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GOP Hopefuls Seeks S.C. Governor's Endorsement; Pope to Hold Mass Near U.S./Mexico Border; Apple Protests Judge's Order; Internet Goes Wild Over Clinton's Bark. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired February 17, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:34:18] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Bernie Sanders closes the gap out West while Hillary Clinton maintains a tight grip of the South. The latest CNN/ORC poll shows Sanders within striking distance of Clinton in Nevada, trailing by just one point. But in South Carolina, Clinton trounces Sanders by nearly 20 points buoyed by big support among women and minorities.

One of the most sought after endorsements in South Carolina on the Republican side is Governor Nikki Haley. And while she has yet to throw her support behind any one particular candidate, she has ruled out one person.

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GOV. NIKKI HALEY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: We don't want a president that's going to come in and just bash and sit there and tell us what we're not doing right. We want a president that's going to help us fight and help us win and help us explain why we don't want Syrian refugees, why Guantanamo Bay prisoners don't need to come to South Carolina. So I thought it was -- I thought it was quite Obama-like.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Here now is Cynthia Roldan, state house reporter for the "Charleston Post & Courier". What did Nikki Haley say when she was asked that question about endorsing Donald Trump?

CYNTHIA ROLDAN, CHARLESTON POST AND COURIER: They just asked her if she felt like it was out of the question at this point and, you know, Governor Haley has been critical of the loudest voices. She has said that she was implying in her state of the union address that it was Donald Trump and -- among others and it just -- Donald Trump told me a few weeks ago that he didn't expect Governor Haley to endorse him so this is not a surprise for him.

COSTELLO: Not a surprise. How important is an endorsement from the governor?

ROLDAN: It depends on who you ask. She downplayed it yesterday. She said that she didn't think that her endorsement was -- wasn't sure if it carried weight. But it does. You know, a lot of voters are undecided in South Carolina. And they are really hoping to see if someone tells them where to go.

You know, we have been told by voters that when Tim Scott endorsed Marco Rubio, they became a little more at ease with who they were siding with. And so the governor's vote -- support is something that is very important for voters.

COSTELLO: So if the governor would throw her support to Marco Rubio as well, that would be a huge boon for him?

ROLDAN: Most definitely. Recent polls have Marco Rubio fighting for second and third place. And, you know, Rubio is hoping to make a splash in South Carolina after New Hampshire. And it would be pivotal for his campaign to be able to get the endorsement of Governor Haley. Rubio has said that he'd gladly welcomed Governor Haley's endorsement, as I'm sure many other candidates would.

COSTELLO: I'm sure.

So I want to talk about the evangelical vote and Donald Trump because Donald Trump so far owns evangelicals over Senator Ted Cruz and you would think that Senator Ted Cruz would have those voters in the bag. Why doesn't he?

ROLDAN: It seems like just the electorate of South Carolina is angry and they, despite the fact that they do not agree necessarily with the fact that -- not necessarily side with the fact that Donald Trump may not seem as religious as Senator Cruz, Trump is very brash and they particularly like that. They like that he is very head-on strong and doesn't necessarily apologize for what he has to say.

COSTELLO: So they are willing to take a chance on social issues to vote just for some kind of different candidate?

ROLDAN: Well, look, like Mitt Romney in 2012 was doing very well at the beginning in South Carolina and, you know, it was a famous turning point where Newt Gingrich did really well in the debate and then, you know, voters just changed their mind. It didn't seem to matter that Mitt Romney was overly religious to them. They just sided with the guy who felt was going to be the perfect candidate for them. And defense issues and national security issues are really big in South Carolina so even though the evangelical vote just carries some weight, if there are other issues that come into play as well.

COSTELLO: I understand. Cynthia Roldan -- thanks for helping us through this. She's with the "Charleston Post and Courier". Thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM: the Pope wrapping up his trip to Mexico delivering his final mass to hundreds of thousands of people right on the U.S./Mexico border.

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[10:43:23] COSTELLO: In less than two hours, the Pope will touch down in Juarez, Mexico. It's the final stop on his trip to Mexico, where the Pope will be holding a mass in front of hundreds of thousands of the faithful later this afternoon.

Polo Sandoval is in Juarez with more. Good morning -- Polo.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. At least 215,000 people was what officials here in Ciudad Juarez are expecting. Many of these individuals actually spent the night in line to be able to be the first to make their way to this now huge sanctuary.

I'll get out of the way so you can actually see it for yourself. And what's interesting here, as we continue to see people file in and many of them spending a cold night in line, many of these individuals praying the rosary as we speak as they await the arrival of Pope Francis.

But I want you to look Carol, off in the distance there's a light structure with some dark windows that you may be able to make out beyond the actual altar area. That is an elementary school in El Paso, Texas. So that offers a little more perspective -- really gives you a better idea of how close Pope Francis will be to U.S. soil when he celebrates mass and also, most importantly, the symbolic moment in which he will head to a temporary migrant memorial that's actually been set up between the altar and the banks of the Rio Grande. That's where he will pray. That's where he'll be silent for a few moments and obviously going to be a moment that will be highly watched on both sides of the border as immigration is a key issue in Mexico. It's a key pillar for the papacy of this pontiff and widely debated right next door by presidential candidates.

[10:44:57] Last thing I should mention. As soon as he arrives here in El Paso in about a little less than two hours or so, he will head straight to Cereso state prison. He will pray with the prisoners there, obviously keeping up with that reputation that he has of being the people's pope and that includes people with a very troubled past.

COSTELLO: All right. We're looking at pictures of the Pope on the ground in another part of Mexico but he's in the air right now on an Aero-Mexico plane. I understand that that plane was hit by a laser?

SANDOVAL: Right. Those are actually -- these were reports that came in as he was flying into Mexico City at the start of this papal trip. AlItalia releasing a statement that essentially says that the pilot followed protocol by notifying officials on the ground. But at this point, they don't believe that the Pope was in any real danger. But again, this was something that was noticed in the cockpit. It's been an issue before in the United States as we've seen several flights had to be diverted or at least forced to land due to that.

That was not the case here. It was simply something that they noticed and something that was reported. That being said, Carol, I know that in previous papal trips, several individuals actually shined mirrors on to the helicopters or the plane that carry these folks. That very well may have been a possibility. Somebody may have been wanting to get the attention of the pontiff but may not have been in the right way.

COSTELLO: No, definitely not. We're glad he's ok. Polo Sandoval -- thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM: Apple fighting back after a judge orders it to help the FBI unlock a terrorist's phone. Will Apple fight back? We'll talk about that next.

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COSTELLO: A judge has ordered Apple to help the FBI crack the pass code for an iPhone that belonged to one of the San Bernardino terrorists. But now Apple is pushing back. The company says it does not have that kind of technology yet and even if it did, it would be like giving the government a master key to private data that belongs to its customers.

Let's talk about that with CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Paul Callan. This is a fascinating case because, you know, your first inclination is it could prevent a terrorist attack. So why isn't Apple ponying up?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, exactly. And it is a fascinating case and it's an example of how technology is sort of outrunning the constitution and the law as we develop these new problems in the modern age.

But here's the thing about it. The constitution says no search and seizure unless there's a warrant issued by a judge for specific evidence. Ok.

Here, they are just trying to seize a phone. They don't know what's on the phone and they can't figure out how to open the phone. So now they are trying to get an order forcing Apple employees to help them in essence forcing those Apple employees to be the employees of the FBI as they investigate an American citizen. And Apple says, "Oh, no, the constitution does not require us to do that and we're going to fight this."

COSTELLO: Let me throw a caveat in there because technically, that iPhone belonged to the county because this terrorist worked for the county and issued him that phone.

CALLAN: Yes.

COSTELLO: The county gave permission to Apple to say like break into the phone.

CALLAN: Absolutely. They give permission to Apple but nobody can force Apple's employees to become the involuntary -- to submit to the involuntary servitude of the FBI. And if I can just invoke one other thing to go all the way back to the constitution -- the British were forcing American colonialists under General Ritz to help them raid other people's houses.

And this was one of the reasons that we have the Fourth Amendment saying, no, there has to be a specific piece of evidence that you're looking for and you have to have an order from a judge.

What is the specific evidence they're looking for here -- it's just a phone.

COSTELLO: So why can't the FBI say something as simple as we're looking for a terrorist phone call that this Farook might have placed and that's why we need to hack into the phone. Isn't that enough?

CALLAN: All right. So let's say they are saying that. So here's the phone. Be my guest. They are not saying that. They are now saying, well, maybe it's on the phone but we don't know how to open the phone so we want you to tell us how to open the phone. It's like saying to a contractor when he's building a house, we want you to build a little tunnel into the back of the house just in case there's a criminal inside some day and we want to get in easily. You know? It could be a mass murderer inside the house -- right.

No. It's a violation of your privacy. And Apple I think should not be required to decrypt this.

COSTELLO: So Apple could fight it and win.

CALLAN: Well, I don't know if they'll win or not because it's a hard question. People are asking the same question you're asking about terrorism and it's a tough, tough question.

COSTELLO: All right. Paul Callan -- thanks.

CALLAN: All right.

COSTELLO: Really fascinating. I'll be right back.

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[10:57:48] COSTELLO: It may not be Hillary Clinton's best moment on the campaign trail but it might be her most replayed. Here's Jeanne Moos.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The bite is proving worse than the bark as the Internet nips at Hillary for her doggie imitation.

-- juxtaposing music videos and movie clips.

EDDIE MURPHY, ACTOR: Bark like a dog.

MOOS: -- all because Hillary told a story about an old political ad that featured a dog trained to bark at lies. Wouldn't that come in handy for following around her Republican rivals -- she said.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Every time they say these things, like, oh, the great recession was caused by too much regulation --

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Her inner terrier.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's funny.

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: I don't know if this was a tribute to the Westminster dog show.

MOOS: One that Donald Trump refused to emulate.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If I ever did that, I would be ridiculed all over the place. I won't do it. I'm not going to imitate her so there will be no barking.

MOOS: As if Hillary didn't face ridicule, an actual dog barking interrupted a Trump rally last month was one of the many mocking memes making the rounds.

TRUMP: What was that? Was that a dog?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's Hillary.

TRUMP: Uh-oh. It's Hillary.

MOOS: It's enough to make triumph the insult dog.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator, is it true you tried to shut down the government so you could go to a Nickelback concert?

MOOS: Overshadowed on the campaign trail.

But Hillary is in a puppy league compared to a guy dubbed "Psycho Dog Man" for his canine impersonation -- an Australia retiree went viral back in 2010 after imitating some scary neighborhood dogs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They came bounding over.

MOOS: His imitation was remixed and even scared real dogs.

Though Psycho Dog Man suffered some of the exact same mockery -- his dog would make mince meat of Hillary's.

MITT ROMNEY, FORMER REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Who let the dogs out?

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

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COSTELLO: This is the weirdest political season ever.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts now.