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ISIS Bombings Kill 120; Boris Johnson Says He Will Vote Against EU; Rubio and Cruz Battle to Supplant Trump; Protets in New Delhi; Fiji Hit by Cyclone. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired February 22, 2016 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:00] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST:
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST:
The crisis in Syria. ISIS militants kill more than 120 people in a wave of bombings, while world powers seek a truce.
Britain's David Cameron prepares to take his campaign to stay in the E.U. to parliament, while the mayor of London says he will vote to leave.
And when second place counts, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz fight to become the alternative to Donald Trump in the republican primary race.
Hello, and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church, and this is CNN Newsroom.
We begin in London where British Prime Minister David Cameron is kicking off his campaign to avoid an exit from the European Union. He will be taking his case to the House of Commons in the coming hours. But Mr. Cameron was dealt a surprising blow Sunday, when London's conservative Mayor, Boris Johnson, announced he wants out of the E.U.
Johnson said it was a difficult decision, but he feels it's the best choice for the British people. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, LONDON MAYOR: The last thing I wanted was to go against David Cameron or the government. But, after a great deal of heartache, I don't think there's anything else I can do. I will be advocating the leave or whatever the team is called, I'm saying there are many of them.
That is, that is basically, because I want a better deal for the people of this country. To save them money and to take back control.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And for the latest, let's bring CNN London correspondent Max Foster. Good to see you, Max, and of course, the latest polls show more people in Britain want to stay with the E.U., but about 19 percent are undecided. That's a significant number. What might that mean, and what impact could Boris Johnson's surprise announcement have on those undecided voters do you think?
MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, just to give you a sense, Rosemary, Reuters is reporting in breaking news that the pound Sterling has fallen by 1.5 percent today. And that is directly linked to that Boris Johnson's come out to go the opposite way really in terms of campaigning against David Cameron.
One of David Cameron's greatest strengths in his stay in the European Union campaign really, which is that he didn't really started today but it has been building up some time is that it didn't face any major opposition. So, Theresa May and Boris Johnson, the source of heavy weights which we know are anti-European.
Generally, if you look back in their voting record, they haven't come out against David Cameron and against the campaign to stay within the European Union. Now they have someone, probably the most charismatic, conservative leader is away from David Cameron. Someone who's proved that he can actually win votes as mayor of London has come out fighting for a campaign to bring here Britain out of the European Union.
So, it's highly significant, and a huge blow. It has to be said today to David Cameron, which is reflected on the front of the sun, insult add to injury really that pointing that Boris only told David Cameron by text just nine minutes before going public that he was going to be campaigning against him.
So, it is a hugely significance moment in this Brexit campaign as we head to the vote, the referendum in June, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Yes, David Cameron really didn't see this coming, did he, and this will of course make the task even harder for David Cameron to sell his deal to stay in the E.U. What challenges lie ahead for him today?
FOSTER: Well, I think it's a major challenge is whether he's going to be prime minister at the end of the year. Because effectively, what you've got here is Boris Johnson who very clearly wants to be the next conservative leader going up against David Cameron about the biggest moment really in British modern history this year, if you can call it that, whether or not Britain stays within the European Union.
So, you have this referendum vote where you got Boris Johnson on one side, you got David Cameron on the other side. Whoever loses don't have a future in the cabinet. If you look at Boris Johnson, and also David Cameron, does he really, is he really credible enough to stay the leader of the Conservative Party if he loses that referendum.
So, what you've really got is a leadership campaign by proxy in all but name heading into June. So, David Cameron may not be the Prime Minister at the end of the year. It may be Boris Johnson. So, that's really David Cameron's big challenge this year.
For Britain, what this really does is it gives the leave Britain campaign a strong leader and strong leadership. It had a very fragmented, disorganized campaign up until this point, and everyone's going to rally behind Boris Johnson right now.
[03:04:59] And it will encourage some MP's, members of parliament who are apprehensive about joining to leave campaign. They may be more likely to join that leave campaign. Now, and also I think the debate now is much more grown-up. There is this option that you can legitimately join the opposite side from David Cameron.
CHURCH: Interesting. Watching this very closely, our Max Foster bringing for us that live report from London. Many thanks to you.
Well, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says a ceasefire agreement for Syria could take effect within days, but that's in stark contrast to the scene on the ground.
ISIS says it's behind a series of suicide and car bombings in Homs and the outskirts of Damascus. Syria's news agency says at least 122 people were killed and dozens more injured in attacks Sunday.
Well, Kerry met with Jordan's Foreign Minister Sunday.
Our Jomana Karadsheh is in Amman and she joins us with more. So, Jomana, what has been the reaction to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry claiming a peace deal in Syria is closer than ever, possibly a couple of days away given the violence that has taken place Sunday?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, that announcement by Secretary Kerry was short time before we saw these devastating attacks in Homs and later on in the day in Damascus. But to put things into context, these are attacks that are carried out, claimed in this case by ISIS, and the terrorist groups as they are designated, ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda.
These groups are not part of any negotiation, to any peace talks or cessation of hostilities agreements. And it is possible that at this time when we are seeing these negotiations taking place, these talks to try and put some sort of a temporary truce in place, that there could possibly be even a ramped up effort by these groups by ISIS to carry out attacks, attacks that are aimed at exacerbating the sectarian tensions that already exist in that country and flaming the situation there.
We heard yesterday from Secretary Kerry, addressing the fight against ISIS, saying that any sort of effective solution to the fight against ISIS is not going to be a military solution. It's going to have to be a political transition. It is going to have to see the emergence of a government that does not have Bashar al-Assad at its head.
This is something that we have heard from the United States over and over again. Which obviously really complicates things, Rosemary. As you know that it is far from resolve when it comes to a political solution, a political transition.
We have seen these negotiations and peace talks collapse, yet again, in recent weeks. And now, especially, more complicated as we see the Assad regime backed by their Russian allies, stronger than they have been in a few years in this conflict gaining ground.
So, a very complicated situation. And of course, in this case, Rosemary, as we have seen yesterday, it is the civilians in Syria that continue to pay the heaviest price for this ongoing violence and conflict in the country.
CHURCH: Yes, all right. Jomana Karadsheh reporting there live from Jordan. Many thanks to you.
I want to turn now to the U.S. State of Michigan where new details are emerging in a deadly shooting rampage. The suspected gunman was an Uber driver, and a source says he was still picking up passengers, even between shootings.
Mourners gathered in Kalamazoo Sunday to honor the six victims killed. Eight people were shot at three separate locations, seemingly at random over the course of several hours on Saturday.
Nick Valencia reports.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is sickening when you consider the details. Investigators saying that this suspect, a 45-year-old male from Kalamazoo, casually carried out this shooting spree. He was working as an Uber driver and in between each shooting was picking up fares.
That suspect was eventually taken into custody at around 12.30 in the morning. Investigators seized a semi-automatic handgun from this person. And in a searched of his residence were able to discover even more weapons that working on figuring out if any of those weapons were connected or used in the commission of these crimes.
What's really unsettling to investigators here is that there the suspect here, they describe him for all intents, his purposes -- intents and purposes as an average Joe. Someone with no criminal history, no criminal record, and certainly no indication that he would have the capability of carrying out something like this.
Six people left dead, another two critically wounded. Among them, a mother of three who was the first to be shot. The second person still recovering in the hospital. A 14-year-old girl who was so gravely injured that investigators initially announced her dead. She has had surgery, is still in grave condition. Investigators worry about her outcome.
As far as that suspect is concerned, he is expected to make his first court appearance sometime on Monday and will face murder charges.
[03:10:02] Nick Valencia, CNN, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
CHURCH: We'll take a quick break here. But still to come, fighting to be number two, the tight race between two candidates vying for second place in the U.S. republican presidential field.
Plus, how deadly protests in northern India have left the capital city with a crippled water supply. We're back in a moment.
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PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT REPORTER: I'm Patrick Snell with your World Sport headlines.
Starting off with the English FA Cup way should have been a block buster of a confrontation on Sunday between Premier League rival Chelsea and Manchester City, but Chelsea running riot plundering five goals against the visiting citizens to win at 5-1 in the Man City.
Now a Champions League clash with Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday in the Ukraine at conceded fight in this competition in 16 years that we have now.
Elsewhere, Tottenham hosting Crystal Palace Hotspurs. Spurs having such a good season. But ahead of their home tie with London rivals, Palace say they were actually still in with a shout, a possibility at least of a travel as it is, those hope are no more.
Palace reporting a 1-0 win at White Hart Lane. The winning goal coming courtesy of Martin Kelly. The Palace scored to the quarters for the first time since 1995.
Now, when you think of some of the best young tennis talent in the world, you probably think of Nick Kyrgios, maybe his name comes to mind. The young Aussie has much to be happy about right now after winning for the first time of the ATP beating Marin Cilic of Croatia in straight in Marseille on Sunday.
Kyrgios in fact, showing his class old week on route to his big win here. He became two top 10 players. Remember, Cilic has a grand slam title under his belt, too.
Thank you so much for joining us. That is a look at your World Sport headlines. I'm Patrick Snell.
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 Evo Morales narrowly lost the vote with exit polls showing the no vote leading 52 percent to 48. Already Bolivia's longest- serving leader, the referendum would have allowed Morales to serve until 2025.
I want to turn to Mexico now where the wife of the notorious drug lord Joaquin Guzman is breaking her silence and speaking out about her husband's treatment in prison.
Recently, El Chapo has complained to his lawyers that he's become a victim of physical and mental torture in prison. Here's what his wife said tell Telemundo.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[03:15:07] (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
EMMA CORENEL, JOAQUIN EL CHAPO GUZMAN'S WIFE (TRANSLATED): They want to make him pay for his escape. They say that they are not punishing him. Of course they are. They are there watching him in his cell. They don't let him sleep. He has no privacy, not even to go to the restroom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Well, Guzman is back in the maximum security prison he escaped from last July. Mexican officials have said he will eventually be extradited to the United States to face charges here.
The republican caucuses in Nevada are less than two days away. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are fighting not just to unseat Donald Trump as frontrunner, but also to beat each other.
The two senators had relatively strong showings in Saturday's South Carolina primary. They virtually tied for second place there. And now they both claim to be carrying the mantle for the Republican Party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TED CRUZ, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We continue to see conservatives uniting behind our campaign. But number two, Jake, it is now apparent that the only campaign that can beat Donald Trump and that has beaten Donald Trump, is our campaign.
MARCO RUBIO, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now we have to nominate someone who will unify our party, who will reach out to people that haven't for us and grow our party and ultimately, who can win. Who do the democrats fear most? Who they not want run against. I think everyone now acknowledges that that's me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: In the meantime, thousands of people lined up Sunday in Atlanta, Georgia to see Donald Trump, and Trump told the crowd that his primary wins in New Hampshire and South Carolina were just the beginning.
Jeremy Diamond has more.
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 pitches here as that's going to be one of the big delegate pickups in the republican- nominating contest.
Donald Trump giving his classic stump speech here to the roaring approval of thousands of his 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: I'll give you a story. 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 said, 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. And I said what are you talking about, they're not allowed to. And I said that can't be, but let me check. Soon as I check in I realized why he's right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAMOND: Donald Trump there of course, 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 one of his foils on the campaign trail, talking about Jeb Bush being low energy. So, it looks like Donald Trump missing one of the key parts of his stump speech, is going to miss Jeb a little bit too.
CHURCH: Joining us now from Washington to talk more about the race for the White House is CNN political analyst Josh Rogin, he's also a columnist for Bloomberg View.
Thank you so much for being with us. So, 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 North -- 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, is the 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. And for that reason you'll still Cruz attacking Rubio, Rubio attacking Cruz, and so forth.
CHURCH: Right. And Marco Rubio says this is now a three-person race with Trump, Rubio, and Cruz fighting it out to the end. 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.
[03:20:11] 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 stand 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: Yes. 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, if 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, they might go to Cruz. They might go to Trump. I think that all remains to be seen.
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. You can see it Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. And the five remaining republican hopefuls will face-off in a debate Thursday in Houston, Texas. CNN's Wolf Blitzer will moderate that one, and you can see it here Thursday at 8.30 Eastern Time.
In Fiji, the death toll is rising from tropical cyclone Winston. At least 20 people are now believed to have died as a result of the powerful storm, which lashed the South Pacific Island nation over the weekend.
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 the cleanup continues.
Australia is providing more than $3.5 million in aid to help Fiji recover.
And our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us with more from the International Weather Center. And, Pedram, we were talking about this last hour just how vulnerable these islands and Fiji is, and just how those structures there are just so susceptible to destruction like this.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. They are not built to withstand a storm of this magnitude, Rosemary. And of course, this now becomes the single strongest southern hemisphere tropical cyclone we've ever observe and the second strongest storm ever seen on our planet. It make landfall wit wind speed of just shy of 300 kilometers per hour.
And the damage just remarkable across much of the islands, and the Fijian Archipelago is about 332 islands in particular. About 110 of them are permanently inhabited. And the typhoon that is significant number of damage to many of those islands, if you take a look super typhoon Haiyan back in 2013, of course impacted the Philippines, 305 kilometer hour per hour. Those were the wind speeds measured at landfall.
We had cyclone Winston come in on Saturday morning, wind speed at 298 kilometers per hour, literally coming in second, just a few kilometers per hour shy of the strongest tropical storm to ever make landfall on our planet.
And you take a look at this part of the world; we know a lot of the storms typically stay back out toward the coral sea near Australia. If you look at 12 tropical cyclone, that is how many have occurred in the past say 44 years or so, that have been within 100 or so miles of the capital City of Suva.
So, certainly they don't get active tropical weather here making landfall very, very frequently. And if you take a look, the storm system still in place. It is going to begin to fall and weaken as it falls apart and moves a little further to the south.
So, good news in that sense. I just to lay a land with this incredible storm system as it came down across scenarios I said, over 300 small islands. But, some of the largest islands, as you bring the storm in, it really shows you what we were dealing with.
But these islands have mountains some 1300 meters high. The storm itself literally threads the needle that goes between these islands. And this is a small island right here and this is the Island of Koro with a population near just shy of 5,000 people.
Direct landfall and direct impact with winds upwards of 300 kilometers per hour occurring right there and the storm progressives and it migrates a little further to the west. We have several other towns populations put together over 1,000 people that also get a direct hit with this storm system.
[03:25:02] So, again, incredible to think, we certainly hope the numbers do stay as low as they're being reported right now. But, Rosemary, it's something worth noting that about 80 percent of the islands are without communication and without power right now.
So, as more information becomes available and passed on in the future, the numbers certainly could change, but we're watching this very carefully.
CHURCH: All right. We appreciate that, Pedram. Many thanks to you.
Well, a fire at a refugee shelter in Saxony prompts an investigation by German police. What they say bystanders did as the building burned. That is coming up.
And the Indian government takes action after deadly protests cut off the capital city's main water supply. That is still to come. Stay with us.
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CHURCH: And a warm welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and of course all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.
It is of course time to check the main stories we've been following this hour. London Mayor Boris Johnson says he will campaign for Britain to leave the European Union. Prime Minister David Cameron has been pushing for the U.K. to stay in the E.U. after working out of deal across the nation's special status.
Britons will vote on the issue in the referendum on June 23rd.
Syria's state-run news agency reports a series of bombings that killed more than 120 people Sunday. ISIS is claiming is claiming responsibility for the attacks in home than the southern outskirts of Damascus. This comes as the U.S. announced a tentative agreement with Russia on the terms for a ceasefire.
New details out of Kalamazoo in Michigan, the site of a shooting rampage that killed six people on Saturday night.
[03:30:01] A source says the suspect, Jason Dalton was an Uber driver who was picking up passengers between the three shootings. Dalton is expected to be formally charged on Monday.
Delhi's chief minister says troops have taken control of a canal that supplies much of India's capital with water. Now this follows deadly protest in a neighboring state that caused a big water shortage in the region.
Sumnima Udas has the details.
SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This city of 25 million people is bracing for what officials call an unprecedented water crisis, because protesters in the neighboring state of Haryana have damaged a key water supply canal. So, in areas like this tanks are already running dry. Nothing's been coming out for the past two days.
So, how are you managing? You have a dairy here. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are taking but with another jugs.
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 violent protests, Haryana, is not far from here. The agitated belonged to the state's dominant caste called Jat. 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 disadvantage lower cost. The system has also 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is the water for cooking. There is the water for washing those dishes. It's like all untidy but kitchen is unhygienic now. When you go to the washroom, you have to think twice how you're going to use your flush because if your flush is not working properly, the basic sanitation is not in place, so you can't go back there again. How do you take bath?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UDAS: It's worth noting that many people in New Delhi do use ground water not to rely on water tankers because there's never really been a 24/7 water supply from this state to most households. But still, people here say they're preparing for the worst.
Sumnima Udas, CNN, New Delhi.
CHURCH: German authorities are investigating a fire that destroyed an empty refugee shelter Sunday. Police say several people uploaded the fire as crews work to put it out. The building a former hotel that had been renovated to house up to 300 people.
CNN's Atika Shubert joins me now for more on this suspicious fire. Atika, what happened exactly, and how much pressure will this put on Chancellor Angela Merkel do you think and her open door policy on immigration?
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think there's already a tremendous amount of pressure on Merkel, and this is just one symptom of that pressure. What we're seeing -- what we saw has been condemned by German politicians across the board from many different parties saying it's unacceptable to have people applauding a fire of a refugee shelter, a fire that I should point out the fire department believes may have been an arson attack.
Unfortunately, in this area of Saxony, there have been a number of arson attacks or more than 1,000 attacks on refugees over the course of last year. Many of them happening in this eastern part of Germany known as Saxony.
In addition to the refugee shelter arson attack, or believed arson attack be, we also had an incident last week in which refugees were brought to a town by bus and they were greeted by a chanting mob, chanting "we are the people." Clearly unwelcoming of refugees.
So, this is the kind of ratcheting up of pressure on Angel Merkel and on the German public which feels that it's caught between on the one hand, the more open door policies of Angela Merkel, and on the other, a very far right, sometimes bordering on extremist movement that is against refugees. Much of the German public finds itself in the middle, trying to navigate a way in between these two forces.
CHURCH: Yes. Very disturbing development there. CNN's Atika Shubert joining us from Berlin with the details. Many thanks to you.
Well, a new report says the U.S. and North Korea had agreed to peace talks. But which country pulled out of the potential discussions is now a point of contention. We have got the details next.
[03:35:08] Plus, Bernie Sanders makes a surprise stop at an African- American church in South Carolina, but is his message resonating with black voters? We will explore that just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. A new report by the Wall Street Journal says the United States secretly agreed to peace talks with North Korea just before the country tested a nuclear bomb. The U.S. State Department responded Sunday saying North Korea requested the talks and the U.S. pulled out after Pyongyang refused to include discussion of denuclearization.
Well, for more, let's bring in our Paula Hancocks. She's live in Seoul. So, Paula, North Korea apparently proposed the peace talks and the U.S. says it pulled out. Is that how this played out? And is there any room for any more discussion perhaps on the stumbling block of denuclearization?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're hearing, Rosemary from the State Department is that it was North Korea's proposal, and they have made this proposal a number of times recently, it's worth pointing out. They want a peace treaty to be signed.
And the U.S., according to the State Department said that they carefully considered it, but when they said to North Korea that denuclearization had to be a key part of this, Pyongyang refused. So, that was effectively the end of the talks before they even began.
Washington, Seoul, Tokyo, and many other allies have been very clear that any talks with North Korea had to deal with denuclearization, had to deal with Pyongyang being willing to give up their nuclear program.
And up until this point, Pyongyang has made it very clear that they have no intention of giving up their program. Now the -- back in 1953, after the Korean War, there was only an armistice signed. This is why this peace treaty is key.
[03:40:05] So, technically, North and South Korea are still at war, because there was never a peace treaty signed. And as I say, since Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader took power, he has been consistently saying that he wanted to have a peace treaty signed with Washington, but Washington has consistently said that they want denuclearization to be key.
Now we asked the South Korean foreign ministry about this well, and they, too, agreed with Washington, saying that in any North Korean dialog, denuclearization needs to be the priority. Rosemary.
CHURCH: And, Paula, on another topic, a new military chief has been announced after his predecessor was apparently recently executed. What can you tell us about the man who replaced him?
HANCOCKS: That's right. This is what we've learned today from state- run media, KCNA. This is effectively how everybody finds out about personnel changes in North Korea. And they have said that Ri Myong-Su is the new military chief, we that because he has been named as accompanying Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader to military drills.
Now this was on Sunday that was announced or at least the photos were released. But we don't exactly know when this military drill happened, sometime presumably over the weekend. But it does prove once again that the previous military chief is gone.
Now we heard from a South Korean official, they told that he has, they believe been executed for reasons of corruption, for misuse of authority and factionalism. Now of course we can't independently confirm that, but this is what South Korean officials here believe happened to the previous military chief.
He's not the first to have disappeared. There was earlier the defense minister last year was purged as well, showing that these purges are ongoing. These very high-profile purges are ongoing in North Korea.
But, of course, it depends on who you speak to as to whether or not they believe that is a show of strength or a sign that Kim Jong-un is still trying to consolidate his power. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Indeed. All right. Many thanks to our Paula Hancocks joining us live from Seoul in South Korea.
In the U.S. presidential race, democrat Bernie Sanders insists he has the momentum over rival Hillary Clinton. Now that is despite her topping him in Saturday's democratic caucuses in Nevada. Sanders has been on the campaign trail in South Carolina ahead of next Saturday's primary there.
He made a surprise stop at a church where he wooed the largely African-American crowd, but underscoring the challenge he faces, his reception was more subdued than the raucous ones he's been getting at rallies. Sanders acknowledges he has work to do to win the African- American vote in the contest ahead, but he tells CNN his message is catching on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNIE SANDERS, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We did badly with the African-American vote, but I think the more the African-American community hears our message on a broken criminal justice system, which has more people in jail today than in any other country on earth, largely African-American, Latino, when they hear our message about the need for real, for an economy that represents all of us, not just the 1 percent, I think you're going to see us making progress there as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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: All right. Let's go to the democratic side for now, and Hillary Clinton enjoyed a boost winning the Nevada caucuses. How does that change the race for her, and what will likely happen to Bernie Sanders in South Carolina next Saturday and beyond? He didn't do so well with the after African-American vote, did he?
BEINART: No. At this point it would be really surprising if Hillary Clinton did not win a decisive, meaning a double, you know, 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 better among young people of color, Latinos and African-American, Hillary Clinton has shown very strong support among most of the African-American voters who are older than millennials.
So, I think the question then for Bernie Sanders becomes can he start winning in some other states which are more white and liberal or have caucuses where he could out organize Hillary Clinton.
I think the problem he will have is that Hillary Clinton has learned some of the lessons from 2008 when she lost to Barack Obama. She won in Nevada because she's much better organized this time than she was in 2008. And that's going to be hard for Sanders to win caucus states that Obama won in 2008, because I think Hillary Clinton is ready with her organization now. [03:45:03] CHURCH: Your sense is that this could end up being Trump
going toe to toe with Hillary Clinton. If that does happen, who's going to win?
BEINART: I think Hillary will win easily. I mean, the general election matchups right now don't show that. But I really do believe that whatever the ceiling on Trump supports inside the Republican Party, there is a very significant ceiling on him outside the Republican Party.
The turnout rate among Latinos, for instance, and I think to some degree among African-Americans especially when the full pan of plate of his bigotry is exposed in a national election, I think will be very, very high and create a great kind of passion that Hillary cannot create by herself, I think Donald Trump will create for democrats.
And I think that the fact that Donald Trump is just patently ignorant about many of the key policy issues that he would have to face, I think will give a lot of people pause. I think you'll see some prominent republicans saying, you know what, I'm not going to vote for this guy.
And some fracturing of the Republican Party and I think Hillary Clinton who is not in of herself a tremendously strong candidate I think will win relatively easily.
CHURCH: Peter Beinart, always a pleasure to speak with you. Thanks so much.
BEINART: Thank you.
CHURCH: The Simpsons is expressing many Americans' feelings about the 2016 presidential race in cartoon form. Here is their take on the current field.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Think good thoughts, think good thoughts. I know things look bad right now. But just try to visualize another America, one where republicans, democrats, and Donald Trump all get along.
CRUZ: I'm enjoying watching Hillary Clinton...
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: I like Ted Cruz. He's been very nice to me. As an act of love.
CRUZ: There is an issue where Bernie and I are in complete agreement.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: But, even the Simpsons acknowledge that's fantasy. Here's what happens next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't drop my!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just trust me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was perfect. The rest of you morons were flat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Flat or flat broke like your casinos?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Flat, like the Canadian prairie you were born on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And let's dispel once and for all with this fiction that he doesn't know what he's doing. He knows exactly what he's doing, exactly what he's doing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Want to see something my mother suggested?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Ouch.
Well, these years' Oscars are unusually unpredictable in some major categories. We will talk to our insider about the biggest night in Hollywood.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JAVAHERI: Pedram Javaheri with you. Weather watch time around the Americas. With now where the conditions remain dry across parts of the Northeastern portion of the U.S. and even Eastern Canada. But tempts are dropping off to minus eight in Montreal. Some thunderstorms possible around parts of the southern U.S.
In fact, towards Los Angeles another heat wave in the works across that region. And you notice we do have some wet weather pushing in around portions of Dallas. If travel plans take you from the southern U.S. the city of Dallas out there eventually towards the Atlanta, some delays certainly possible with this quick-moving storm system in the coming couple of days.
Back behind it, we are watching some snow showers develop across portions of The Rockies. And certainly good news for skiers and snowboarders, and we are watching another batch of wet weather coming in towards the northwest. Again, it is parts of California that have really struggled with the rain and also the warm temperature.
And notice it does want to cool off, that's the latter portion of the week. Unfortunately, it's confined towards the Eastern U.S. not the western U.S. And that is a trend that we've watched of course for several weeks across their region.
To the south, Mexico City, upper 20s, Chihuahua a little windy across that region, but about 31 degrees and Nassau of the Bahamas looking at the upper 20s and partly cloudy sky. And a few scattered showers in San Juan but certainly not out of the question, but notice that's final boundary to the north, rally where the act of the weather will be confine to in across parts of South America.
But we're looking at the upper 20s around 21 degrees I should say there. And upper 30s around 30 or so, degrees around El Salvador.
[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Pop star Taylor Swift is backing up her support of a fellow singer with a $250,000 donation. A New York judge denied Kesha's bid to get out of a six album contract with Sony. Kesha sued record producer Dr. Luke in 2014 accusing him of drugging, abusing, and raping her a decade ago. He denies all the charges. Swift's publicist says the money is to help Kesha with any of her financial needs.
We are a little less than a week away from the Oscars, and it's anyone's guess who will walk away with the award for biggest picture, the night's biggest prize.
To talk about that and some of the controversy surrounding this years' Oscars. We are joined once again by Kim Serafin, senior editor of In Touch Weekly.
KIM SERAFIN, IN TOUCH WEEKLY SENIOR EDITOR: Sure. Thanks.
CHURCH: So, it's a very tight race for the best picture. Certainly not a done deal. How often does it come this close?
SERAFIN: Yes. This is one of those real kind of nail biter years because really no one knows who's going to win best picture. Normally, by this time you kind of have an idea because it's one of the films that has swept a lot of the Guild Award shows. But this time around it's kind of been split.
You have "The Revenant," when that at the Director's Guild Award. You have "The Big Short" which won at the Producer's Guild. And that is actually a really good indicator except then you have "Spotlight" which won at the Screen Actors Guild for their sample cast. So, you really just have a real wide variety of options out there that nobody really knows.
And then of course, you have "The Revenant" which got the most nominations, 12 nominations. But a lot of people don't like "The Revenant." So, it really nobody knows which way this is going to go which makes it an exciting race. You know, think a lot of people thought there should have been some films nominated for best picture, like "Star Wars," it would have been nice to see that nominated "Straight Outta Compton." But it's still a very exciting race that nobody knows who will win best picture.
CHURCH: And I guess it ensures more people will tune in and watch, right?
SERAFIN: Definitely.
CHURCH: And of course some very famous, diverse names are being added as presenters for the night amid the controversy surrounding the lack of diversity of those nominated for this year's Oscars, but will that silence the critics. And how's host Chris Rock likely to handle the hash tag Oscarssowhite controversy?
SERAFIN: Yes, exactly. This is obviously what people are talking about. In addition to, you know, Leonardo DiCaprio finally when he wins Oscars, the big story has been the Oscars so white controversy. And we do know Chris Rock is going to be hosting. We know he is definitely going to talk about t.
He's going to make some jokes but I think there are going to biting jokes, kind of biting criticism with a little humor. That's what Chris Rock will do. They're also adding presenters, a lot of diversity in the presenter Morgan Freeman was just added, John Legend was just added to an already diverse group of presenters.
Whoopi Goldberg and Kevin Heart, Terry Washington in addition to people like J.J Abrams of course, who, again, people may be thought at "Star Wars" should have gotten nominated, Jennifer Garner, Jason Siegel, just really a huge list of fantastic a-list presenters.
And that's something that people really look forward to, as well as some performance; Dave Grohl they've just announced is going to do some performance the weekend performing. So, some really good performances as well people are looking forward to.
CHURCH: Yes. We'll see what the critics say, right? And what about the drama surrounding Oscar gift bags?
The academy even going so far as suing a market company for their proposed Oscar nominee gift bag, what is going on with that?
[03:55:12] SERAFIN: Yes, you know, every year there's a story about what's in this really expensive Oscar gift bag, the gift bag that the nominees get. You know, they kind of painted as no way everyone is a winner because you go home with this amazing gift that costs something like $200,000.
And the list of items always are always what get attention. Sometimes it's trips, and sometimes it's fancy things like that, or car rentals, luxury car rentals for a year. But a lot of times you hear about the non-wholesome items, the risky kind of items, like the sex toys and the marijuana vaporizers and the plastic surgery.
So, now the Oscars, the academy, is suing this marketing company saying they're not affiliated with this marketing company. The marketing company is using copyright infringement. They're using the name Oscars when they're not really affiliated with the Oscars.
So, they've tried I guess tried to settle this outside of court, but now, this year they're suing this marketing company trying to distance themselves from some of these products in the gift bag, like the sex toys, for example.
CHURCH: Yes. We'll see what happen with that. Kim Serafin, always a pleasure. Thanks so much. SERAFIN: Thanks so much.
CHURCH: And thanks for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Early Start is coming up for our viewers in the U.S. And for everyone else, stay tuned for more news from the CNN Newsroom. Have a great day.
[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
