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Trump Celebrates in Atlanta, Heading to Nevada; Assessing Chances of Clinton, Trump Going All the Way; Michigan Uber Shooting Rampage Kills 6; New Delhi Protests Shut Down Major Water Supply Source; Tropical Storm Winston Leaves Death, Destruction in Fiji; Cruz Looking to Knock Trump's Front-Runner Status; London Mayor Against Deal to Stay in E.U.; Americans Eager to Become Astronauts Hits All- Time High; Doll Reaches Cult-Like Status in Thailand. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired February 22, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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

(HEADLINES)

[02:00:47] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, less than two days before the Republican caucuses in Nevada and less than a week before the Democratic primary in South Carolina, the U.S. presidential hopefuls are stumping hard.

But Hillary Clinton took time to speak with CNN. The Democratic front runner says she's trying to ease voters' concerns about her motivation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I understand that voters have questions. I'm going to do my very best to answer those questions. I think there's an underlying question that maybe is really in the back of people's minds, and that is, you know, is she in it for us, or is she in it for herself?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Republican Donald Trump also spoke to CNN and he made several bold predictions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As a candidate, I will bring over many, many Dems. We're going to bring over a lot of Democrats, a lot of Independents. Nobody else will. In all fairness, the other candidates will never bring over Independents. They'll never bring -- we're talking about the Reagan Democrats. We're going to bring over tremendous numbers. Bernie's not going to make it in my opinion, and I never thought he would. Hillary won't make it. Frankly, if she gets indicted, that's the only way she's going to be stopped. I think it will be between Hillary and myself. They say it will be the largest voter turnout in the history of the United States elections.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Donald Trump plans to campaign in Nevada on Monday. He spent Sunday in Atlanta celebrating his big win in the South Carolina primary.

Jeremy Diamond has more on Trump's day in Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT): Fresh off his primary victory in South Carolina, Donald Trump on Sunday rolled into Atlanta with the momentum at his back. Donald Trump making his pitch here as that's going to be one of the big delegate pickups in the Republican- nominating contest, giving a classic stump speech here to the roaring approval of thousands of supporters in this southern state. But Donald Trump didn't go after his rivals like Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, who came closest to him in the primary in South Carolina. He did, however, talk about one of his former rivals. Listen in.

TRUMP: I'll give you a story of the one of the candidates -- I won't say who, yet, but you can find out. One of the candidates, the head of a major, major, and the owner of a major, major pharmaceutical company is in charge of his campaign. Right? You know that, right? In charge of his campaign. Raises hundreds of millions of dollars. They've raised a fortune. They have a fantastic, like a lot of money. Pharmaceutical. So a friend of mine comes up to me, a doctor, he says Donald, I don't understand it, the United States is the biggest purchaser of drugs in the world. They don't negotiate price. They're not allowed to. I said, what are you talking about. They're not allowed to. I said, that can't be but let me check it. As soon as I checked it, I realized why he's right.

DIAMOND: Donald Trump using one of the much-used lines against Jeb Bush who, on Saturday night, dropped out of the presidential race after a poor showing in South Carolina. But Donald Trump has consistently used Jeb Bush as his one of foils, talking about Bush being low energy. So it looks like Donald Trump missing one of key parts of his speech, is going to miss Jeb a little bit, too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And that was CNN's Jeremy Diamond reporting.

Republican Jeb Bush dropped out after his disappointing showing in South Carolina. And now Senator Rubio is hoping to get support from Bush's former backers. He said that, despite angry words the candidates are all slinging, the job they seek requires love.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Even the Americans that don't agree with me, even the Americans that don't like me, even the Americans that protest against me, even the Americans that say nasty things about me on Twitter, I will cut their taxes, too. (APPLAUSE)

RUBIO: When I am your president, I will never pit you against each other in order to win this election.

(APPLAUSE)

RUBIO: I will never ask one group of Americans to be angry at another group of Americans so that I can win.

(APPLAUSE)

RUBIO: Because, if you want to be president of the United States of America, you must love the American people, even the American people that do not love you back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[02:05:30] CHURCH: Joining us now from Washington to talk more about the race to the White House is CNN political analyst, Josh Rogin, also a columnist for "Bloomberg View."

Thank you so much for being with us.

A pretty incredible win for Donald Trump. He seemed unstoppable at this point. Is there any way he wouldn't be the Republican nominee, given his wins in New Hampshire and South Carolina?

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, if history's any guide, he definitely has the inside track. In modern history, there hasn't been a Republican candidate who's won New Hampshire and South Carolina and not gone on to be the nominee.

That being said, this is a year unlike any other. Now there's a resettling in the Republican field with the exit of Jeb Bush. There's a consolidation of the establishment support and money around Marco Rubio. As we head into the next contest, which is Nevada, in a couple of days, and then the March 1 Super Tuesday primaries, there will be a changing of all the strategies of these campaigns in accordance with those new realities. But still, you won't see all the candidates go after Trump. There's still a battle to be the anti-Trump. You'll still see Rubio attacking Cruz, Cruz attacking Rubio and so forth.

CHURCH: And Marco Rubio says this is now a three-person race, with Trump, Rubio and Cruz fighting it out. Is that your reading of where this is all going?

ROGIN: Yes, that's essentially true. The problem with that for Marco Rubio is that it's not necessarily to his advantage for it to become a two-person race very quickly. Ted Cruz seems to be on his way down. Marco Rubio seems to be on his way up, but for different reasons. Each of the candidates wants to consolidate support amongst their pockets in different states before they go head to head with Donald Trump. So it's a three-person race at least until march 1st. You can be sure that Ben Carson and John Kasich will stay in at least until then. Kasich is expected to stay in at least until his home state primary in Ohio on March 15th. And then you'll start to see a real whittling down to maybe two candidates.

CHURCH: I wanted to ask you about John Kasich and Ben Carson, when you think they're likely to bail out. As you mentioned, Jeb Bush is already gone. What does that mean? Once those three are all out of this race, how does that impact the other three?

ROGIN: Well, it's a guessing game at this point as to where each candidate's support would go if and when they drop out of the race. There was a clear overlap between the Rubio support and the Jeb Bush support. So you could reasonably deduce that as Jeb's exit benefits Rubio. After that, it gets a little bit more muddled. Trump is taking people from both conservative constituencies and moderate constituencies and Independent voters and new voters, so the fact that Trump is not necessarily placed in one side of the Republican Party or the other side of the Republican Party means that he could absorb votes from anybody who drops out. So if Kasich drops out, those votes might go to Rubio, might go to Cruz, they might go to Trump. That all remains to be seen.

CHURCH: Josh, on the other side of the political spectrum, Hillary Clinton won Nevada on Saturday, and Bernie Sanders went down after losing the African-American vote. So what does that likely say about what's going to happen to him going to South Carolina's primary on Saturday?

ROGIN: The Clinton campaign has a big institutional advantage in South Carolina. The Clintons are known there. They have a lot of infrastructure there. They're well liked there. So even if she wins South Carolina, there's a path for Bernie Sanders to build support in the Super Tuesday states. He's focusing on those states that could be considered more cosmopolitan, maybe a little more progressive. He's focusing on Minnesota, Colorado, Oklahoma. He'll have a natural advantage in Massachusetts, which is next to his home state of Vermont. And what Hillary Clinton is going to try to do is shore up the southern states, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee. That's where she thinks she has the biggest chance of racking the most number of delegates heading into the March weeks.

CHURCH: Josh Rogin, always a pleasure to chat with you. Thanks so much.

ROGIN: Thank you.

CHURCH: And staying in the United States, mourners gathered in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Sunday to remember the six people killed in a shooting rampage. The suspected gunman was an Uber driver. And according to one source, he continued to pick up passengers between shootings.

Walter Smith Randolph, with our affiliate WWNT, sat down with for exclusive interview with one of those passengers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[02:10:11] MATT MELLON, WITNESS: Alarm bells should have gone going on in my head. WALTER SMITH RANDOLPH, REPORTER, WWNT: Matt Mellon is counting his

lucky stars.

MELLON: Pretty scary ordeal, especially to be so closely involved with it. I'm happy to be safe.

SMITH RANDOLPH: Mellon was a passenger in alleged gunman Jason Dalton's car while he was working as an Uber driver before allegedly opening fire on eight people across Kalamazoo County. Mellon says Dalton was acting strange.

MELLON: He introduced himself as a different name. Then what Jason was -- that comes up for Uber.

SMITH RANDOLPH: Sitting in the back of that Chevy Equinox was Dalton's dog.

MELLON: We got maybe a mile from my house, he got a telephone call. After that telephone call, he started driving really erratically. We were running stop signs.

SMITH RANDOLPH: Dalton allegedly hitting 80 miles an hour down West Main Avenue while sideswiping cars.

MELLON: We were driving through medians, going through lawns, speeding along, and finally, once he came to a stop, I jumped out of the car and ran away.

SMITH RANDOLPH: That's when he says he called police.

MELLON: He wouldn't stop. He kept looking at me like, don't you want to get a ride to your friend's house? And I was like, well, yeah, but I want to get there alive, you know?

SMITH RANDOLPH: Once he got to his friend's house, he told his fiance what happened. She posted this warning so others wouldn't be harmed.

MELLON: We posted the picture on Facebook so our friends wouldn't get in the car with him if they happened to take an Uber that night.

SMITH RANDOLPH: Mellon says he jumped out of the Dalton's car around 4:30 Saturday afternoon. Police believe Dalton opened fire at the Meadows town homes around 6:00 before allegedly shooting seven more people between 10:00 and 10:30.

MELLON: I'm upset because I tried contacting Uber afterwards, after I talked to the police, saying that we needed to get this guy off the road.

SMITH RANDOLPH: Another News Channel 3 viewer posting this Uber notification saying she was scheduled for a pickup by Dalton at 11:19. By that time, six people already gunned down.

(on camera): You say this whole time he was very calm?

MELLON: Yeah. Surprisingly calm. Because I was freaking out. (END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And that was Walter Smith Randolph, of WWNT, reporting there.

London's mayor says he will back a campaign for Britain to leave the European Union. We will look at this stunning blow to Prime Minister David Cameron who's pushing for the country to stay.

Plus, an especially deadly day in Syria, even as diplomats announce progress in peace talks. The details coming up in a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SPORTS REPORT)

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[02:16:53] CHURCH: Syria's state news agency reports separate car bomb and suicide attacks killed at least 122 people Sunday. ISIS claimed responsibility for the bombings in the southern outskirts of Damascus and in Homs. The neighborhood in Homs has been struck by three similar bombings in the past three months.

Now against the backdrop of that violence, the U.S. said the parties are closer to a cease-fire than they have been. At a news conference in Amman, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry updated the progress in talks with Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: We have reached a provisional agreement in principle on the terms of the cessation of hostilities that could begin in the coming days. It is not yet done, and I anticipate that our presidents, President Obama and President Putin, may well speak somewhere in the next days or so in order to try to complete this task.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And Kerry met with Jordan's foreign minister Sunday.

Jomana Karadsheh is in Amman and she joins us with the very latest.

Jomana, the violent scene on Sunday in Syria makes any peace agreement a pretty tough task. What's being said about that, when we hear from John Kerry that it's possibly days away. It's hard to believe that.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, we need to look at this kind of violence that we saw on Sunday. As you mentioned, repeated violence, that we have seen similar attacks over the past few weeks in the same areas, also carried out by ISIS. This kind -- these kind of attacks, this kind of violence that is carried out by ISIS, it is unlikely to cease anytime soon. These two groups that are considered to be terrorist groups in Syria are not part of any negotiations. They're not part of any talk of any cessation of hostilities in that country. You could possibly see an increase in their sort of violence, likely, because it is this kind of angst that is aimed to inflame sectarian tensions, exacerbate those tensions that are already really high.

And we heard from Secretary Kerry before these attacks, but addressing the fight against ISIS. Speaking here in Amman, Secretary Kerry saying, to see any of effective fight against ISIS is not going to be a military solution. He was talking about it has to be a political solution where he says you need to have --

CHURCH: All right, talking to Jomana Karadsheh there in Amman. Unfortunately, we did lose communication there, but we will talk again with Jomana next hour.

We'll move on now. And stores across New Delhi are closed Monday because of a water shortage caused by violent protests. At least 10 people are dead after clashes between police and protesters over the weekend. Thousands of troops were called in to stop the unrest, which has shut down a major water supply source.

Sumnima Udas reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[02:20:05] SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This city is bracing for what officials call an unprecedented water crisis, because protesters in the neighboring state have damaged a key water supply. In areas like this, tanks are already running dry.

Nothing's been coming out for the past several days. How are you managing? You have a dairy here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UDAS: He says he's been lugging buckets and jugs of water from home to run his business. It's OK for now, but it's soon going to get very difficult and expensive.

No water means most people are having to buy these water jugs. Normally, they cost about 30 rupees. That's 50 cents. But there's a bit of a black market going on because of this water crisis, so this jug right now costs 100 rupees. That's $1.50.

The heart of the protests are not far from here. The agitators belong to the state's dominant caste. They've been looting, setting public property on fire. They're demanding a place for reservations in India's education and government jobs quota system. It's an affirmative action plan India put in place decades ago to uplift those belonging to disadvantages lower castes. The system has often been touted as one of India's success stories. But resentment is growing as jobs become more scarce.

At least 10 people have died due to the violence. Paramilitary troops have been deployed, with shoot-on-sight orders. Hundreds of trains have been canceled, highways blocked.

But in the capital, it's the scarcity of the most essential commodity that's hurting people most.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is the water for cooking. There is the water for washing those dishes. How untidy the kitchen is now. When you go to the washroom, you have to think twice how you're going to use your flush. If the flush is not working properly, the basic sanitation is not in place so you can't go back there again. How do you take baths?

UDAS: It's worth noting, many people in New Delhi do use ground water and often rely on water tankers because there's never really been a 24/7 water supply from the state to most households. But still, people here say they're preparing for the worst.

Sumnima Udas, CNN, New Delhi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: To Fiji now, and a record-breaking storm has come and gone, but it's left behind a terrible mess and heartbreak. Care Australia says Tropical Storm Winston has killed at least 20 people in the South Pacific island nation. Fiji's prime minister says there's widespread damage and flooding, and power remains out across many of the islands. A state of emergency is in effect for 30 days, as that cleanup continues.

So let's get more on the situation in the South Pacific now from our Pedram Javaheri.

And the pictures all show this total devastation. The structures are not very hardy, are they?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Not at all. This is a part of the world that people often think is tropical, they would have to see a lot of tropical cyclones. Not necessarily the case. You look into the date, in the last 45 or so years, records show that only about 12 cyclones have been within 100 miles of the capital. This shows you dating back to 1972. We've had several impacts. Never a category 5 equivalent. And you take a look, this is what it shapes up as far as numbers are concerned. There's Super Typhoon Haiyan, 300 kilometer per hour winds. Cyclone Winston comes in at 298, tying Super Typhoon Joanne, which made impact across Taiwan in the 1950s. The laws of physics dictate how strong storms get on our planet. Initially, it was believed they could never get above 300 miles per hour. We had Haiyan. And you take a look at this one, just shy of 300 kilometers per hour. It's easily a category 5. In fact, the National Hurricane Center puts this sort of verbiage into the storm. A high percentage of frame homes would be destroyed. Total roof failure expected. Power outages last four weeks, potentially months. And areas could be uninhabitable for months at a time. Several areas without any communication or power. Very mountainous across this region. Some mountains rise as high as 1300 meters. They would do wonders in trying to weaken a system. But look at the system. Literally, thread the needle. Coral Island, 5,000 people live there. It went right through that region. With limited communication, the fear is fatalities could be much higher. It made landfall several times over a population of 110,000. It is incredible at this point to have 20 fatalities.

You take a look, here's what's left of the storm. It's still a category 3 storm sitting between Vanuatu and Fiji. The storm is favored to go further south and weaken. And as it does, it leaves behind heavy rainfall. Corner of your screen is where the storm is. The orange and yellows indicate 150 or more millimeters of rainfall, in homes that no longer have walls in most cases. This is a part of the world, Rosemary, where 90 percent of its revenue in this area comes from tourism. And when you look at an area and say potentially uninhabitable for weeks, if not months, it's going to be a significant damage to the economy.

[02:25:54] CHURCH: Absolutely. And you worry when cyclones hit these islands. People are so vulnerable. There's nowhere to run.

JAVAHERI: Exactly. Exactly. You're in the middle of it. And evacuations will not take you unless you're able to leave. And there's 330 islands that make up the archipelago of Fiji. It's a tough place.

CHURCH: Thanks, Pedram. Appreciate it.

Well, a political blow to Britain's prime minister as London's mayor says he's backing the campaign to leave the European Union. The reasons behind his decision coming up.

Plus, Donald Trump's White House rivals are hoping to overtake him in the next big primary contest. And one of them insists he's the only one who can unite the Republican Party. But is that even possible? We'll take a look.

Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:08] CHURCH: And a warm welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church.

I want to check the headlines for you this hour.

(HEADLINES)

CHURCH: Fresh from his Republican primary win in South Carolina, Donald Trump told CNN he expects to clench his party's nomination before the July convention.

Hillary Clinton thanked supporters for her win in Saturday's Nevada caucuses. She says she's focusing now on building voter trust ahead of the Democratic primary in South Carolina on Saturday.

While Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were campaigning in a celebratory mood, the other White House hopefuls were also on the campaign trail Sunday. Marco Rubio told voters at a rally in Tennessee that he is the only Republican contender who can bring the party's factions together now that the field is winnowing out. Ted Cruz courted voters in Nevada ahead of Tuesday's Republican caucuses there. He insisted he tied Rubio for second in South Carolina's primary on Saturday. And after campaigning Saturday, Ohio Governor John Kasich went home Sunday where he signed legislation effectively blocking state funds to the Planned Parenthood group.

Well, on the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders made a surprise stop at a church in South Carolina Sunday. He wooed the largely African- American crowd, stopping at tables to shake hands. The African- American vote is considered critical in Saturday's Democratic primary in South Carolina.

At a separate rally Sunday, Sanders told the crowd they can take part in a political revolution by voting for him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: South Carolina has the opportunity to make American history, and I hope you will.

This campaign has taken on the economic establishment, all of the big money interests, and let me tell you, Wall Street is getting nervous.

(CHEERING)

SANDERS: And let me also tell you, they should be getting nervous.

(CHEERING)

SANDERS: We have taken on the political establishment. We have taken on the media establishment. And we are gaining momentum every day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Sanders also reiterated his message that there's much more work to be done to increase jobs.

Well, Senator Ted Cruz is looking to knock Donald Trump from his front-runner status. He's hoping that will begin with the Nevada caucuses on Tuesday.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has more on the Senator's western strategy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Cruz campaign is really trying to present the image that they are still on track in charging ahead here in Nevada, a series of events Ted Cruz will hold over the next few days leading into caucus night on Tuesday night here.

But so much of the discussion on the campaign trail right now is centered on this postmortem of what happened in South Carolina. Why Ted Cruz didn't do better among evangelicals? He lost that vote to Donald Trump. And why he didn't do better in opposition to Marco Rubio? He came in third. And what does that mean for the challenges of his campaign going forward. What red flags are there? And Ted Cruz was asked about this as he was campaigning in Nevada, and

he quickly pivoted to his new favorite target, Marco Rubio. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He was asked, what state were you able to win? You weren't able to win in Iowa. You weren't able to win in New Hampshire. You weren't able to win in South Carolina. When can you win a state? And the answer he gave is, well, I think we could win Florida on March 15th. Now that's a fairly amazing admission that they don't believe they're going to win here in Nevada. Apparently, they don't believe they're going to win any states on Super Tuesday. They're writing off March 5th. They're writing off March 8th. And they're trying to wait, apparently, until March 15th to win a state. And in Florida, his home state, he's currently polling in third place.

[02:35:35] SERFATY: So Cruz here in Nevada laying into Marco Rubio. This will be a core part of his messaging going forward. The campaign will argue, where can Marco Rubio win. And they'll say in opposition to that, look, Ted Cruz has already been the only one to beat Donald Trump.

Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, Nevada.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: For analysis of the twists and turns of the race, we turn now to CNN political commentator, Peter Beinart, also contributor for "The Atlantic." And he joins us from New York.

Thanks so much for being with us.

PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: My pleasure.

CHURCH: Let's start with the losers of the South Carolina primary and what needs to happen to those candidates who were not in the top three now that Jeb Bush has bailed out.

BEINART: I think Ben Carson is really a dead man walking at this point. His candidacy has not had any light for weeks and weeks now. I think that the real question is, will he stay in, which probably hurts Ted Cruz because of his evangelical support, or will he limp on, which will detract a little bit from Cruz.

The more interesting case is Kasich, who did poorly in South Carolina, but has positioned himself as the most moderate candidate in the race, and is putting a lot of emphasis on Michigan, which is near his native Ohio, and Ohio itself, which will vote. If Kasich can come in strongly in Michigan, and he is Midwestern governor, then I think his candidacy continue, even though he doesn't have a lot of money. And, again, he gets to go home to Ohio. But right now the polls show that he would probably lose Michigan significantly as well. And I think if he doesn't do well in Michigan, I think it throws the entire rationale behind his candidacy into question. CHURCH: Donald Trump won the South Carolina primary convincingly.

How likely do you think it is that he will go ahead and win the Republican nomination if history is our guide?

BEINART: The conventional of wisdom is if somebody can get Trump on a one-on-one race, if it were just Rubio and Trump, Rubio could win because the majority of Republicans don't support Trump, that there's a ceiling on his support of maybe 30, 35, 40 percent. But what's really striking if you look at the data from New Hampshire and South Carolina, is how broad based Trump's support is. Yes, he's only winning a third of the vote, but he's winning from every different kind of constituency. So it's not obvious to me, despite what I call Trump repugnance, that he couldn't win a majority of Republicans in a two-person race. His signature ideas, as loathsome as I personally find them, a ban on Muslims coming into the country, his policies about building a wall on the Mexican/American border are quite popular among a majority of Republicans.

CHURCH: Let's go the Democratic side. Hillary Clinton got a boost in Nevada. How will that change the race for her? What will likely happen to Bernie Sanders in South Carolina next Saturday and beyond? He didn't do so well with the African-American vote, did he?

BEINART: No. I think at this point it would be really surprising if Hillary Clinton did not win a decisive, meaning a double-digit victory, in South Carolina. Because the majority of the electorate in South Carolina in the Democratic primary will be African-American. Polls have showed her with a strong lead among African-Americans. And while Bernie Sanders has done somewhat getter among young people of color, Latinos and African-Americans, the -- Hillary Clinton has shown strong support among most of the African-Americans who are older than Millennials.

CHURCH: It sounds like your sense is this could end up being Trump going toe to toe with Hillary Clinton. If that happens, who will win?

BEINART: I think Hillary will win easily. The general election matchups right now don't show that, but I really do believe that whatever the ceiling on Trump support inside the Republican Party, there is a very serious significant ceiling on him outside the Republican Party. The turnout rate among Latinos, for instance, and African-Americans to some degree, especially when the full panoply of his bigotry is exposed in a national election, I think will be very, very high and create a great -- the passion that Hillary Clinton can not create by herself, I think Donald Trump will create for Democrats. And the fact that Donald Trump is patently ignorant about many of the key issues that he would have to face, I think would give a lot of people pause. I think you will see some prominent Republicans say I'm not going to vote for this guy, and some real fracturing of the Republican Party. And Hillary Clinton, who is not in herself a strong candidate, I think will win easily.

[02:40:13] CHURCH: Peter Beinart, always a pleasure to speak with you. Thanks so much.

BEINART: Thank you. CHURCH: And ahead of next Saturday's Democratic primary in South

Carolina, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will come face to face with voters right here on CNN. Chris Cuomo hosts a Democratic town hall, live from Columbia, South Carolina. And you can see it Tuesday at 8:00 eastern time.

And the five remaining Republican hopefuls will face-off in a debate in Houston, Texas, on Thursday. CNN's Wolf Blitzer will moderate that one. And you can see it here Thursday at 8:30 eastern time.

Quick break here, but still to come, Britain's prime minister is pushing a deal to stay in the European Union, but London's mayor says it's time to leave. Why he feels it's the best choice for the British people.

Plus, Thailand is going wild for these life-like dolls, but not everyone's a fan. We'll take a look.

Back in a moment.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: It looks like Bolivia's president will not be able to seek an unprecedented fourth term after losing a referendum to change the country's constitution. President Morales narrowly lost the vote with exit polls showing the "no" vote leading 52 percent to 48 percent. Already Bolivia's longest-serving leader, the referendum would have allowed Morales to serve until 2025. One of Britain's most prominent conservatives says he will campaign

for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. London Mayor Boris Johnson is defying the leader of his own party, Prime Minister David Cameron.

But as CNN's Erin McLaughlin reports, the decision was not an easy one.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[02:45:09] ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris Johnson's argument is very sympathetic to how many people here in the United Kingdom feel, that membership in the E.U. is eroding Britain's sovereignty in key areas, such as human rights, border rights control and employment. He also had some very strong words for the European political project as a whole, saying, quote, "It's in real danger of getting out of control." It's a position that he said that he's held for some time, written papers on it. So perhaps Sunday's announcement comes as no surprise, though he said he did struggle to make the decision. Take a listen.

BORIS JOHNSON, LONDON MAYOR: After a great deal of thought, I don't think there's anything else I could do. I will be advocating the vote leave -- or whatever it's called. I understand there are many of them. I think that is basic, because I want a better deal for the people of this country, to save them money and to take back control. MCLAUGHLIN: Boris Johnson is an extremely popular conservative

figure, and he seemed to have sway on this issue. According to a recent poll, a third of the people responded saying that they could be influenced by Boris Johnson's stance on this topic.

The most influential person, however, British Prime Minister David Cameron, who, on Sunday morning, on "The Andrew Marr Show" on the BBC, made an impassioned plea for the United Kingdom to stay in the E.U. Take a listen.

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: If Boris and others really care about being able to get things done in our world, then the E.U. is one of the ways in which we get them done. Having that seat at the table in the E.U., just as be being a member of NATO, is a vital way that we project our values and our power and our influence notice world.

MCLAUGHLIN: Campaigning starts Monday. The referendum date is set for June 23rd. And there is a lot at stake not only for the United Kingdom but for the European Union as a whole. The U.K. is, after all, the second-largest economy in the E.U.

Erin McLaughlin, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And a new British poll shows the movement to stay in the E.U. appears has the most backing. It finds 48 percent want to remain, 33 percent want to leave and 19 percent are undecided. A telephone poll was conducted after Friday's deal was struck.

An international toy for children is Thailand's newest craze among adults. Find out what's so special about these dolls. That's next.

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(WEATHER REPORT)

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[02:51:28] CHURCH: A number of Americans eager to become astronauts has reached an all-time high. NASA says more than 18,000 people have applied to join the next astronaut class. That number beats a record set more than 30 years ago. Between eight and 14 of them will be chosen after a rigorous selection process. They will then train to go on space missions, which will help lay the ground work for human travel to Mars and back.

Earlier, CNN heard from retired NASA astronaut, Leroy Chiao, about the process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEROY CHIAO, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: Typically, NASA brings it down to around 100 people that they want to interview for the handful of slots they're going to select for. So, they're going to look at what you've done in your work history, your school, how you've done. They'll probably want to talk to some of your references to see what kind of person you are. Beyond being smart and operational and able to do thing, they want to see that you can work effectively together on a team. In the past you would never know there was an astronaut selection about to happen unless you were the one inquiring. For example, when I applied in 1989, there were 2500 applicants, which at the time, sounded like a lot. But it's pretty daunting when the administrator makes a YouTube video asking Americans to apply to be astronauts, and this was the result. There were 18,000 applicants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And NASA will announce those selected next year, and then they will begin two years of training.

An unusual kind of doll has reached cult-like status in Thailand. Many people eat, sleep, and even go to work with the Child Angel dolls, believing they bring wealth and good fortune. Not everyone is a fan of the phenomenon.

Saima Mohsin reports from Bangkok.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Consecrated, cute, capitalist gimmick, or just plain creepy? Dr. Mack, who's not a doctor, transforms thousands of dolls into Child Angels. He says he was walking past a doll in a shop window when it spoke to him, saying --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MOHSIN: "Please don't leave me behind. Take me with you. Daddy, I want to stay with you."

They're blessed by a monk and given a birthday by Dr. Mack when they find a parent, like this TV star.

(CROSSTALK)

MOHSIN: Buka's (ph) doll, or son, was picked specially, as he feels it looks just like him, one of the family.

UNIDENTIFIED THAI TV STAR (through translation): He's with me 24 hours a day, or sometimes he stays home with my mom and sister. My mom really likes taking care of him. Everyone thinks Wonsai (ph) is a member of our family.

MOHSIN (on camera): So would you eat with Wonsai (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED THAI TV STAR (through translation): He just sits beside me on my table. I just ask for an extra plate for him and put rice on it. I don't go over the top. I just treat him like normal.

MOHSIN (voice-over): They sleep together, too.

(SHOUTING)

MOHSIN: Buka (ph) was filming a TV commercial, but a social media backlash against the Child Angel dolls made him reluctant to take Wonsai (ph) out on set.

A critic wrote on Facebook about the craze saying, "It reflects the level of your intelligence, and you can't bring your personal world out to violate public spaces and expect no reaction."

Some restaurants and hotels have also barred the dolls for fear of frightening customers.

But we found people keen to take photos with a pair. And in no time, Wonsai (ph) was in the ad, too.

(CROSSTALK)

[02:55:22] MOHSIN: "The dolls feel real. It's heavy like a baby. And because everyone else treated it like a child, well, I did, too."

(on camera): It's like I'm babysitting.

(voice-over): Next up, the TV gossip show. And CNN's presence brought Wonsai (ph) back in the limelight, a chance for Buka (ph) to address the backlash, so Wonsai (ph) isn't always left sitting on the sidelines.

A backlash, though, that's already seeing people abandon the dolls, taken to a new home, this temple, a kind of Child Angel doll orphanage.

Saima Mohsin, CNN, Bangkok, Thailand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And I'd love to hear what you think on Twitter, @Rosemary/CNN.

Thanks for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back in just a moment after this break with another hour of news from all around the world. Don't go anywhere.

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