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Republicans Answer Voter Question in CNN Town Hall; Britain's EU Membership Hangs in the Balance; ISIS Recruits Children Soldiers; Trump Fires Back at Pope Francis; Reality of Building U.S./Mexican Wall; Warnings North Korea Plans Attack on South Korea; Dangerous Wildfires Across Central U.S. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired February 19, 2016 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:10] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM from Los Angeles.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, Donald Trump tries to clarify what he meant when he called the Pope's comments a disgrace.
SESAY: A critical moment for Europe as diplomats haggle over the UK's future in the European Union.
VAUSE: And new intelligence suggest North Korea's leader has ordered preparations for a terror attack.
SESAY: Hello, and welcome to our viewers around the world, I am Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: Great to have you with us. And I'm John Vause. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.
U.S. Republican presidential candidates are looking ahead to Saturday's primary in South Carolina. On Thursday night, Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Donald Trump answered directly to the voters of that state, addressing a lot of issues from abortion and drugs to health care as well as ISIS.
SESAY: The one subject that got a lot of attention was the disagreement between Trump and Pope Francis. The Pope implied to reporters that Trump is not Christian because he wants a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
VAUSE: Bush and Kasich tried to stay out of the Trump-Pope spat, while Trump seemed pretty eager to end it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Somehow the government of Mexico spoke with the Pope. I mean, they spent a lot of time with the Pope. And by the time he left, he made a statement. I don't know --
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: What, you think that the government of Mexico somehow got the Pope to say this? TRUMP: Well, I don't think they said it that way. But I think they
probably talked about -- isn't it terrible that Mr. Trump wants to have border security, et cetera, et cetera? I think that he heard one side of the story, which is probably by the Mexican government. He didn't see the tremendous strain that, you know, the border is causing us with respect to illegal immigration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Well, earlier in the day, Trump had much stronger words against the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm the strongest person running on the Second Amendment. And he would say -- you know, he just makes up stories. So it was inappropriate. For a religious leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Well, here are the comments in full from Pope Francis on Thursday that sparked the controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POPE FRANCIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH LEADER (Through Translator): A person who thinks only about building walls wherever they may be and not building bridges is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel. As far as what you said about whether I would advise to vote or not to vote, I am not going to get involved in that. I say only that this man is not Christian if he says things like that. We must see if he said things in that way and in this I give the benefit of the doubt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, joining us now, John Phillips, talk radio host for KABC right here in Los Angeles. He's also a political columnist for the "Orange County Register." We should note a Donald Trump supporter as well.
SESAY: Also joining us, Christian Grose, an associate professor of political science at the University of Southern California.
Gentlemen, welcome. So good to have you with us. Let me put it to you first, Christian. Do you think Donald Trump has gone too far in exchanging words with the Pope? Will this be the attack that hurts him?
CHRISTIAN GROSE, POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: I think that he's gone too far by attacking the person who is in charge of the religion that 25 percent of Americans identify with. I don't know if it's the killer gone too far because he's had so many but I think he's gone too far.
VAUSE: This is a thing, isn't it, John? We keep saying, he attacked John McCain. He is not a war hero. You know, he's gone after George W. Bush, lying to get into Iraq, and we're going to get into that in a moment, but every time, he's Teflon.
JOHN PHILLIPS, TALK RADIO HOST, KABC: Right. And look, the Pope can do what the Pope wants to do, but he should be more concerned with "Spotlight" winning Best Picture than Donald Trump winning the Republican nomination. But figures in the Catholic Church attack American politicians from time in memorial they have been doing that.
VAUSE: Yes.
PHILLIPS: When John Kerry was attacked for being pro-choice, what happened? He won the Democratic nomination. When different Catholics are attacked for supporting gay marriage, guess what happens? They win re-election. So he can say what he's going to say. I don't think it's going to affect the process at all.
VAUSE: Christian, I want to ask you this, though. So, you know, Trump sort of -- he didn't name Donald Trump -- sorry, the Pope did not name, OK, that mixed up. He did not name Donald Trump, but he obviously implied. But a wall is pretty much Republican Party policy when it comes to immigration. They all talk about securing the border, that means building a wall to some degree. They all have this. So when the Pope comes out and criticizes this wall, he essentially is criticizing the Republican Party policy. And that is going to -- isn't that going to anger a lot of people in this country?
GROSE: I don't think so because I think Trump is identified mostly with the immigration issue, and most of his supporters, that is the key issue that's pushing them towards Trump. And some of the other candidates are not as anti-immigration as Trump.
SESAY: But --
VAUSE: What do you think, John?
PHILLIPS: You know, a wall already exists, it exists in California on the San Diego border. The only disagreement is how long the wall should be. Bill Clinton supported that wall. Other presidents have supported that wall. Why now? Why attack Trump?
VAUSE: Because it's not just the wall. It's the --
(CROSSTALK)
[01:05:02] VAUSE: The forced deportation of 11 million people, the splitting up families, you know.
PHILLIPS: But he specifically mentioned the wall.
VAUSE: Yes. Because -- if you look at the question that led to the statements that the Pope was talking about, because, you know, was he talking about a literal or a figurative wall? You know. And he said if he only talks about building walls, then he is not Christian. I mean, we can dissect his words if you want, but --
PHILLIPS: A higher percentage of the Vatican is surrounded by a wall.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Pope Francis, tear down that wall!
GROSE: Donald Trump will make the Vatican pay for the wall.
VAUSE: Exactly.
SESAY: But bottom line is, you know, just to wrap up the conversation about the spat between the Pope and Trump, he didn't double down on him in the town hall. He seemed to be trying to dial it back. So is that because he's aware that it could come back and bite him?
PHILLIPS: Well, he's going to win South Carolina. He is ahead by double digits. And if you don't have to rock the boat, why rock the boat?
VAUSE: Keep it safe.
SESAY: Keep it safe. All right. We also want to move on and talk about other notable moments in tonight's town hall. CNN's town hall. Trump has repeated called out George W. Bush for invading Iraq. During the town hall and tonight we got word of a BuzzFeed article in which actually now it emerges that Donald Trump actually had supported the invasion of Iraq back in 2002 when he was on Howard Stern's show. Take a listen to this exchange between Anderson and Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I could have said that. Nobody asked me. I wasn't a politician. It was probably the first time anybody asked me that question.
COOPER: But does that --
TRUMP: But by the time the war started, that was quite a bit before the war.
COOPER: Yeah, this was 2002.
TRUMP: By the time the war started I was against the war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: OK. So keep that in mind. I could have said that. Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. He did. This is what he told Howard Stern in 2002.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD STERN, RADIO HOST, "THE HOWARD STERN SHOW": Are you for invading Iraq?
TRUMP: Yes, I guess so. You know, I wish -- I wish the first time it was done correctly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: "Yes. I guess." You know, why not? Hey, look, this is my take, is that politicians get caught out because they talk in black and white. Donald Trump talks in shades of gray.
PHILLIPS: Well, right now, he is very clear that he would not escalate the war, that he thinks the war is a mistake. When Jeb Bush was asked the same question, how many days, how many tries did it take for him to give a coherent answer?
VAUSE: Sure. But that doesn't -- how does that pertain to Donald Trump? And the flip flopping which is going on here? Jeb Bush -- you know, Jeb Bush is getting 5 percent, and that's probably the reason why.
SESAY: But beyond that, Donald Trump has made it an election point. He's made it an issue by saying he should get points for the fact that he was against the invasion of Iraq. But he clearly wasn't. I mean, we have it on tape now. I mean, that has got to count for something. I mean, seriously. Say something.
PHILLIPS: Right. But this election isn't about creating a time machine and going back to 2001 and 2002. The election is about what to do from 2016 going forward. And I think Donald Trump has the best position.
VAUSE: OK. So it's not a gotcha moment, no one cares, we move on?
GROSE: I mean I think people care, and I think he's -- I think he's hurt himself with some conservative voters in the primary. But if he does actually get the nomination, he can say, well, as I said, I used to have this other opinion back in '02 and I used to be socially liberal on abortion and gay marriage. So it might work out in other --
VAUSE: And look, if he's trying to get to Hillary Clinton she's attacked with the same position.
PHILLIPS: Right. How can she attack him?
VAUSE: Yes. OK. One of the other sticky moments in this town hall was when one of the voters got up and asked Donald Trump about attacking George W. Bush, saying that the president lied to take the country into war in Iraq. It was a very awkward moment. He squirmed.
SESAY: Very awkward.
VAUSE: For a good two minutes trying to talk around an answer to this question. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Well, a lot of people agree with what I said and I'm not talking about lying. I'm not talking about not lying. Nobody really knows why we went into Iraq. The Iraqis did not knock down, it was not Saddam Hussein that knocked down the World Trade Center, OK?
COOPER: What you said was they lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction and there were none. And they knew there were none. There were no weapons of mass destruction.
TRUMP: Well, there are a lot of people that think that. There were a lot of people that think -- look, bottom line, there were no weapons of mass destruction. They said there were weapons of mass destruction. I was against the war when it started.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So do you think -- you think the president of the United States, George W. Bush, lied to the American people.
TRUMP: Well, look, I'm not going to get your vote, but that's OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just giving you another shot at it.
TRUMP: Let me tell you something. I'll just tell you very simply. It may have been the worst decision going into Iraq. It may have been the worst decision anybody has made, any president has made in the history of this country. That's how bad it is, OK?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: And around and around and around he went. But he refused to repeat the words he used.
VAUSE: Why not come out and own it?
SESAY: Why not?
PHILLIPS: Look, George W. Bush won the state of South Carolina twice. He won the primary there. Donald Trump viciously attacked him in the debate, making those same points that he was just confronted with. Donald Trump is ahead by double digits. He's going to win South Carolina. I think the winds have changed in the Palmetto State.
(LAUGHTER)
SESAY: Precip?
PHILLIPS: Yes, I mean, I think Bush is still popular, but I also think Trump is doing very well in South Carolina.
[01:10:04] GROSE: Bush is very popular in South Carolina among Republicans.
VAUSE: And very quickly about Bush, I mean, he has tried everything now in this state. I mean, he has trotted out mum, he trotted out his brother, you know, and nothing is working. And he's actually set himself up now that if he doesn't do better than fifth, then he will basically -- he will -- that's his expectation, is that he will do better than fifth. So if he doesn't do that, he won't meet expectations. Does that mean that this is effectively the end of his campaign if he comes in fifth or below?
GROSE: There's Ben Carson between him and fifth place so he might be able to pull it off.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: This is the last stop on the subway.
VAUSE: Yes. I think it is right?
SESAY: We want to talk about another moment from today, from the campaign trail. John Kasich got personal at the town hall when he was talking about a viral video that it showed him hugging a man who said he basically found hope in the governor's message after going through some pretty dark times. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like over a year ago, a man who is like my second dad, he killed himself, and then a few months later, my parents got a divorce. And then a few months later, my dad lost his job. But I was in a really dark place for a long time. I was pretty depressed. But I found hope, and I found it in the Lord and in my friends, and now I've found it in my presidential candidate that I support. And I'd really appreciate one of those hugs you've been talking about.
(APPLAUSE)
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One of the things that I felt, and I've said in the campaign, is we all need to slow down a little bit. There are a lot of people out there who are lonely. And they are looking for a place to tell people about their issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: I'd be watching John Kasich. We all have been. But you know, the thing which I have noticed about John Kasich for the last couple of weeks, he is in a very happy place within himself. He did well in New Hampshire, you know, he came in second. And I think that for him, that he feels that this campaign has changed him. And if this is the end of it, he's happy with that. Do you get that feeling?
PHILLIPS: I have no clue why that clip has gone so viral.
VAUSE: Really? You don't get it?
PHILLIPS: We're electing the leader of the free world. We're not electing the leader of an AA meeting.
(LAUGHTER)
SESAY: The mind boggles. I mean, you don't think that it stands out because it's a rare moment on the campaign trail of true humanity, compassion, someone connecting?
VAUSE: Of someone connecting with --
PHILLIPS: OK. Gary Busey supports Trump. He's had a much rougher life than that guy. (LAUGHTER)
VAUSE: You are a harsh man.
GROSE: But it is -- I think it's the anti-Trump because the real question with Trump is the temperament.
VAUSE: Yes.
GROSE: And Kasich has the temperament to go hug a man who's some is inspired by John Kasich, God and his family. And I think it's the -- if voters aren't looking at issues, they're also looking at temperament.
VAUSE: Yes.
GROSE: How you can handle and talk and connect with voters.
VAUSE: OK. We're going to --
SESAY: That look you've got right now.
VAUSE: I know. OK. We're going to get to finish. The worst Photoshop effort in the world. Marco Rubio is slamming Ted Cruz over this image which was obviously doctored. It shows here --
SESAY: I don't believe it.
VAUSE: Shaking hands with Barack Obama. It was actually put on a Cruz-funded Web site which accuses Rubio casting a crucial vote on a bill which allows the president to quickly negotiate trade deals. OK.
I think this is the problem, which I think it plays into the fact that he doesn't play by the rules. He's a little sneaky. That he's not quite kosher about this.
PHILLIPS: Sure. He played dirty in Iowa. He is playing dirty in South Carolina. He played dirty and won in Iowa. If he plays dirty and loses in South Carolina, he's in big trouble.
SESAY: Chris, how big a deal is this because there are those who say, you know, it's just the nature of political ads, it's just the nature of the game, this kind of thing happen?
GROSE: I think it's a minor deal. I think in South Carolina, there's been a lot worse in Republican primary politics.
VAUSE: Yes, but I just think it places it into a narrative with Ted Cruz, that's all, and you just keep hearing it over and over again. You know, dirty tricks with Ben Carson, the voter registration form, now this kind of stuff, the robocalls, the commercials. Yes, I think he's building up sort of a reservoir of ill will, if you like.
PHILLIPS: Right. Especially when you brand yourself as the religious conservative.
VAUSE: Yes.
PHILLIPS: You can't do the immoral stuff.
VAUSE: OK. Guys, it was fun.
SESAY: We'll see how it plays out. Thank you so much for coming in and just, you know, sharing your insights and pulling those faces you pulled.
(LAUGHTER)
SESAY: We appreciate that. Thank you.
VAUSE: OK.
SESAY: All right now. Well, in Brussels, a critical meeting is underway to determine the fate of Britain's European Union membership. A major sticking point in the discussions among EU leaders is Britain's demand to not pay benefits to migrants from other EU countries.
VAUSE: The British prime minister is appealing to his European counterparts to help him strike a credible deal that he can sell to his people. Britain will vote on whether to remain in the EU later this year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (Through Translator): Everyone wished to keep Britain as a member of the European Union. All of Britain's different requests which were on the agenda were discussed. And it's true that not everyone around the table found it all that easy to agree to those requests, but there is a will.
[01:15:05] DONALD TUSK, EUROPEAN COUNCIL PRESIDENT: For now I can only say that we have made some progress but a lot still remains to be done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, world leaders now are closely following Turkey's response to a deadly blast in the Turkish capital on Wednesday. No one has claimed responsibility for that attack, which killed 28 people. But Turkey is blaming Kurdish militants. They deny any involvement.
SESAY: And shortly after the explosion, Turkey retaliated by launching airstrikes in northern Iraq, targeting top Kurdish leaders. And the Kurdish prime minister is furious the U.S. has allied with Kurdish militants from the YPG to fight ISIS in Syria.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): We will share information we gathered with all the countries, primarily the big five countries, and we will submit documents to those who say YPG is not a terrorist organization. We expect absolute cooperation. It is our right to have an expectation to see solidarity from our allies in the face of this attack against Turkey, just like we showed solidarity with our allies after 9/11.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Well, the (INAUDIBLE) two of the various Kurdish groups in Turkey, Iraq and Syria. The Kurdistan Workers Party better known as the PKK has fought an armed campaign against Turkey for decades, seeking an independent Kurdish state. They have been deemed a terrorist group by the U.S. and the European Union, but not the United Nations. More recently, the PKK has fought back against ISIS attacks on ethnic Kurds in the region.
VAUSE: There's also the YPG, Kurdish militia in northeastern Syria. They're fighting that country's civil war, also against ISIS and other Islamic militant groups. The U.S. has not classified the YPG as a terrorist group.
U.S. and Russian officials meet Friday hoping to organize a cessation of hostilities in Syria. That means the actual ceasefire might not start on Friday as originally hoped. And the Syrian army has continued to fight rebels. This video shows Syrian soldiers retaking a key town near the northeastern coast. The Syrian regime has said a ceasefire is unlikely.
SESAY: And the U.N. says it is pleased that humanitarian aid was delivered to five Syrian towns, although there are still many more Syrians who need food to survive.
All right. We're going to take a quick break now. A new report says ISIS is recruiting children at an unprecedented rate. You'll hear what one boy says happened when he refused to be trained by ISIS militants.
VAUSE: And later this hour, we'll speak to a Roman Catholic priest about Pope Francis's remarks on Donald Trump's faith. All of that still to come.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(SPORTS)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:21:33] SESAY: Hello, everyone. In about an hour, social workers are expected to rally in Australia over a 1-year-old girl at the heart of the immigration debate. Doctors and nurses refuse to discharge the girl who was badly burned at an offshore detention camp in Nauru.
VAUSE: Asha was born in Australia to a Nepalese mother but has been denied citizenship. New Zealand says it's still offering to take 150 asylum seekers each year from Australia's offshore detention centers, but Australia's prime minister says it's not that simple.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't tell you who might or might not be able to come or whether the Australian government would want to exercise the right to do that. All I can simply say is the offer remains on the table.
We're assessing their situations on a case-by-case basis, and we will -- we'll take into account what John has proposed -- what John has offered. But we do so very thoughtfully, recognizing that the one thing we must not do is give an inch to the people smugglers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The Australian prime minister insists his immigration policy is being handled with great care and with great compassion.
SESAY: Now Iraqi officials are desperately searching for highly dangerous container of stolen radioactive material. A document from the Iraqi Ministry of Environment says the material was taken from a storage facility in November in a case about the size of a laptop computer. The fear is it could fall into the hands of ISIS or other terrorist groups.
VAUSE: Where the theft occurred is providing a little bit of reassurance in the southern city of Basra, primarily Shiite region where ISIS is not operating. Still a person exposed to the material could be permanently harmed within minutes and killed within hours.
There is a new report out which says ISIS is mobilizing children and teens at an alarming rate. The result, first published in the CTC Sentinel, looks at the death of 89 children eulogized in ISIS propaganda.
SESAY: The majority were killed detonating improvised explosives or as soldiers in battle. 60 percent were adolescents, between 12 and 16 years old. 6 percent were younger than 12.
VAUSE: Just over half died in Iraq. 36 percent died in Syria. The rest killed in Yemen, Libya and Nigeria.
SESAY: Well, in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, our Nima Elbagir talked to children who survived the brutality of ISIS.
VAUSE: The town was liberated back in November, but the emotional and physical scars have not faded.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The road into Sinjar town. Almost two months after liberation from ISIS, it's still heavily guarded. Sinjar's mayor has traveled with us today to show us what remains of his city.
When ISIS swept through the Yazidi homeland, it's along this very road where the men, women, and children rounded up from the surrounding villages were driven. The mayor takes us to the other side of the earth defenses encircling the town. This was the site of an ISIS massacre.
(On camera): It breaks his heart, he says, to leave the bones exposed like this to the elements. But no one has come to investigate. No one has come to document. So they don't want to undermine any findings.
This grave is one of the hundreds, he tells us. Here is where they buried the women and the children. The young boys who refused to accompany ISIS, who refused to be conscripted as child soldiers.
[01:25:01] (Voice-over): Surviving eyewitnesses tell CNN the victims in these graves, more than 130 people, had originally been singled out for transport to the nearby ISIS town of Deir ez-Zor. They refused.
You can still see the clasp ties that bound the victims' hands, both young and old. The prayer beads clutched until the final moments. The bullets fired by the executioners.
A refugee camp in northern Iraq. Those who have managed to flee ISIS have found refuge here. Kurdish authorities tell CNN they have evidence of the abduction of approximately 600 children from Sinjar and the surrounding Yazidi villages. Around 200 have since escaped and are sheltering in camps like this one across the Kurdish region. Returning to describe the brutality.
Eleven-year-old Nori Falah (PH) is one of the lucky ones. His family were abducted the day of the Sinjar massacre. Once in Deir ez-Zor he refused to join the training. ISIS fighters brutally beat him, breaking his leg in three places. When it healed, he could only limp.
"They asked me to go to the mountain," he says. "And I refused. Again, they broke my leg. That saved me. The other children were taken by force." He says the fighters deemed him useless. That saved his life.
Nori's 5-year-old brother Saman, was terrified from the very beginning. Subjected to daily beatings. Their life in the ISIS camp is something no one, no child, should ever have to endure.
The children's grandmother, Gorahala (PH), says the boys described watching as militants murdered other children who refused to train.
Gorahala tells us they are utterly traumatized. Nori wakes up terrified to the night, screaming that he is being choked and some man still suffers from seizures. Traumatized and too broken to march in the militants' ranks they were by some miracle released by ISIS.
Back at the outskirts of town, in the distance, we can see smoke rising from a mortar strike into an ISIS encampment. Mass graves we're told honeycomb the valley leading to the boundary of their territory.
On the ground, the mass spots a fragment of what appears to be a child's skull. Delicately, reverently, he places it on top of the grave. One day he tells us, he hopes it will be safe enough here for forensic investigators to come and help them identify the children under this rubble.
Nima Elbagir, CNN, Sinjar.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:26] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.
SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay.
The headlines this hour --
(HEADLINES)
SESAY: In the U.S., presidential race, Republican Jeb Bush, John Kasich, and Donald Trump made their appeals in a town hall. They shared personal stories. South Carolina's Republican primary is Saturday.
Meanwhile, Pope Francis is weighing in on the election by highlighting one candidate he fundamentally disagrees with. He said Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's views on immigration are, quote, "not Christian."
VAUSE: And as he does with anyone who disagrees with him, Mr. Trump is firing back. Here's more from both sides.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPE FRANCIS (through translation): a person who thinks only about building walls wherever they may be located and not building bridges is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel. As far as what you said about whether I would advise to vote or not to vote, I am not going to get involved in that. I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that.
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: I'm a very good Christian, because the pope said something to the effect that maybe Donald Trump isn't Christian. OK? And he's questioning my faith. I was very surprised to see it. But I am a Christian. And I'm proud of it. OK. For a religious leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: There are those who feel the pope's comments about Donald Trump's proposal to build a wall amount to the pontiff interfering in American politics. How do you see it?
FATHER EDWARD BECK: CNN RELIGIOUS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the pope himself said that every human being is political. But the pope is not intending for his comments to be necessarily political. He's speaking as a messenger of the Gospel. For him, an issue like immigration, welcoming a stranger, the refugee, not only here in the United States but in Europe, is a Gospel issue. He says it's of the Gospel. So he has to wade into these waters, if he is to be a spokesperson, the Vicar of Christ, here on earth.
SESAY: Father Beck, he must have known, though, that they would create or ignite a firestorm. He must have known that. The pope is a very, very savvy individual.
BECK: Well, remember, he was asked by a reporter on the plane specifically about Donald Trump and Donald Trump not allowing families to enter, separating families, keeping millions out, building a wall. And he was asked to respond to that. So he responded by saying, if it is true that this man -- he didn't even name Donald Trump -- but this person said this, he is not a Christian.
And the point of the pope is, Christianity is about building bridges, welcoming the oppressed, welcoming the stranger. Christianity means you follow Jesus. You do what Jesus did. So if you don't want to do that, or you're against that, or speaking against it, the pope is saying, you really can't call yourself a Christian.
So the pope is really basically giving his own perspective on what constitutes a Christian and what doesn't.
[01:35:13] SESAY: Donald Trump's director of social media fired off a tweet pointing out that the Vatican itself is surrounded by massive walls, and Donald Trump described the pope's comments as disgraceful. Were you offended by the response from the Trump campaign?
BECK: Well, I think, once again, Trump is about a lot of bluster. First of all, the walls around the Vatican were built in the 1800s to keep out barbarians who were raiding the city. So it's a little bit different than the wall that Donald Trump is talking about. They are not quite synonymous. So to say that the walls are even akin to one another is totally ridiculous, I think.
And I think it's offensive because what Donald Trump is basically saying is that the pope is ignorant about the issues in Mexico. He said that he's not clued in. He said that he was being a pawn of the Mexican government. None of which has any truth or voracity to it. There's no indication that the Mexican government asked the pope to say anything or opine upon this in any way. This was the pope speaking as a messenger of the Gospel.
So I think it's a little insulting, but it is definitely vintage Trump to get out there with a lot of bluster and speak about that which he doesn't seem to have much knowledge.
SESAY: Father Beck, it's great to get your insider perspective. Thank you so much for your time.
BECK: You're welcome. Thank you.
VAUSE: Donald Trump's controversial plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border is in the spotlight once again after Pope Francis's remarks. How realistic would it be to build such a wall and how much would it cost? CNN's Jason Carroll takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What would it take to build a wall on the border between the United States and Mexican? You're talking about an area 1,954 miles, stretching across California, Arizona, new Mexico, and right here in Texas, just about 100 yards away from Mexico.
We spoke to civil engineers, architects and academics. They all say the wall can be built. It can be done. The question is, how?
The first thing one has to do is before you go up, you have to go down and build a foundation. This will help provide support for the wall. In order to prevent people from tunneling underneath it, it should be at least five feet deep.
The second thing one must consider is what do you use to build the wall? What materials do you go after? How about cinderblock? The upside is it's strong, it's secure, it's readily available. The downside is, it's labor intensive to have to stack every single brick in order to build the wall. So our experts say that option doesn't work. There is another option, using poured concrete on site. That's what they did when they built the Hoover Dam. The downside is when you pour concrete in warmer climates like along these border states, experts say what you could end up with is a weaker wall because the concrete might not dry correctly, meaning a wall that could end up crumbling.
So what could be the answer here? The experts that we spoke to say the way to go is pre-casted cement wall panels. The panels would be lined side-by-side, sort of like what you might see on a highway. Each panel would be about 20 feet high. Again, five feet below ground, about 10 feet wide, and eight inches thick. That wall would be stretching some 2,000 miles, and our expert says it would require 339 million cubic feet of concrete. And that's just for the panels. You're also going to need reinforced steel, at least five billion pounds.
So what about the estimated cost? Because it hasn't been done before, let's use the highway panels as an example. They cost about $40 a square foot. That would end up costing about $10.5 billion. Sounds like a lot of money, is a lot of money. But remember, again, Donald Trump says that the U.S. government wouldn't end up footing the bill on this one. It would be Mexico.
And what about the timing on all of this? How long would it take to build? According to our expert, if you're ambitious, you could get it done within a presidential term, four years.
Jason Carroll, CNN, McAllen, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: There are the numbers. SESAY: A lot of zeros.
VAUSE: A lot of money.
SESAY: Yeah.
A dramatic scene caught on camera in the U.S. State of Hawaii.
VAUSE: Horrified onlookers watched as a helicopter with five people onboard crashed into Pearl Harbor.
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(SHOUTING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
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SESAY: Very, very frightening. Navy and fire department both responded to the scene, rescuing everyone onboard. CNN affiliate, KHON, says a 15-year-old boy is in critical condition.
[01:40:07] VAUSE: The crash temporarily shut down operations at the Pearl Harbor Visitors Center and the "USS Arizona" memorial.
The U.S. is sending a message Kim Jong-Un, but there's disturbing information about new threats from the North Korean leader's regime. That's next here on CNN NEWSROOM L.A.
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SESAY: Welcome back, everyone. North Korea's latest rocket launch along with its fourth nuclear test has triggered new U.S. sanctions. President Obama signed the measure Thursday.
VAUSE: It would freeze the assets of anyone who does business with the North's nuclear or weapons programs or violates human rights. The U.S. Congress approved the measures earlier this month.
SESAY: Well, South Korea's intelligence service claims North Korea is planning a terrorist attack on the South.
VAUSE: The warning lists subways, shopping malls, and power plants as possible targets.
Here's Brian Todd.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(SHOUTING)
(EXPLOSION)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A direct and sinister order from Kim Jong-Un. He instructs his security services to prepare to carry out a terrorist attack on South Korea, according to a South Korean lawmaker briefed by his country's intelligence agency. The agency says that defectors, activists could be targeted. Other possibilities?
CHIN CHANG (ph), THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: We have everyone from the president of South Korea being on the target list through the military leadership of the South Korean and American military leadership to infrastructure.
TODD: That includes subways, power plants, shopping malls, and according to South Korean intelligence, possible cyber attacks like the one the U.S. says North Korea successfully launched against Sony Pictures Entertainment in the United States in late 2014.
The Kim family has a long history of bizarre, brazen attacks on South Korea. They blew a South Korean passenger jet out of the sky in 1987. North Korea's inserted frogmen into South Korea, launched commandos from submarines, and even tried at least three times and failed to assassinate South Korean presidents.
[01:45:10] CHANG (ph): Including the one you see here. In that particular case, unfortunately, his wife, the mother of the current president, got in the way and was killed.
TODD: Why is Kim threatening another attack now? Tensions along the border are elevated. North Korea's recent long-range missile test in the guise of a satellite launch and its nuclear test in January prompted South Korea to shut down the lucrative Kaesong Industrial Complex the two nations share.
And the American military has just flexed its muscles at the Kim regime, sending stealth fighter jets to fly low over South Korea.
And there are indications Kim is signaling those who are threatening him from within.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You continue to see high level purges inside the North Korean system, most recently with the Army chief of staff, and then prior to that the defense minister, which gives one a sense that there is internal churn inside the system.
(SINGING)
TODD: And still, Kim and his cronies are strutting, celebrating their recent provocations with a performance from Kim's hand-picked band of young women in tight dresses who sing Korean pop sings and tributes to their boss.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What it reflects is this almost warped sense of celebration of the nuclear tests as being something that's part of a new horizon for the North Korean state, and associating that with elements of modernity.
TODD (on camera): U.S. officials are not commenting on the apparent threat from North Korea or on how the U.S. might respond. Many are also watching how China might respond to another North Korean provocation. The Chinese are said to be furious with Kim Jong-Un over the nuclear tests and the missile launch.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: We'll take a short break here. When we come back, think about this. President Donald Trump. If you are an American, the mere thought of the Donald in the White House drives you a little crazy, well, you may check out a very nice part of Canada. Details when we come back.
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VAUSE: This is a sad and disturbing story from Argentina. Beach goers behaved like a mob when some small dolphins came too close to the shoreline.
SESAY: They grabbed one of the small mammals and started taking selfies with it. Here's what happened.
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[01:50:40] VAUSE: Yeah.
SESAY: Yeah. Very disturbing.
Let's talk about some weather issues. Dangerous wildfires raged out of control across the central U.S. on Thursday, fueled by strong winds and unusually high temperatures.
Our Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is standing by there with much more.
Hey, Derek.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, John, Isha. All of the ingredients were there across the central U.S. on Thursday to help spread these massive wildfires, specifically in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. That is the area that was really hardest hit. And if we think about the ingredients necessary for wildfires to spread, let's break it down to a fire that you would -- or I would build if we were out in the wilderness camping per se. One of the ingredients that we need, we need some sort of fuel. And Oklahoma has lots of fuel. I'm talking about the dry grass. They are coming off an extremely wet season. That grew a lot of grass. That dried out over the winter season. And that was our fuel. Then we need some sort of heat. We had record-breaking temperatures. Over 30 cities across the central U.S. breaking records that have been standing for decades. And on top of this, we need our third ingredient, and that is oxygen. When we blow into our fire when we're camping in the wilderness, we provide the flames oxygen to help them build. When the winds are too strong, we run the threat of these embers actually starting to travel great distances and very quickly. That's the concern that was unfolding across the state of Oklahoma. These embers as the strong winds really started to pick up. We saw these embers that quickly spread, sometimes hundreds and hundreds of feet, just exacerbating these fires, making them spread extremely quickly. In fact, over 40,000 acres of dry grass in central Oklahoma burned this Thursday.
Now I want to show you on an interesting satellite perspective just what they had to deal with. This is a visible satellite that we're actually looking from space. And you can see the winds that really picked up those embers, allowing for that southerly flow to help the fire spread across this region. There's also another strong fire that was burning across the panhandle. That particular area had more of a west to southwesterly wind. But nonetheless, all of the ingredients were there for unfortunately these Bush fires. And wildfires to spread across Oklahoma -- John, Isha?
VAUSE: Yeah. I guess we're coming into that time of the year where things start warming up a little. Obviously with the conditions we have, we're going to see a lot more of this.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Thank you, Derek.
SESAY: Thank you, Derek.
VAN DAM: Thank you.
SESAY: Well, it can't be driven on public roads, but someone in London just dropped $3.5 million on this, an Aston Martin driven by James Bond played by Daniel Craig in the latest film, "Specter." The car is one of just 10 made for the movie.
VAUSE: If you've got it, spend it. Why not? It isn't road certified, but Aston Martin says it can hit up to 300 kilometers per hour. Proceeds from the sale are going to Doctors Without Borders. Two dozen bond items hit the auction block on Thursday. Head to our website, CNN.com, to check out the rest.
SESAY: That car is gorgeous.
VAUSE: Nice if you can afford that kind of thing.
SESAY: I thought you bought it for me? I'm disappointed.
(LAUGHTER)
VAUSE: Sure.
SESAY: I thought I would walk out front, and it would be out there.
VAUSE: Whatever. Not a chance.
Every time we have one of these elections, every four years, some Americans, if you're a Republican or a Democrat, everyone says, oh, I'm going to move to Canada. I can't stand it. SESAY: Well, now a host in Canada is trying to beat the rush. As
Jeanne Moos reports, he is already reaching out to Americans who tremble at the mere thought of President Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Donald Trump deals with protesters --
TRUMP: Get them out.
MOOS: -- he doesn't mean out of the country. But for those who want to voluntarily leave --
ROB CALLABRESE, CANADIAN RADIO SHOW HOST (voice-over): Hi, Americans. Donald Trump may become the president of your country. If that happens and you decide to get the hell out of there, might I suggest moving to Cape Breton Island?
MOOS (on camera): First of all, where is Cape Breton?
(voice-over): It's in Nova Scotia, along Canada's eastern coast.
(MUSIC)
MOOS: Boy, is it beautiful.
CALLABRESE: And nobody has a handgun.
MOOS: Cape Breton radio deejay, Rob Callabrese, is no Donald Trump fan. His "If Donald Trump Wins" website started as a joke.
Come on up to Cape Breton.
[01:55:13] CALLABRESE: Where women can get abortions, Muslim people can roam freely, and the only walls are holding up the roofs of our extremely affordable houses.
MOOS: There are answers to questions like, how do I immigrate to Canada?
CALLABRESE: They want to know if they can bring their cats to Canada.
MOOS: The website has been flooded with hundreds and hundreds of inquiries.
(on camera): Would you consider moving to Canada if Donald Trump were elected president?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm thinking Berlin.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would do it in a heart beat. I would.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I'm an American. I'm going to stay here, no matter who is president.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm moving to Europe if he's elected president.
MOOS (voice-over): But in Cape Breton, they need people.
CALLABRESE: Absolutely. We have an unsustainable population decline.
MOOS: Housing is a bargain. We saw a three bedroom waterside houses selling for $200,000, even $25,000.
Sure, Rob has gotten some angry emails from Trump supporters.
CALLABRESE: Why would anyone want to move to Canada, especially in isolated, known-for-nothing place like Cape Breton?
MOOS: Well, it's known for something now. Cape Breton's motto, your heart will never leave.
TRUMP: Get him the hell out of here, will you, please?
(CHEERING)
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN --
TRUMP: Bye-bye.
MOOS: -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And the moose. The moose with the house.
SESAY: Everything you've ever wanted, a moose.
VAUSE: It looked very Canadian.
SESAY: But it did look very pretty.
VAUSE: Very pretty. Very Canadian.
(LAUGHTER)
SESAY: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: I'm John Vause.
The news continues with George Howell and Natalie Allen right after this.
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