent bid for the White House.

Well on the democratic said Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders seems to be gaining momentum in Iowa just days before the state's caucuses. He has a slim lead over Hillary Clinton in the latest Quinnipiac University poll. Sanders has 49-percent to Clinton's 45-percent. That is within the poll margin of error.

VAUSE: Sanders though is still trailing in an ABC News/Washington Post national poll, 55 to 36; but Clinton's lead is shrinking. Last month she was up by 31 points.

SESAY: Well Sanders says he's not seeking the current President's indorsement. The pair had an informal meeting in the White House on Wednesday. Sanders called it productive and constructive. He says it will be tough to match Barack Obama's momentum in Iowa from 2008.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT) DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think what the Iowa campaign ends up being about is one word and that is "turnout." We're feeling really good about where we are and if there is a large voter turnout, I'm not saying we could do what Barack Obama did in 2008. I wish we could, but I don't think we can; but if there's a large turnout, I think we win. If not, I think we're going to be struggling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And Sanders campaign says he will not take part in a newly proposed debate just days before the New Hampshire primary. The contest is not sanctioned by the Democratic National Party.

Well the leader of a group of armed protesters occupying a wildlife refuge in Oregon has an important new message for his followers; his dramatic change of plans coming up next.

SESAY: Movement has been detected at a secretive site in North Korea. What officials think it might mean, coming up; do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Welcome back everyone; a virus linked to terrible birth defects is spreading. U.S. officials are confirming a new case of the Zika virus in Minnesota.

VAUSE: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the woman began showing symptoms after traveling to Honduras. Other states are reporting cases of Zika, but the patients did not pick up the virus in the U.S., instead all had recently travelled to countries dealing with an outbreak of the virus. The virus is active in at least 24 countries. In the U.S. health officials are warning pregnant women from traveling to those areas. Currently there is no vaccine to prevent the disease, or medicine to treat the Zika infection. CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So, this is the blood sucker everyone is after: the female Aedes Aegypti mosquito. She's the main carrier of several dangerous viruses that have spread around the world, including yellow fever, Dengue, chikungunya and now Zika.

Zika is actively spreading in many top vacation spots, such as the Caribbean, Mexico and Brazil, which is also the sight of this summer's Olympic games. Unlike other mosquito-borne diseases, Zika has become of particular concern to pregnant women because Brazil is the epicenter of a Zika epidemic

linked to babies born with microcephaly. It's a devastating neurologic condition where the baby's head and brain don't develop. Brazilian health officials say nearly 4200 babies have been born with this condition since October, that's compared to 146 in all of 2014; 51 of those babies have died. Women living in Brazil, El Salvador, Colombia and Jamaica are now being told not to get pregnant at this time.

And in the United States, the CDC is also sounding the alarm.

DR. BETH BELL, NATIONAL CENTER FOR EMERGING & ZOONOTIC INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Pregnant women should consider deferring travel to areas where Zika virus is currently circulating.

[00:20:02] GUPTA: Also, if you've traveled to these destinations while pregnant, get tested because 80% of those infected have no symptoms. Babies should also be screened after birth.

BELL: It's important for them to go in because we really don't know right now whether having symptoms or not having symptoms with Zika virus infection has any impact on the possibility that there will be a birth defect in the child.

GUPTA: One baby was born with microcephaly in Hawaii. His mom had traveled to Brazil during her pregnancy. Other states also reporting confirmed cases of Zika but officials stress they did not get the virus here. Instead, all had recently travelled to countries where Zika is circulating; but if or when Zika is locally transmitted, for those who are not expecting, the virus is usually mild and not a danger to future births.

BELL: They will resolve the infection and they will have immunity. Should they plan to get pregnant, years in the future, in a few years or whatever, there's really is no cause for concern.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well Dr. Robert Kim-Farley joins us now for his take on the Zika virus. He's the Director of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention with Los Angeles County Public Health. Thank you so much for joining us.

DR. ROBERT KIM-FARLEY, DIRECTOR, COMMUNICABLE DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION LOS ANGELES COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH: As we look at the news coming out of the Americas, it seems as ifs there is a glut of cases of the Zika virus. Give us some context: how fast is this thing spreading in the Americas?

Well I think we have to realize where it came from. It was 1947 it was first discovered in Zika forest in Uganda, that's where it gets its name. It really was not moving much out of Africa and some bands of Asia until, basically 2007. It started moving across the Pacific Islands first, but the real big strike that it's had has now been in South America and Brazil. In May of 2015, just last year, they've had over a million cases. Some 3,500 children have been born with microcephaly, the small head.

VAUSE: What's driving it though? You said it, what, suddenly decided to migrate, and explode? Is it climate change? Is it because people are traveling more? What's going on here? What's driving this?

KIM-FARLEY: It's people traveling, because basically this will be a situation where you contract it because someone is infected. They're bitten by one of the Aedes species types of mosquitos.

VAUSE: But people (inaudible) were traveling before 2007.

KIM-FARLEY: Correct.

VAUSE: So what happened in that year? Why was that year so crucial?

KIM-FARLEY: It's just basically someone got to (Inaudible) and now it's --

VAUSE: It's as simple as that?

KIM-FARLEY: -- worked its way across. Now you have a large number of people infected in Brazil.

KIM-FARLEY: Yes, 1.3 million I think.

SESAY: We've known about it for such a long time. Explain to us why it's so difficult to control this mosquito, this Aedes mosquito.

KIM-FARLEY: It's a very good point. This mosquito is particularly hearty, in the sense that it only takes a bottle cap full of water to be able to reproduce, it's eggs, and its eggs can survive drying for over a year.

SESAY: Wow.

KIM-FARLEY: So, it thwarts some of the vector control work that's being done. So that's a major effort we want to make sure your viewership understands. You know, known backyards, make sure they don't have standing water; make sure they don't have places where mosquitos can breed.

VAUSE: We're just hearing that two of your scientists are warning that this has the potential to be an explosive pandemic. What does that mean and do you agree? KIM-FARLEY: A pandemic basically means that it's gone around the world and I think that again -

VAUSE: I mean, "explosive pandemic" sounds quite scary, right?

KIM-FARLEY: Explosive pandemic sounds scary. Certainly Brazil is experiencing an explosive outbreak. I think that you have to realize, again, in the United States, for example, we have much stronger vector control programs that can suppress mosquito populations. I think we're going to have a very hard time actually trying to eradicate this Aedes, because of the tough nature of the insect; but that we're going, in public health, to be very much monitoring people, insuring that if someone has a rash illness or has symptoms of Zika, we're testing, making sure that those people would not be out where they could be bitten by mosquitos. So I think we'll see very aggressive work to make sure that we don't see active transmission in the United States.

SESAY: I can't let you go without asking you about the vaccine or efforts to come up with a vaccine. Where do things stand?

KIM-FARLEY: It's still in the experimental stages. Vaccine, and also medications, in terms of antiviral medications that can be effective against this, still have not been existing; but you have to realize for most people the disease is asymptomatic, no symptoms for 80- percent of the people, and for the 20-percent of the people who do it's a very mild illness. It's only that particular problem for someone who is pregnant, getting that in that pregnancy can end up with a stillborn baby or could end up with microcephaly, a small head -

VAUSE: A horrible birth defect.

KIM-FARLEY: Exactly.

SESAY: Horrible.

VAUSE: Dr. Bob, if I may call you that -

KIM-FARLEY: You may.

VAUSE: -- thank you very much for coming in.

SESAY: Thank you.

VAUSE: My pleasure.

SESAY: Thank you so much.

VAUSE: Well, protest leader Aamon Bundy has asked the remaining occupiers at [00:25:02] a wildlife refuge in U.S. state of Oregon to please go home. Bundy and seven other protesters were arrested Tuesday and face felony charges related to the occupation.

SESAY: His group has been protesting U.S. federal land policies, which they claim are illegal. CNN's Dan Simon has more. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, FBI PORTLAND DIVISION: Yesterday, the FBI, with our partners took the first steps to bring this occupation to a conclusion.

SIMON: Group leader, Aamon 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.

DAVID WARD, SHERIFF, HARNEY COUNTY, OREGON: It's time for everybody in this illegal occupation to move on. there doesn't have to be bloodshed.

SIMON: Bundy's father said his son called him from the back of a police cruiser moments after the shootout.

CLIVEN BUNDY, FATHER, AAMON BUNDY: My son Ryan had been shot in the arm. Lavoy Finicum, they cold-blooded killed him. He said he was out, had his hands in the air. Said he wasn't armed and wasn't any threat. They cold blooded 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 to make a stand against what they called "government overreach" when it comes to federal lands.

AAMON BUNDY, PROTESTER, HARNEY COUNTY, OREGON: 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, SPOKESMAN, PROTESTERS HARNEY COUNTY, OREGON: There for things more important than your life, and freedom is one of them.

SIMONS: The sheriff says he had 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: As things remain fragile here on particular note is that the federal complaint, which was unsealed today, mentions that authorities had reason to believe that the occupiers had explosives and night vision goggles. That is the first time we've heard that, but we should point out we don't know if officials were able to verify the presence of explosives.

John & Isha?

VAUSE: Dan Simons, thank you for that report. We'll take a short break here. When we come back, CNN Newsroom L.A., we're on the campaign trail to ask voters, why are you so loyal to Donald Trump?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:31:08] JOHN VAUSE: Coming after 9:30 on a Wednesday night here on the West Coast. Welcome back everybody; you're watching "CNN Newsroom," live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

ISHA SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay; the news headlines this hour. (HEADLINES)

All right; more now on our top story. Donald Trump isn't backing down from his Fox News debate boycott. He spoke with Fox News host Bill O'Reilly who tried, he tried to get him --

VAUSE: He begged.

SESAY: He did beg, he talked about milkshakes.

VAUSE: He pleaded.

SESAY: He tried to get him to reconsider.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL O'REILLY, TV HOST, FOX NEWS CHANNEL: You went to church last week. You don't usually go; and you went to church in Iowa.

DONALD TRUMP (R-NY) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do go; I go a lot. What do you mean I usually go? Not every Sunday, but I go a lot.

[Cross Talk]

O'REILLY: Okay, so in your Christian faith, there is a very significant tenent and that's the tenent of forgiveness and I think you should forgive not only journalists who come at you in ways you don't like, but I think you should be the bigger man and say, you know what, I don't like it -- and you should make that case all day long -- but I'm not going to take any action against it. Don't you think that's the right thing to do?

TRUMP: It probably is but, you know, it's called an eye for an eye, I guess, also, you can look at it that way.

O'REILLY: No, no, no.

TRUMP: That's Old Testament.

O'REILLY: No, no, no, no.

TRUMP: Bill, you are taking it -

O'REILY: You're the Christian, the eye for the eye rule goes out. Here's what it is, turning the other cheek.

TRUMP: Bill, let me tell you, you're taking this more seriously than I am. I'm not taking it serious.

O'REILLY: Who is?

TRUMP: I'm not taking it seriously. I'm going to have a wonderful time tomorrow night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well Trump plans a special to raise money for Veterans while his rivals take part in the debate. The Republican Frontrunner is facing some criticism from Rand Paul. He skipped the Fox Business Channel's undercard debate last time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAND PAUL, (R-KY) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think Donald Trump's main addition that he's brought to the debate this year has been silliness, bombast and empty rhetoric and calling people names. So I don't think he's added much of substance the whole year. I don't think he'll be missed. In fact, I don't think Donald Trump is a conservative. I think he's a fake and a charlatan and really what he presents is not conservative at all.

He says give me power. He wants power but I don't think he understands that most of us who are conservatives want to limit how much power is in Washington and we want a smaller government. From what I hear from Donald, he wants the reins of power; he doesn't necessarily want to lessen the amount of power in Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: The Donald's rivals are lining up to take swipes.

VAUSE: Yes, and it's not going to work. It hasn't worked so far.

SESAY: Including Marco Rubio. He's also criticizing Trumps decision to boycott Thursday's debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know all the [00:35:02] presses here, 90-percent of their coverage is on this whole thing, oh, Donald Trump is not going to show up. Ted Cruz is challenging him to a one-on-one 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: Now, in the eyes of trump's staunchest supporters, it seems he can do no wrong. They show up in droves at his campaign events, pledging their allegiance.

SESAY: Why do so many see trump as the best choice for president? Political correspondent Sarah Murray is on the campaign trail with some answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARL HANDSCHUG, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I actually voted for Barack Obama four years ago; biggest mistake of my entire life. Now it's either Donald Trump or nobody.

SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In an extraordinary election year, Donald Trump is drawing them by the thousands.

TRUMP: I want to show the tremendous crowds we get. It's not really a silent majority. It's a noisy as hell majority.

MURRAY: Frustrated voters, mostly white, unhappy with the leads from both parties and the media; and fearful of immigrants taking their place. Above all, their longing for an America that used to be.

TRUMP: We're going to make America great again. I love you.

MURRAY: Their distrust of President Obama runs deep. Some question whether he's a Christian, others whether he was born in the U.S.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just think he is pro black. I hate to say he's a racist but I really believe he is.

MURRAY: Some sense racial tension in America but believe it's white Americans facing discrimination.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: White Americans (inaudible) this country, but we are being pushed aside because of the present administration and the media, the liberal media.

MURRAY: They feel left out of the economic recovery and worry about immigrants taking their jobs and getting ahead at American's expense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do have an immigration problem in the country. It lowers the wages across the board, when you have people who come here and work under the table.

MURRAY: And in the wake of terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, they're nervous.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 999 of them could be good people; it only takes one terrorist to blow this whole place up.

MURRAY: Trump's explosive rhetoric speaks to those anxieties, labelling undocumented immigrants as dangerous criminals.

TRUMP: They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists; and some, I assume, are good people.

MURRAY: Even suggesting America ban Muslims.

TRUMP: We're just calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.

MURRAY: He's taken what was once seen as impolite conversation and made it socially acceptable to some; but his crowds are also raucous and

sometimes violent. Trump's words have garnered a following but there are millions who don't agree with him. They have their own fears.

ALI ALI, MUSLIM-AMERICAN: Being Muslim today is not easy. They're doing to Muslim today what they have done to Jewish in 1938.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And Sara Murray there reporting. Moving on now. Peace talks to end the brutal Syrian war to begin on Friday in Geneva but it's not clear who will be that negotiating table.

SESAY: That's right, the French Foreign Minister says the Syrian Kurdish group known as the YPG was not invited. Our own Clarissa Ward gained exclusive access to the Kurdish stronghold of Hasakah and has more on how the Kurds are reacting to potentially being excluded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are scenes of utter devastation like this across northern Syria where the Syrian Democratic Forces made up largely of Kurdish fighters have been battling against ISIS. Thousands have been killed in the process but a lot of territory has been taken back, and it's precisely because of the blood that has been spilled and the ground that has been retaken from ISIS that the Kurds feel so angry that they don't have a seat at the negotiating table in Geneva. They see these talks as prioritizing regional interests over the future of Syria.

They say that only the regime of Bashar al-Assad and Sunni opposition groups that are fighting Assad are really represented at the talks and that minorities, like the Kurds and Christians, have essentially been ignored. One commander told us that he feels particularly disappointed with the U.S., a key ally of the Kurds in the battle against ISIS, for not trying to support Kurds in this political process and he warned that the absence of the Kurds at the negotiating table in Geneva could threaten the entire military effort with the coalition to defeat ISIS.

Clarissa Ward, CNN, Hasakah, Syria.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:40:05] SESAY: Well, turning now to Europe's refugee and migrant crisis. The European Union is criticizing how Greece has handled the situation and it is warning the country could face more border controls. Some EU states are suggesting Greece could be kicked out of the Schengen European Passport Free Travel Zone.

VAUSE: The Greek government says it's done its best to deal with the influx of migrants and putting the blame on individual EU states is not productive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIS DOMBROVSKIS, VICE PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: The report concludes that Greece seriously neglected its obligations and there are serious deficiencies in the cutting out of external border controls that must be overcome and dealt with by the Greek authorities. Since November, since (inaudible), Greece has started to work towards complying with the Schengen rules but more needs to be done to insure proper management of external borders, this includes proper reception, registration, relocation or return of migrants in order to bring Schengen's functioning back to normal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, time for a quick break now. New satellite imagery of North Korea is raising concerns about a rocket launch. Details and a live report coming up.

VAUSE: Also, Facebook impresses Wall Street with its latest earnings report; also, one of the biggest changes to the way you use the social network are ahead. We'll tell you what that will be.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Welcome back everyone. Recent satellite imagery of a secret site in North Korea is renewing concerns about a possible rocket test.

VAUSE: The images show movement of personnel, rocket related equipment and fuel into the satellite launching station.

Paula Hancocks joining us now from Seoul with the very latest information on this. So, Paula, is there a timeframe here on when this launch might in fact happened?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, via satellite: Well, John, it's not clear [00:45:01] at this point. This is obviously what intelligence agencies around the world are trying to figure out at this point. What we know from U.S. officials is that they have seen this movement at the site, the Sohae Station Launching Station, which is where we've seen launches in the past. We can look at a previous precedence to see what kind of timeframe we had. Back in December 2012 is the last time they carried out a successful

launch. They said it was a satellite launch to launch a satellite into space and that launch they actually warned about a couple of weeks before. It was announced a couple of weeks before it happened and two weeks before that, we had some indications as well from other satellite imagery; other groups like 38

North, for example said they thought something was going on.

So potentially, looking at precedence, we could be looking at weeks here but it's difficult to know for sure because this launching pad, the station itself, much of what goes on, goes on underground. It's incredibly secretive. The parts are manufactured and assembled together underground, undercover and it's usually only at the last minute that we find out about it. But of course, they have warned about these launches in the past and bear in mind, they have to - or under international law they have to give a no-navigation alert so that boats and airplanes in the area know what is going to happen.

VAUSE: North Koreans obviously very much mindful of adhering to international law I guess in this instance. Paula, though, there is -- this is not entirely unexpected. There is a predictable pattern here by the North Koreans: rocket launch, nuclear test; nuclear test, rocket launch.

HANCOCKS: Well that's right, yes. Back in 2012, which I was referring to, they did nuclear test, a matter of weeks after that rocket launch. Now this time around, they've done the nuclear test back on January the 6th. Some experts, many experts don't rule out the possibility that this launch will follow that.

Remember, it's a big year for North Korea. They have in May this very special congress. It hasn't happened since 1980. It's a deal for Pyongyang and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Un, to show his strength in the country, the fact he is in power. He rules the country with an iron grip and it's good for him to go and say I had this successful nuclear test. Potentially he wants to be able to go and say he's had a successful rocket launch as well.

VAUSE: Yes, we'll see if the conference does in fact go ahead. There is some speculation it may not, but, of course, it's still on the agenda. Paula, thank you. Paula Hancocks, live this hour in Seoul.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Well, coming up on CNN Newsroom L.A., Facebook shares soared on Wednesday. Sorry about that. We'll have an expert weighing in on what's helping the company's bottom line.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:51:44] (MARKET HEADLINES)

SESAY: They were very impressed with Facebook and their report on Wednesday is social media network reported $7.9 billion in 2015, a 44% increase year on year.

VAUSE: I thought Facebook was dead. Shares went up more than 8- percent in afterhours trading. Facebook credits better features that allow it to learn more about each user, making advertising a lot stronger.

Fitz Tepper is a write at TechCrunch he joins us, again. Hey, good to have you back.

FITZ TEPPER, WRITER, TECHCRUNCH: How are you; two nights in a row.

VAUSE: Thank you for being here. TEPPER: It's good to see you guys.

VAUSE: Stunning revenue for Facebook all about mobile and video, right?

TEPPER: So, Facebook killed it. You know they shattered expectations. They made about 5.8 billion, up 5 - up last quarter 55- percent from the quarter before, and 80-percent of Facebook revenue comes from mobile now. How crazy is that?

VAUSE: For a product that doesn't cost you anything.

SESAY: Yes.

TEPPER: Free.

SESAY: And what's putting this great performance in context of other technology shares, the likes of LinkedIn and Twitter, which aren't doing well.

TEPPER: No, no; and you know, Facebook had that hard transition, when everyone used it on the computer and they had to go to mobile and people said Facebook can't go to mobile. Now Facebook, it kind of saturated in the U.S. They said you can't make more money from users. They're now making more money from users. They're really killing it on all ends of the spectrum.

VAUSE: We're also looking ahead to the most dramatic change Facebook has seen in years, --

SESAY: You're so excited about this.

BVAUSE: -- reactions.

TEPPER: So, they're getting emojis.

VAUSE: Emoji's, yes. I think we've got the emojis. Let's put them up. We've got ha-ha, love, wow, sad and angry. This is all changing the thumbs up. Because I always thought that was awkward with the thumbs up, the like. Grandma died, I'm really sad, like. Just lost my job, and you like it because -- so this takes away from that problem.

TEPPER: Yes; I'm just wondering -

SESAY: I'm not on Facebook so this level of interest is beyond me.

VAUSE: Is this like messing with the recipe for coca cola?

TEPPER: A little bit. So they've been testing it. They tested it for over six months, a long time. They're not going to do this if they don't know what they're doing. So, there are six new reactions and the benefit is people are going to use them a lot more. Like you said, you can't like a grandma dying but you can give a sad face, which means so much more interaction on Facebook, and so much more data for Facebook to get from us that they can use for ads. VAUSE: Why didn't they do two thumbs down, the dislike?

TEPPER: I think that's too negative, and that's something Mark Zuckerberg said from the beginning would not happen. Sad is a little cute face, crying. It's a little more mellow than the thumbs down.

SESAY: Wow looks like the face I pull when I have had too much chocolate cake.

VAUSE: That's every face.

SESAY: Seriously, let's talk about the fact that Facebook has managed to expand its user base, something I was surprised by when you hear all the anecdotal stuff coming out of the U.S. that young people are coming off, or jumping off Facebook. Where are they expanding?

TEPPER: So, they are not $1.59 billion users on Facebook; insane. Now they are kind of getting saturated in the U.S. because everyone has Facebook, except for you, in the U.S., but they're growing internationally; the only place they can. The way to do that, they found out, is to give people free internet, because a lot of people in developing countries don't have internet but you give them internet and they are on Facebook and Facebook can make money from them.

Here's a stat -- at TechCrunch we really like to look at the stats. So, last quarter Facebook made $13 per American user and about $1.50 for users in third-world countries, which shows there is so much growth there. They're going to start turning on the revenue stream for the third-world countries and soon they'll be making $12, you know, a quarter from each user in those countries.

VAUSE: So this is, unlike Apple, which is still transitioning to a more stable growth pattern, Facebook -

TEPPER: Facebook's a rocket ship.

VAUSE: -- is looking good.

SESAY: Smiley faces all around.

TEPPER: Lots of happy emoji.

SESAY: Lots of happy emojis.

VAUSE: Fitz Tepper, thanks for coming in.

SESAY: Thanks so much.

TEPPER: Thanks for having me.

SESAY: And thank you for watching "CNN Newsroom," live from Los Angeles; I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause. We'll be back with another hour of news right after a short break. You're watching CNN.