Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Stakes are High for Presidential Candidates as Iowa Caucuses Draw Closer; International Olympic Committee Advising on How to Lower Risk of Zika Virus; Five People are Dead After Avalanche in British Columbia. Aired 12-12:30a ET

Aired January 30, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN HOST: The polls say the race is close. Just a couple of days away from the Iowa caucuses, a day that could make or break the US candidates' campaign for president. But the idea of coming up short doesn't' phase Donald Trump, and the Republican frontrunner threw out a derogatory word to describe the competition.

Also, a warning from the International Olympic Committee ahead of the games in Rio de Janeiro. How it's handling the worrisome Zika virus. It's all ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. Plus shark versus shark video to show you. Thanks for joining us on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen.

We begin with the final push to the US presidential race before the key Iowa caucuses. Monday night's event could effectively kill campaigns in both parties. Iowa is the first state to cast its vote for presidential nominees. Donald Trump was in New Hampshire Friday but returns to Iowa Saturday for at least three rallies. His current main rival, Ted Cruz, will also be traveling around the state stumping for votes. The democratic candidates will also be busy Saturday. Hillary Clinton will be holding events ending in a rally with former president Bill Clinton and their daughter Chelsea. Bernie Sanders also has a series of rallies Saturday. Senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny has more on this weekend up to Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: A fight to the finish.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Please. Between now and Monday night, think hard, because the stakes are high.

BERNIE SANDERS, (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we win, it will indicate that this country is ready for real, significant change.

ZELENY: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in a battle for Iowa.

BILL CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You need to caucus for her.

ZELENY: It's a family affair. President Clinton and daughter Chelsea joining in for the final countdown.

CLINTON: Those of you still shopping, trying to make up your minds, I hope I can persuade you.

ZELENY: Persuading voters by saying her rival's universal healthcare plan is wishful thinking. People who have health emergencies can't wait for us to have some theoretical debate about some better idea that will never, ever come to pass.

ZELENY: She drove her point home with a personal story.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My daughter had brain cancer.

CLINTON: People can't wait.

ZELENY: The race is coming down to a test of campaign organization. It's a duel for the direction of the Democratic Party.

SANDERS: It's going to be a very, very close election.

ZELENY: Sanders is casting Clinton as a candidate of the status quo. He is drawing sharp contract in TV ads.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How does Wall Street get away with it? Millions in campaign contributions and speaking fees.

ZELENY: He says a political movement his campaign is building can help achieve his lofty agenda.

SANDERS: Everybody here knows that change real change never comes easily.

ZELENY: Diane Schaeffer is a Clinton supporter who never thought the race would be this close.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why is Bernie Sanders giving her such a run for her money?

DIANE SCHAEFFER, SUPPORTER OF HILLARY CLINTON: I don't know. I'm totally shocked. I really am. I really thought this would be a slam dunk. I really did.

ZELENY: She is part of a split household. Her son believes it's time to shake up the establishment with Sanders.

SCHAEFFER: He is like all about Bernie, so I don't know if it's the younger group that is coming out in force and just being like oh my gosh, you know, let's go for this radical change that Bernie keeps talking about.

ZELENY: Jeff Zeleny, CNN Des Moines.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

ALLEN: Meanwhile Hillary Clinton's emails are back in the spotlight. The US State Department says it will not release two emails from Clinton's time as Secretary of State because they contain top secret information. They were not top secret at the time. The Clinton campaign says this is a case of over classification run amok. CNN political commentator and democratic strategist Hillary Rosen agrees.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

HILLARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The emails that were circulating in question actually were being circulated by State Department officials on the unclassified system. So it really is sort of irrelevant whether or not Hillary Clinton was a recipient of those emails. The issue now is that the State Department is trying to change the classification for emails that had previously been on their unclassified system. So really right now what you have is sort of a dispute among intelligence officials that in some respects really has nothing to do with Hillary Clinton.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

ALLEN: Well Donald Trump is now attacking his republican opponent Ted Cruz by calling him an anchor baby. That derogatory terms has been used by Trump in the past to describe children born to parents who are in a country illegally whose citizenship by birth may help the parent remain. Cruz, however was born in Canada to an American mother living legally in Canada at the time of his birth.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ted Cruz may not be a US citizen, right? But he's an anchor baby. No, he's an anchor baby. Ted Cruz is an anchor baby in Canada. But Canada doesn't accept anchor babies. They just waited a long time.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

ALLEN: Cruz's camp responded with this statement: "The only anchor here is the one being dragged behind the SS New York Values, causing Donald Trump's campaign to stall out as voters learn about his affinity for Hillary Clinton and his previous statements supporting abortion." Joining me now is Margot Nyuyen (ph) with Reporters Without Borders, and she is in Washington, DC. Thank you Margo for talking with us.

MARGOT NYUYEN (ph), REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS: Thank you for having me.

ALLEN: And we're talking about the limits of the press in a country where freedom of the press is protected of course, it's a foundation of this country, but Donald Trump has taken a different course. He is the talk right now, boycotting the debate because basically he didn't like the female reporter's questions earlier. What do you make of that?

NYUYEN (ph): So it's pretty clear that it was an attempt to manipulate Fox News into removing Meghan Kelly from the moderators. He referred to her as dishonest with bias, a third rate reporter, and he took to Twitter last night saying the debate was going to be a disaster without him and the ratings were going to drop like a rock. Of course his feud with Meghan Kelly is not new. He has been bullying her on Twitter since the last debate, and he has re-tweeted tweets that have referred to her as a bimbo, when merely she was just asking the tough questions of a presidential candidate like any journalist would do during a debate. He has also targeted on Twitter Politico calling the journalists dishonest and clowns. So it's not just against Meghan Kelly.

ALLEN: Right. he even kicked a reporter out of a news conference before.

NYUYEN (ph): That's correct. We all heard of Gorge Ramos getting kicked out. that's the anchor for Univision and that was back last summer, and recently he blocked access to a New York Times journalist just this month to an event, and he has denied or restricted credentials for the Des Moines Register, the Huffington Post, and Buzzfeed, all throughout his primary campaign.

ALLEN: We have seen Donald Trump is certainly way out there when it comes to handling of the media as far as just not allowing them to do their jobs covering him. But Hillary Clinton to some extent, at the start of her campaign, wasn't taking questions from reports on the campaign trail.

NYUYEN (ph): That's correct. She sometimes had similar treatment as Trump of the media, especially where the foreign press was concerned. She banned access for a Daily Mail reporter to one of her trips to New Hampshire. She has been criticized by journalists for denying basic sourcing information, for basic information, and she has also just restricted access to her campaign in ways you would not expect because Donald Trump does it so brazenly in contract to Hillary Clinton's treatment of the press has been a little quieter. But it has been bad. The Huffington Post has even mentioned longstanding tensions between her and the press even though no recent events have occurred in the past six months.

ALLEN: What about overall, as far as the United States, when you think of the US, you think of freedom of the press. But I was reading that it may be true that our rankings have dropped in that.

NYUYEN (ph): Yes. Actually the United States has fallen 14 places since 2013 on Reporters Without Borders press freedom index. It now ranks 49 out of 180 countries. And it's really alarming for a country such as the United States that prides itself on the First Amendment to be falling so hard so fast. But it really can be explained by the recent administration's treatment of journalists, lack of transparency, going after journalists' sources, for example the Obama administration has prosecuted more whistleblowers than any previous administration combined. And when you add to that that journalists have been arrested while covering protests in Baltimore and Ferguson, it's easy to see why there is such decline.

ALLEN: And this is supposedly the era of transparency, but it's a difficult job, and you're up against institutions. We appreciate your time Margot Nyuyen, Reporters Without Borders. Thank you.

NYUYEN (ph): Thank you.

ALLEN: The Iowa caucuses are the first nominating contest of the US presidential race. A caucus is a neighborhood meeting open to any registered voter in the party. In the state of Iowa the two parties caucus differently. Republicans come together and try to persuade each other to vote for their favorite candidate, then they cast a ballot for their preference. But as Jonathan Mann explains, Iowa democrats caucus in a more traditional way.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

JONATHAN MANN: First, the caucus goers gather in a public space like a high school gymnasium. Each candidate has a representative who speaks on their behalf, trying to sway undecided voters and everyone else too. It looks like the speeches are done. Now the voters are headed for their respective candidates' corners.

George Washington has the most support with seven of our faceless little people. But the caucus isn't over yet. It's time now for community discussion and persuasion. Jefferson supporters are headed for the Washington corner with cupcakes, and every reason they can imagine for their rival's supporters to join them. And they have succeeded in convincing one Washington supporter to move over to the Jefferson camp.

They don't actually have eyes, but Lincoln supporters see an opportunity, and one of them is headed over to Jefferson's camp armed with evidence of Lincoln's achievements and every argument he can summon up. But note the Washington supporter that defected to Jefferson is going back to the first president's corner, and he's taking a Lincoln supporter with him. So the tally is now eight for Washington, four for Jefferson, and just three for Abraham Lincoln. Does anybody want to change their votes? No. so it looks like the caucus is over, and George Washington will have his cupcake and eat it too. If they had mouths, they'd be smiling.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

ALLEN: That's how it works. CNN's political man has the US presidential race covered from the positions of the candidates to their flops and funky little people caucusing there too as well. so join Jonathan Mann Saturdays 8:30 AM in London as he guides you to the world's wildest and most expensive exercise in democracy.

Brazil says her country is losing the battle against a virus linked to a serious disorder in newborns. Coming up, her plea to address the problem and a look ahead to the Olympics being held in Brazil and plus one man back in custody, two more still on the run. To where? The latest on the California jailbreak. That's coming up as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. The International Olympic Committee is advising countries on how to lower their risk of infection from the Zika virus during the summer games in Rio de Janeiro. The committee says the teams will be safe from the virus but added precautions are necessary. It's recommending using insect repellent and wearing long sleeves and pants. In the meantime, Brazil's president is speaking out about the virus plaguing her country.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

DILMA ROUSEFF, PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL (via translator): We are losing the battle against the mosquito. As long as the mosquito keeps reproducing, each and every one of us is losing the battle against the mosquito. So we have to mobilize so we do not lose this battle.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

ALLEN: Zika has been linked to a dangerous disorder in newborns and no vaccine or treatment is available. And umbrella group representing Syria's opposition says it will attend peace talks led by the United Nations. Preparatory meetings began Friday in Geneva. Members of the opposition high negotiations committee had threatened to boycott the talks if the Syrian government did not end sieges of towns and stop bombing civilians. Now they say they will participate to test the seriousness of the Syrian government's involvement in the negotiations. Syria's civil war helped spark the refugee crisis now enveloping much of Europe. This year already more than 46,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Greece seeking a safe haven. But as CNN's senior international correspondent Arwa Damon reports, Greece is facing criticism that it's not doing enough to shield Europe's borders.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The sun rises over Turkey, still silhouetted in the distance. The expanse of water between them and the Greek island of Leros crossed by more than half a million people last year. this is the main gateway to Europe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The flood of migrants burst, and no one was prepared. Not us, not Europe.

ARWA DAMON: But Mayor Galinos Spyros says the Island of Leros decided to put humanity first. Islanders rallied. NGO's finally arrived and the Greek government floundering after years of economic crisis pleaded for help in handling the influx. But instead of financial support, the European Union is now slamming Greece over failures. Improper background checks for migrants and inadequate protection of the external border of the passport-free zone. And that has people here fuming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Schengen countries are just watching this crime happening in the world, and they didn't take action when it was happening, and they think Greece is responsible for this, when we are the victims, too.

ARWA DAMON: Unlike other European nations, Greece does not have the luxury of closing a land border. And islanders would rather take on the humanitarian burden than leave people to perish in the water. The winter months have slowed but not stopped the refugees and migrants from coming. January of last year saw around 750 people land here. so far this January, 25,000 have arrived on this island. Among them, Hibba and her family. Her seven year old describes the explosion that wounded him back home in Olepo. They survived, but it killed the small shred of hope Hibba and her husband Ahmed still had. That the war would end. So they decided to take their chances.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ahmed and his family really want to thank the Greek Coast Guard for saving them. The waters were pretty treacherous when they came over. And when they got to Greece, and this is the process for everyone who arrives on these shores, they then went to register. What does that mean? It means the adults have their fingerprints scanned, they show identification. In this case the children were registered to the mother, to Hibba, and these are examples of the travel documents that they received, that basically authorize them to stay in Greece for a period of six months.

ARWA DAMON: The authorities are saying they are doing the best they can with what they have to process and manage the influx and islanders say the rest of Europe should come up with a real solution rather than doling out criticism. Arwa Damon, CNN, Leros, Greece.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: The people in Flint, Michigan in the US will be getting some much needed help dealing the consequences of the city's lead contaminated water, but it's only a tiny fraction of what will be needed to fix all the problems. Friday the governor approved 28 million dollars in funding to be used for filters, testing kits and some water infrastructure issues. The contamination started after the city changed its water source in 2014. In some cases environmental officials say they have found sources of lead too high for filters to remove it effectively. Lead can cause permanent brain damage in children, among other health problems.

We turn now to Canada where five people are dead after an avalanche in British Columbia. A search team rescued six survivors near the small town of McBride. Details around the incident are still unclear, but authorities say it was human triggered and warned people to exercise caution in that area. Derek Van Dam is following this for us, and he has more details.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Natalie, this is coming off the heels of a deadly avalanche, several deadly avalanches in France earlier in the year. Roughly 150 people died just because of avalanches throughout the entire world per year, so this is a significant concern, especially getting into this late of the winter season in the northern hemisphere. Take a look at my graphics, and we'll take you into the particular part of Canada and British Columbia where this avalanche actually took place. In the McBride area, this is part of the Canadian Rockies, and this is an extremely steep, steep, mountainous terrain. You can see just how steep the mountains are. We'll get rid of the top title bar there, but you can see the Canadian Rockies over this area, and the McBride British Columbia region.

And this is the reported area that the snowmobilers were traveling in at the time of the incident. And there has been snowfall after snowfall into this particular area. Remember, avalanche threat is greatest within that first 24 hours of 30 cm or more of snowfall, and they've certainly gotten that because looking at the latest water vapor imagery across the eastern sections of British Columbia, I've circled that in the green area, that's just in McBride, they've had storm system after storm system impact this region, and we have well over 100 cm in place across these mountaintops, even into the valleys as well. but this is where it gets a little bit tricky, because the lower an altitude you go, the warmer a temperature is.

Of course as you go up in altitude, temperature can often drop below freezing, and that's where we get the heftiest of snowfall. But with that change in conditions, we often get that icy, packed layer of snow, and then when we receive the additional snowfall it destabilizes that snowpack, and eventually gravity wins and we get our lethal avalanches that impact various parts of the world. Look at the snowfall forecasts going forward into British Columbia.

Another part of the world, this is the United Kingdom. They have been wrecked by storm system after storm system that's brought extremely strong winds. Look at the wind gusts in London and into the Edinburgh region in excess of 100 km per hour in some locations, bringing down power lines, knocking out power to over 13,000 customers into this Scotland region. More wind in store today. Not as extreme as what we experienced this time yesterday, but there is another storm that will impact the region heading into the first days of February. So we are going to keep a close eye on that for the UK.

ALLEN: All right. have you seen the shark versus shark video?

DEREK: I have not.

ALLEN: I have not. So let's look at it now, if you want to. In an aquarium in Seoul, South Korea, a shark attacked another shark, you can see the lower body of the smaller shark hanging out of her mouth. It took the eight year old about 21 hours to eat most of the younger male. Later, only the tail remained visible.

DEREK: I would call that a bad day at the office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sharks have their own territory. However, sometimes when they bump up against each other, they bite out of astonishment. I think this shark swallowed the whole body because they usually eat it all when they bite the head part.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

ALLEN: Thank you for that. The aquarium believed the attack was caused by a turf war. Oh well. Poor shark. Well when it comes to Sarah Palin, is Tina Fey better than the real thing? Sarah Palin's daughter doesn't think so. Why Bristol...that's not the right video. Why Bristol, there we go, is raising a fuss over the Palin parody. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: World number one, Serena Williams looks to make tennis history in the Australian Open final if she defeats seventh seated Angelique Kerber. It will be William's twenty-second grand slam singles title. That would match the all time record currently held by Steffi Graf. Williams has yet to lose a single set in the Australian Open.

Sarah Palin is not a 2016 political candidate. She's not even a public servant at the moment. Still, she remains a lightening rod on the political and comedy circuit. But while audiences may get a kick out of her most famous impersonator, Palin's daughter says Tina Fey has it all wrong. Here's Jeanne Moos with that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANNIE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You may think Tina Fey has nailed..

TINA FEY, COMEDIAN: Heads are spinning.

MOOS: ...her Sarah Palin impersonation...

SARAH PALIN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Heads are spinning, media heads are spinning.

MOOS: ...but there is one critic who sounds a little bitter.

FEY: Right-winging, beer-clinging, right-winging, bitter clinging proud clingers of our guns.

MOOS: Sarah Palin's daughter is clinging proudly to her mother, writing in her blog that Tina Fey sounds nothing like my mom. Bristol compared what she called Tina Fey's fake accent to nails on a chalkboard.

FEY: Slurping off the gravy train.

MOOS: Bristol thinks SNL has been slurping off the Palin gravy train writing Saturday Night Live and Tina Fey have been clinging to this impersonation a little too long. It's getting pathetic.

FEY: You rock-n-rollers, and holy rollers, pushing strollers, pro bowler with an abscessed molar.

MOOS: And then there's the glitzy sweater. Bristol said she thought it was funny SNL couldn't get its hands on the same top her mom wore because it sold out. The costume department had to recreate it, which it did in less than a week, SNL proudly trumpeted.

FEY: Trump and his trumpeters.

MOOS: But when Bristol took a poll who wore it better, Sarah or Tina, it was Fey all the way, 87 percent.

FEY: Give that back.

MOOS: That sounds like what Bristol would like to do to Tina. Jeannie Moos, CNN New York.

(END VIDEOCLIP) ALLEN: And that is CNN NEWSROOM. I'll be right back with our top stories.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: This is CNN News Now. I'm Natalie Allen.