Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Trump Wins South Carolina Primary; Hillary Clinton Secures Crucial Win in Nevada; Interview with Scott Lucas; Huge Cyclone Batters Fiji; Parents of Sandy Hook Victims Sue Gun Manufacturer; Aired 4-5:00a ET

Aired February 21, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:09] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton celebrate after big wins in South Carolina and Nevada. We'll have the numbers and what it all means.

Plus, Fiji slammed by a powerful cyclone Wednesday. We'll have the latest on the storm's aftermath there.

And relatives of the victims of a U.S. school shooting are now suing the gun makers.

Welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm George Howell. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

Fair to say, it was a big night for Republican Donald Trump and for Democrat Hillary Clinton. Both walk away winners from Saturday's election contests. And one candidate dropped out.

We will have more on that in a moment, but first in the state of Nevada, the Democratic caucuses. Hillary Clinton, she picked up almost 53 percent of the vote, Bernie Sanders at 47 percent. Though it wasn't a clean sweep for Clinton, it was enough to decisively paint her as the frontrunner among Democrats.

In the state of South Carolina, the primary there, Donald Trump finished with 10 percent a lead over his closest competitors, clinching a little more than 32 percent of the vote there. With the unofficial count now complete Marco Rubio got 22.5 percent and Ted Cruz at 22.3 percent.

Now with his big win tonight, Donald Trump moves forward with even greater momentum. It is momentum that continues to confound members of the Republican establishment, but it is the outsider status, and his bold style of this real estate mogul that seems to energize conservative voters. Meanwhile, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz who virtually tied for second place in South Carolina are not at least deterred.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If it is God's will that I should serve as the 45th president.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) RUBIO: If it is -- if it is God's will, that we should win this election.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

RUBIO: Then history will say that on this night in South Carolina we took the first step forward in the beginning of a new American century.

Thank you, South Carolina. Thank you, God bless you.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are the only campaign that has beaten and can beat Donald Trump.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Both tied for second place, but in many ways both are considering it a victory of their own. Now the race goes on, though, without Republican Jeb Bush who announced on Saturday that he would drop out of the race for his party's nomination. At one time the frontrunner himself, Bush finished a distant fourth place in South Carolina.

He'd been among the most willing of Republican candidates to clash directly with frontrunner Donald Trump, but he struggled to shake that low-energy image that was branded by Trump or the lackluster debate performances before voters. Bush ended his presidential campaign with an emotional speech to voters. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH, FORMER U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm proud of the campaign that we've run to unify our country and to advocate conservative solutions that would give more Americans the opportunity to rise up and reach their God-given potential. But the people of Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina have spoken, and I really respect their decision. So tonight I am suspending my campaign.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

BUSH: Yes, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no.

BUSH: Thank you.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

BUSH: I congratulate -- I congratulate my competitors that are remaining on the island on their success for a race that has been hard fought. Just as the contest for the presidency should be, because it is a tough job.

Thank you for the opportunity to run for the greatest office on the face of the earth. I love you all. God bless you.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Jeb Bush now out. Rubio and Cruz tied at second and Donald Trump the frontrunner. This latest primary win has firmly established him as that.

CNN's Sara Murray has more on Trump's primary victory from South Carolina.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump crushed the competition in the South Carolina primary. The billionaire businessman going from what was once a long-shot candidacy to now being the undisputed Republican frontrunner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We will never, ever forget South Carolina. We will never forget our great volunteers. We love our volunteers. We'll never forget all of the people that have helped us so much. My family, and, folks, let's go, let's have a big win in Nevada. Let's have a big win at the SEC, let's put this thing away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:05:08] MURRAY: Now Trump made no mention of Jeb Bush dropping out of the race in his victory speech and there's plenty of bad blood between them. But he did take hold on the conventional wisdom that when a candidate drops out, it will bolster his other competitors. He said he fully expects some of those supporters to come over to his side. And in order to ensure that happens, he is continuing to hit the campaign trail. On Sunday he'll be in Atlanta, Georgia. And from there, we move on to Nevada just ahead of the caucuses.

Back to you guys.

HOWELL: Now for the Democrats, the fight goes on. Hillary Clinton is already in the state of Texas, just hours after winning in Nevada. But before heading south, Clinton gave an emotional victory speech herself. She mentioned the need for more middle class jobs, or reforming the criminal justice system and equal pay for women. The frontrunner also took jabs at Bernie Sanders who she calls a single- issue candidate.

Brianna Keilar reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hillary Clinton with a decisive win in Nevada. What many of her top aides have decided as the best night of her campaign since she declared last April. And besting Bernie Sanders in a state where she really thought she might not be able to, she seemed to relish the moment and take aim at Sanders saying that he doesn't have wide enough appeal. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think it's right to look a person in the eye who's hurting and needs help and tell them that if they vote for you, you will get $5,000 in health care but only have to pay $500 for it. You shouldn't say that, unless you can really deliver it. And I don't think you should tell millions of young people they'll get free tuition if it actually depends on Republican governors, like yours, deciding to kick in tens of billions of dollars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: The next stop for Hillary Clinton is the first in the south primary state of South Carolina, which will hold its contest next Saturday. Hillary Clinton in Houston at a historically black college trying to target the all-important African-American vote that is so key not only in South Carolina but in other southern states that will go to the polls March 1st.

Brianna Keilar, CNN, Houston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Brianna, thank you. Now despite his loss, Sanders struck an upbeat tone. Now looking past South Carolina towards Super Tuesday, when more than a dozen states and territories vote in the U.S.

In his concession speech, Sanders says the U.S. needs to fix the campaign finance system. A major part of this campaign has been channeling voters' anger against big banks and corporations. Sanders told supporters they have the momentum to take the rest of the nation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe that when Democrats assemble in Philadelphia, in July, at that convention, we are going to see the results of one of the great political upsets in the history of the United States.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Bernie Sanders there.

Now let's take a look at the delegate count as it stands now. With his win in South Carolina on Saturday night, Donald Trump snagged most of the state's delegates, to date leading with 58 delegates overall. Ted Cruz follows with a distant 11 and Marco Rubio right behind him at 10. The nominee will need more than 1200 delegates to claim the party prize.

For the Democrats, team Clinton, they are breathing a sigh of relief after now securing a majority of the delegates in the state of Nevada. That's 26 to Bernie Sanders' 16. That includes super delegates. To date, Clinton is closing in on 500 pledged delegates, compared to Sanders who has 69.

Candidates need almost 2400 delegates to get the party's convention in July to win the presidential nomination.

From politics now to a shooting spree in the U.S. state of Michigan. At least seven people are dead in the city of Kalamazoo. Overall, nine people were shot in seemingly random locations. At a car dealership, at an apartment complex and a restaurant parking lot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL MATYAS, KALAMAZOO COUNTY UNDERSHERIFF: We've had several shootings here tonight in the county of the city Kalamazoo. They all appear to be related. We have multiple people dead. In summary what it looks like is where somebody just driving around, finding people and shooting them dead in their tracks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: At least seven people killed and at least one child among those killed. Police say that they do have a suspect in custody.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. We have more ahead on the monster of a cyclone that made a direct hit on Fiji. Homes there destroyed and many roads are now rivers. You see here. The very latest on the aftermath ahead.

Plus, the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre in the U.S. state of Connecticut.

[04:10:01] One of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history and now more than three years later victims' parents are taking major legal action.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SPORTS)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell.

In the race for the White House, what a night. Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders walk away winners with voters. Jeb Bush is out, leaving the Republican establishment confounded and trying to find a candidate to challenge Donald Trump.

There is so much to talk about. Let's bring in Scott Lucas, who is professor of International Politics at the University of Birmingham in England. Scott also specializes in U.S. politics. Live via Skype this hour.

Good to have you with us, Scott. So, look, let's talk about the rest of the world, how they're viewing this race. You've got two non- establishment candidates who are energizing voters who might not otherwise be engaged in politics in this country. First, Donald Trump, he has made controversial comments about so many people, about Muslims, about immigrants, about a war veteran but is still holding a lead. How is that being received abroad?

[04:15:02] SCOTT LUCAS, PROFESSOR OF POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM: Honestly, a lot of people are really concerned over here. I think the initial reaction of many people was that Trump really wasn't a serious candidate. We knew him as a reality TV star and as this loud, you know, tycoon. But now in the past few weeks, I've had -- you know, talked to many people, colleagues, that these aren't conservatives, liberals, these are people in the street, you know, mainstream voters who say what exactly is going on? Because they're worried that he's provocative, they're worried that he's making comments that could be seen as Islam phobic.

They're worried that he has made comments which can be seen as against women. We really have this idea that plays to fears in Europe of Trump being an antagonistic figure representing the worst of American politics rather than the best.

HOWELL: Is there a sense, though, that Donald Trump will continue to gain voters or that he will hit a ceiling with the base that he is holding onto?

LUCAS: Well, I think that plays to a larger question, which is -- which should go to the Republican establishment. And that is as long as Trump has a dedicated 30 percent to 35 percent of voters behind him, and these are loyal voters in a crowded field, he's going to look like he's the frontrunner.

HOWELL: Right.

LUCAS: As the field narrows that you ask, can the Republican establishment find an alternative that can bring across the majority of Republicans who do not see Trump as the way forward. Now I think that will be Marco Rubio, but there's been stumbles on the way, such as in New Hampshire. What we need to look at in the next week is whether Trump -- Rubio has really solidified his position as being the alternative to both Trump and to Ted Cruz. I'm looking I think at probably a three-candidate race all the way to the convention this summer.

HOWELL: Wow, that would be interesting. All right. Let's talk about Bernie Sanders now. Here is a guy who has energized younger voters with a very anti-Wall Street message and using that really to chip away at Hillary Clinton. What do you make of the Sanders campaign?

LUCAS: I think he's just really drawn attention to people over here who had no idea who Bernie Sanders was until a few weeks ago. I mean, followed him for decades, first as an independent and then a Democratic senator, and he has this really progressive message that has a lot of appeal over here. That is we need to really focus on all people in society. We need to make sure it's not just the well-off who benefit. We need to look at a society which deals with social issues such as race, such as claims of division. And in contrast to Trump, who's seen as a divider, Sanders is really

seen as a potential unifier, raising issues that need to be addressed in American politics. So he's getting a very positive reception here. I don't think he can defeat Hillary Clinton, but I think it'll be a very feel-good moment both for us over here and I think also for the Democratic party, which will look a lot more unified than the Republicans going into the general election.

HOWELL: Scott, you're walking right into my next question here.

LUCAS: OK.

HOWELL: You've seen a similar movement there, anti-establishment movement in Britain, you know, with the election of the opposition party leader, Jeremy Corbin. Are there any parallels?

LUCAS: I think there's a parallel in the sense that people in Britain, as well as in the U.S. really don't want a small group at the top or a small perceived group at the top making all the important economic and political decisions, and so I think Corbin has caught the attention of a lot of people to unexpectedly become the leader of the main opposition party.

The problem is that the establishment within his own party are still skeptical. So in a way, I think in contrast to what is going to be a positive moment for the Democrats, we are in a very tricky situation here in Britain especially, because to be honest with you, the big question that will dominate our politics over here is not how we see the United States. It's going to be Britain's relations with Europe, where we may be facing a decision to leave the European Union.

HOWELL: Scott Lucas live for us in Birmingham, England. Scott, thank you so much for your insights on the U.S. presidential race.

LUCAS: Thank you.

HOWELL: Now we move on to Fiji which is cleaning up and trying to dry out after a monster cyclone slammed the island nation on Saturday. Tropical cyclone Winston, it is blamed for the deaths of five people. That storm ripped apart homes. It knocked down trees and sparked flash floods.

A curfew remains in effect until Monday so that emergency crews can clear the roads and restore power which is out across much of the country. Fiji's prime minister also declared a state of emergency that remains in effect for the next 30 days.

To talk more about this, our senior international correspondent Ivan Watson joins us now with more on the aftermath of this storm.

And, Ivan, as we were leading into this, we saw some images there from Fiji, a great deal of damage. How is that island nation starting to recover?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it has survived this monster storm, George, that is a category 5 tropical cyclone Winston that the experts tell us is the most powerful storm on record in the southern hemisphere, with winds of up to 230 kilometers per hour, sustained winds, and gusting up to 325 kilometers per hour.

[04:20:06] And the prime minister of Fiji -- this is an archipelago of islands. Some of them quite small. Clearly quite vulnerable to this kind of a monster storm. He says that tragically there have been at least five casualties as a result of this. He went on to say that, you know, people shouldn't be taking any chances. They should stay indoors while the authorities still try to get to the bottom and assess the scale of the damage.

Let's take a listen to what the prime minister had to say a short while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK BAINIMARAMA, FIJI PRIME MINISTER: In the aftermath of this great tragedy, many are without power and full access to water and of course cut off from communication. My government team is working overtime to repair the damage that has been caused and restore these essential services to our people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: So, of course, you've got electricity blackouts over large parts of Fiji, problems with water as well, reports of schools that have been damaged, of hospitals that have been damaged as well. The evacuation of more than 1,000 people, a number of homes also destroyed. And the curfew will continue until about dawn on Monday.

The prime minister's also declared a state of emergency for the island. But when you look at the casualties thus far, though tragic, they are small in number, and I think that the fears were that this would be much more deadly, much more devastating. The fact that that hasn't happened is either a combination of the fact that the storm seems to have moved away from some of the bigger population centers, or just how prepared the people of Fiji were for this record-breaking storm -- George.

HOWELL: Ivan, when it comes to the damage on that island, is it mainly flooding? Is it mainly buildings that were destroyed? What's the worst impact from this storm?

WATSON: I think it's a combination from what we're seeing in the local media there, not only of flooding but also of downed power lines and in some cases buildings with the roofs quite literally ripped off. People who had to be evacuated because of one-meter high storm surges. Of course people living close to coastlines on some of these islands, but to give you a sense of how quickly things seem to be coming back to normal, three major airlines traveling to Fiji say that they're all going to resume normal service on Monday.

The tourism minister has come out saying that it does not appear that, you know, this key economic sector for the island's economy, the tourism industry, it doesn't seem that the hotels have suffered major, major damage, and he's also tried to reassure tourists there saying that they would get priority if they need to leave Fiji in the coming days after this storm. So there are signs that this island nation does appear to have survived and perhaps dodged the bullet in the case of, again, this monster tropical cyclone, Winston -- George.

HOWELL: Senior international correspondent Ivan Watson live for us in Hong Kong. Thank you so much for your reporting there.

And now let's turn to meteorologist Karen Maginnis in the International Weather Center to tell us about where this storm was, Karen, and where it is now.

(WEATHER REPORT)

[04:26:02] HOWELL: Imagine. Karen Maginnis, thank you so much.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

It was a winning day for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Ahead, what the outcomes of Nevada and South Carolina mean for the entire U.S. presidential field.

Plus, parents of the victims of the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre. They're taking legal action. We will tell you how they say the tragedy could have been prevented.

This is CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: A warm welcome back to our viewers all around the world this hour. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell. The headlines we're following.

[04:30:01] There are widespread power outages and heavy flooding in Fiji, left behind by tropical cyclone Winston. It is the most powerful storm on record in the southern hemisphere, now swirling out to sea after making landfall on Saturday. The huge cyclone killed at least five people. It ripped apart homes and knocked down trees all across the island nation.

Britain will vote on June 23rd, whether the U.K. will remain in the E.U. Prime Minister David Cameron set the date after reaching a deal with European Union leaders that grants Britain special status. While the vote is months away, leaders on both sides are already out campaigning.

Turkey says it will increase security at the capital after Wednesday's deadly attack. An attack that it blames on YPG Kurdish militants. The Turkish prime minister says more security forces will be deployed as part of a new anti-terror action plan. Turkey is also calling on the U.S. to classify the YPG as a terrorist organization.

A shooting spree in the U.S. state of Michigan has killed at least seven people there. Police say a gunman attacked three seemingly random locations. An apartment complex, a car dealership and then a nearby restaurant. A suspect is currently in custody. The race for the White House, Hillary Clinton has won the Democratic

caucuses in Nevada. Her victory helps calm some concerns among her supporters that she was in danger of losing her frontrunner status to Bernie Sanders.

Also on Saturday, Donald Trump, he won big in the Republican primary in South Carolina. He grabbed almost a third of the votes there.

Meanwhile, Jeb Bush suspended his campaign after a disappointing fourth place finish in South Carolina. Just a short time ago my colleague, Natalie Allen, spoke with Dylan Byers, CNN's senior reporter for media and politics, and she asked him why Hillary Clinton's race in Nevada was about more than just votes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DYLAN BYERS, CNN SENIOR MEDIA AND POLITICAL REPORTER: I think this was a huge win for her. Right? Obviously if she comes into Nevada and loses Nevada to Bernie Sanders, the narrative is much different for her going forward. All of a sudden, Bernie Sanders looks like a candidate who can do better than just Iowa and New Hampshire, he can actually pick up votes, you know.

If he had done better among the Latino population that would have changed the dynamic for her. Instead what she did is she proved that she is still the dominant candidate. That she had a broad swath of support among Latinos but also crucially among African-Americans who are going to be key as the Democrats head into South Carolina next week.

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Right. And then Super Tuesday from there, so absolutely. But interesting in her speech. She utilized more "we" and "us," than using "I," which she's done in the past. What do you make of that?

BYERS: Absolutely. What we're seeing is a shift in the sort of rhetoric of the campaign. All of these presidential campaigns sort of go these -- through these different periods, if you will, of messaging. What she's trying to do now is establish herself as the candidate for the entire Democratic Party, for progressives, for everything they stand for. She's trying to appeal to that large swath of the population and take a little bit of that away from Bernie Sanders.

I think what she's doing in part is trying to once again move beyond Bernie Sanders and establish herself almost as the nominee in the general election candidate. And by talking about we, by talking about the sort of larger Democratic coalition, that's what she's doing there by employing some of that language.

ALLEN: I've heard you say that Donald Trump is prevailing with the hope and change kind of message. But others have said he actually has an opposite message from that, a very grim and dark message. What do you think helps him to continue to prevail?

BYERS: Well, look, there's no question that his message is dark and grim if you're talking about, you know, certain key groups that he's spoken out against, namely Mexican immigrants, Muslims, groups like that, and we've seen him employ some of that rhetoric in the final hours before South Carolina's primaries.

What I meant by hope and change and it's key, is there are a lot of voters out there who are really frustrated with the way the country is going. They're frustrated with the Republican establishment, and when I say they're looking for hope and change, they're looking for someone who can just very simply and succinctly and forcefully tell them look, things are going to be better. It doesn't sound right to compare Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

But in a way both of them are running on that platform. Yes, we can. Make America great again. Life is going to get better if you just trust. I will make it better again. Trump is obviously doing that on a very different side of the spectrum. But fundamentally those are the same messages.

ALLEN: Right. Well, let's look at how the media is playing into the Trump story finally. He gets a lot of airtime. He enjoys the media spotlight for sure, but when he likes how he's treated, he's happy about that.

[04:35:09] But if he doesn't, he comes after someone, and he treats them extremely harshly. Freedom of the press goes right out the door, literally.

What's your take on Trump and the media and how that's playing into this campaign?

BYERS: Well, sure. I mean, the story of Donald Trump's campaign is fundamentally a media story. It's a story about winning over the media coverage, sucking up all of the media oxygen and basking in that limelight, at the same time, it's a story of railing against the media, who have very little stalk with the American people. The approval rating for the mainstream media is at an all-time low. They're an easy target. Criticizing the media is red meat, especially for conservative audiences.

We've seen that on the left side with the way that Bernie Sanders has sort of railed against the media as well. But it creates this really funny dynamic where he's simultaneously lashing out at the media. He speaks about how, you know, you can't trust them. They're scum, they're terrible people, but at the same time, no one has spent more time courting the media, going into studios, green rooms, getting on the phone, talking with networks every single cable news network. He's on the Sunday shows. So it's a really -- it's a really strange dynamic.

ALLEN: Well, as a member of the media for CNN, you've done a good job with all the fun we can hear swirling around you there in Vegas, talking with us there on the Strip.

Dylan Byers, thanks so much. We appreciate it. We'll talk with you again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: All right. Time to take a look now at what's next in the U.S. presidential calendar and what's next? Well, it's South Carolina again. Now the Republicans have voted, Democrats will have their turn a week later.

March 1st, the Super Tuesday, a potentially make-or-break day for candidates with primaries and caucuses held in 15 states and territories all across the United States. Campaigning continues through the spring into summer. Culminating in national conventions.

Republicans meet in Cleveland, Ohio, July 18th, where they will officially name their presidential candidate. Democrats choose their candidate a week later in Philadelphia. And then it's on to the general election in November.

This is CNN NEWSROOM. Still ahead, in an unimaginable tragedy, it leads to what could be groundbreaking lawsuit begins U.S. gun-makers. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:40:36] HOWELL: Welcome back to NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell. We have more now on that deadly cyclone that -- path of destructive through Fiji's islands and left at least five people dead. There are fears that tropical cyclone Winston may have destroyed scores of homes and villages in Fiji's outlying islands.

Danielle Perry is the public information officer for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and she now joins us live on the line from Fiji's capital of Suva.

Danielle, good to have you on the line. So, I want to ask you, our viewers are looking at these images of great destruction on Fiji islands. What was it like for you to weather, to, you know, go through this storm?

DANIELLE PERRY, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER FOR THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS: Look, I'm no stranger to cyclones. I've lived through many, but this was far worse than any I've ever experienced in the past. It was a harrowing night here in the capital Suva. It was very windy. A lot of trees came down. Power lines came down. But to be frank, that was nothing compared to what was happening in the rest of the country, in the north. The eastern islands and over to the west later this morning.

It was a very, very rough night for all of those people. A category 5 cyclone passing right over the top of them. It cut a path of destruction across Fiji's islands, blowing off roofs, bringing down trees and power lines and flooding rivers. It was a very frightening night for a lot of people. At some point, the winds were gusting up to 325 kilometers an hour. And that makes it one of the most severe cyclones ever to hit the South Pacific.

HOWELL: At least five people, we understand, died from this storm regrettably. But considering how strong the storm was, thankfully no more were killed in this.

I want to ask you. What's happening now with people who've been displaced from their homes and the process of trying to clean up?

PERRY: at this stage, it's very early days in the response. The Fiji government is leading this emergency response. Assessments have begun. Countries in this region have been supporting the Fiji government in doing assessments over some of the other islands, trying to ascertain the situation on the ground. Communications have been very difficult, especially for the western division.

Many of the phone lines are down and it's been very hard to ascertain the extent of the damage. We are starting to get some reports in now from the eastern islands, these were the islands that where he first, by the cyclone, some of that information suggests that now six people have been confirmed dead in total. 150 houses have been confirmed as destroyed in the eastern division, and a further 60 damaged.

And really these are just the first reports that are coming in. We've yet to hear exactly the extent of the damage in some of those western -- western villages of Fiji. So we'll expect to see more over the coming days about the extent of damage there.

HOWELL: And the emergency, I understand, continues through the next 30 days as, you know, crews do the best that they can to start cleaning up the damage and assess the situation, but I'd like to ask you, what's happening now? I mean, is the bigger concern mudslides? Is it more rain? What is the concern?

PERRY: Right now a curfew is in place across the nation of Fiji. People are confined to their homes to allow emergency services to go about the work of cleaning up the streets and trying to get some of the downed power lines out of the way so that people can move around safely. We understand that will be lifted tomorrow morning. At the moment, a number of roads around the country are blocked by both landslides and flooding, and that is obviously a concern for authorities who are working on that at the moment.

Schools have been closed for the week to allow this massive operation to clean up the country to get under way. A lot of schools are also being used as evacuation centers, so that is another consideration. At the moment, the government is really assessing exactly what the need is on the ground and just the scale of this disaster and the Pacific humanitarian team, that is the humanitarian partners that work in this region stand by, ready to assist if requested by the Fiji government.

[04:45:12] HOWELL: On the phone with us, Danielle Perry in the capital of Suva, Fiji.

Danielle, thank you so much for telling us about what you're seeing and what you went through. We're thankful that you're OK. And we wish others the very best as crews work to start restoring the island nation.

We have this just in now to CNN, at least 25 people are dead in the Syrian city of Homs after two suspected car bomb explosions. The blasts happened near a bus stop in the city. That is just north of the capital city of Damascus. The bombings hit a district that is controlled by the regime and is home to members of the same sect as the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It is unclear who is responsible, but noteworthy to point out that ISIS has claimed responsibility for different attacks in that very same neighborhood in the past three months.

In 2012, the small town of Newtown, Connecticut, it was the site of one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. This week, a judge will decide whether a lawsuit filed by some of the victims' parents will go forward. That lawsuit says the gun manufacturers are at least partly at fault for the tragedy that happened there.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It lasted less than five minutes. But when the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary finally stopped, 20 children and six educators lay dead. One was David Wheeler's 7-year-old son, Benny. His other son, who was nine, was also there.

DAVID WHEELER, SON DIED IN NEWTOWN SHOOTING: He spent that entire time hiding in a box of T-shirts in a supply closet. And he heard every round. And one of his first questions to me was, how many people were there, Dad? How many were there? And I said there was one guy.

FEYERICK: One hundred and fifty four rounds fired from an AR-15 high powered semiautomatic assault rifle. A weapon originally created and designed by the U.S. Military to be fully automatic and used in combat.

JACKIE BARDEN, SON DIED IN NEWTOWN SHOOTING: Each of the kids had three to eight bullets in them. Something like that. And you just think, there is something wrong.

FEYERICK: Jackie Barden's 6-year-old son, Daniel, was also killed. Both parents are part of a potentially precedent setting lawsuit alleging Remington, its distributors and sellers, have a legal obligation to safely market such a dangerous product. Instead, the lawsuit says gun makers do the opposite. Using adrenaline fueled ads and targeted product placement in video games like "Call of Duty" which the Sandy Hook gunman played repeatedly before the rampage.

WHEELER: I would like to see them stop looking at violence prone young men as their ideal customer.

BARDEN: Their target.

FEYERICK: The lawsuit focuses on a 2005 law passed by Congress that protects gun manufacturers from liability if essentially a firearm is misused in a crime to kill people. Remington declined CNN's request for comment citing pending

litigation. However in papers to dismiss the suit, their lawyers argue that 2005 law, quote, "provides complete immunity to the Remington defendant."

Since 2012, the AR-15 has been used in seven of America's deadly shootings which together claimed 79 lives. They include Aurora movie theater and most recently San Bernardino's ISIS-inspired rampage.

(On camera): Do you think if the gunman had used a different kind of firearm that maybe, just maybe, your children could have survived?

BARDEN: But he chose that because he wanted to.

WHEELER: Right. He had other firearms on his person.

BARDEN: He had -- yes, but he knew.

WHEELER: And in his car and he didn't use them. He didn't take them because he knew what he was doing. And he knew what he wanted to do.

FEYERICK: Remington is trying to have that case dismissed. If they fail, that gun manufacturer could face trial in connection with the deaths of 26 people murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Scientists in Brazil say that they have discovered the genome sequence of the Zika virus. The first step in coming up with a vaccine for that disease. That is the first step. Researchers in Rio de Janeiro say that Zika is indeed related to microcephaly which causes birth defects in babies. Meanwhile, Colombia is reporting an increase in the number of Zika cases, now at more than 37,000.

[04:50:00] You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be right back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SPORTS)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

HOWELL: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell. An update now to a breaking story that we are following here at CNN.

In the U.S. state of Michigan at least seven people were killed after a shooting rampage in Kalamazoo. The gunman attacked three seemingly random locations, shooting a total of nine people at an apartment complex, a car dealership and a restaurant parking lot. All were hit within a few hours. At least one child is among the dead. An eyewitness described seeing police pursuing the suspect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As soon as he said like the type of vehicle, she said, is it a Chevy? And I said, it totally was, like I couldn't put two and two together, like this is the vehicle that they've been describing all night, and you know, you just never expect it to be, you know, that person. And you know, that's the thing, you know, that's why my respect goes out to the police officers because of the fact like I said, you know, it takes a lot to be -- subject yourself to those kind of things. So I can't imagine --

[04:55:04] UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did you ever see a weapon?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, like I said I was never that close, but you know, I knew for us that that was them as soon as I seen all the police cars arrive. So I was just, you know, driving right by. I was just spending, you know, my birthday down here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Police say that they do have a strong suspect in custody.

CNN legal analyst Tom Fuentes assessed the situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: They're confident they have the suspect, but they're not going to put out to the people that they absolutely are sure they have him. I think that they ought to be able to figure that out pretty quickly. But at this point, we don't know what the basis of the arrest was, did they get a license plate description or a vehicle description, make a traffic stop, in which case they ought to be able to search that vehicle and see if there's still weapons in it or ammunition in it.

They have the suspect in custody. They should be able to do forensic examinations on him, to see if he has gunpowder residue either on his hands or also his clothing. If they have a description of the subject, the license plate but went to that residence and took him out of a residence, then they're going to want to get a search warrant and examine the residence for weapons and ammunition and other indications of the evidence of the shooting. So there's a number of possibilities. The police did put out a lot of detail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Thanks for joining us. I'm George Howell. I'll be back after the break with another hour of news from around the world.

This is CNN, the world's news leader.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)