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Trump Celebrates Nevada Win; Italian Navy Rescues Migrants; Presidetn Obama Trying to Close Guantanamo; Severe Storm Tears Through Louisiana. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired February 24, 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: Hello, everyone. And welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. This is CNN's continuing coverage of the republican caucuses in Nevada. I'm Rosemary Church.
Well, it is just after midnight in Nevada, and it has been a big night for Donald Trump winning his third presidential contest in a row among the republican candidates.
CNN projects Trump will win the Nevada caucuses by a wide margin. Look at those numbers. He's at 42.8 percent so far. But interestingly, this second place, this has changed and toppled backwards and forwards between with Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. You can see there Marco Rubio at 23.8 percent and Ted Cruz at 23.7.
But we will keep an eye on that. We are live here on CNN watching those numbers. Well, Trump spoke with his supporters in Las Vegas just about an hour after the polls closed. He says he is especially proud of winning in just about every category of voters, including more than 40 percent of Latinos. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Of course, if you listen to the pundits, we weren't expected to win too much, and now we're winning, winning, winning the country.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And soon the country is going to start winning, winning, winning.
(CROWD CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: All right. I want to go now to Dylan Byers, he is CNN's senior reporter for media and politics and he joins us live from Las Vegas.
Of course, yes, Donald Trump has won, but what we are watching right now with these live numbers as they change is Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio vying for second position here. Let's bring out those numbers again. Ted Cruz has now moved. They are
at the same percentage, 23.7 percent. But you can see there Ted Cruz has edged out with a number of extra votes there over Marco Rubio. That could change within the next hour or so.
So, talk to us about that second place, why it's so important for those two candidates to win that second place.
DYLAN BYERS, CNN MEDIA POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Right. Well, you know, it's actually, it's a rare thing where you can actually win a contest in terms of the sort of larger media narrative without actually coming in first place.
And the reason for that is, you know, as we've discussed, there are three lanes here in the republican primary. There's, of course, Donald Trump's lane as the frontrunner, there's Ted Cruz's lane as the conservative conscience of the conservative base, and then there's Rubio's lane which is fast becoming the establishment lane and the lane that the GOP establishment and certainly that money is coalescing behind.
Coming in second as opposed to third, even if it's just a matter of, you know, a few hundred votes, a few thousand votes, a percentage point, a tenth of a percentage point, what you're doing there is you're able to tell the story that you really are the one candidate who should be able to go up against Donald Trump.
It's a harder case for Rubio to make because he actually hasn't won a contest yet, whereas, Ted Cruz has won a contest. He won the Iowa caucuses, of course. By the same token, Rubio is the one that has the establishment support, has that backing. And so, you know, there is going to be a bitter contest between those two for the sort of rights to be the anti-Trump candidate.
CHURCH: Yes. And of course this plays into this narrative of some, but one of them has to go if they want to somehow fight Trump here, this inevitability that we talk about of Trump possibly winning the nomination. Which of the two has a better chance of doing that?
BYERS: Well, look, it's hard to understand how Cruz can make that argument, and here's why. Trump has solidified himself as the anti- establishment candidate. Cruz is also running to be an anti- establishment candidate. He is doing it differently from Trump.
He's trying to speak for the Evangelical, speak for some of those social conservatives in a way that Trump is not. But Trump's coalition is proving to be far bigger than Ted Cruz's. There's no question that the GOP establishment has no interest in a Ted Cruz nomination or his presidency.
In fact, there's been a lot of debate among republicans in Washington over who they fear more, do they fear more President Trump or President Cruz. And so, that sort of despite the fact that Cruz is neck in neck with Rubio right now for the second place position, despite the fact that he's promising to go on and go the distance, it's very hard to see how Cruz does that if the establishment is rallying behind Rubio and if Trump has assumed that the role as the anti-establishment candidate.
[03:05:01] CHURCH: And let's talk about this incredible win of Donald Trump. I mean, it has most certainly emboldened him, hasn't it, in Nevada. And of course, he goes on and a lot of people are saying he's unstoppable at this point.
This must be sending the anti-Trump republican establishment crazy. So, what will they do? Will they eventually rally around him because of his inevitability or do they have a plan further down the track?
BYERS: Well, that's a great question. And what they're starting to do, of course, is coalesce behind Rubio given those endorsements, give him that money, a lot of money that was -- that used to go to Jeb Bush.
You know, if you're a reporter covering this race what you've been dealing with is almost every hour on the hour you're getting a new update about a new endorsement from a GOP senator, a GOP governor, or congressman who's coming behind Rubio.
You're really seeing that coalescing happen, but, look, the argument that I think a lot of people would make, and I think it's a fair argument, is that they're doing this too late in the game. I think for a long time the republican establishment sort of stood back and they said, look, there's no way -- a lot of people in the media said it, too, there's no way that Donald Trump is going to be the nominee.
He's not even going to win, you know, a single state. Now all of a sudden, you know, the GOP is looking at him winning landslide victories, double digit victories in key states like New Hampshire and South Carolina and now Nevada and now there's this big freak out that's happening.
And the question is can they shift things quickly enough before Trump picks up a lot of support in Super Tuesday and some of those other states that are going to vote on March 8th and March 15th.
CHURCH: All right. Dylan Byers, great to chat with you. Many thanks. As we finish our conversation, let's look at those numbers again. Vying for second place, Ted Cruz has moved into that position. He's at 7,209 votes, as supposed to Marco Rubio's 7,137, 23.7 percent compared to 23.5. It keeps changing.
We will keep watching this. We are live here on CNN bringing our viewers not only in the United States but right across the globe, these numbers as they are being counted.
But Ted Cruz, of course his concession speech, included a call for conservatives to rally behind him before Super Tuesday. Cruz says each of the contests so far have narrowed the field to a race between him and Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TED CRUZ, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: At this point we've had four primaries. History teaches us that nobody has ever won the nomination without winning one of the first three primaries. Donald Trump and us, and the undeniable reality that the first four states have shown is that the only campaign that has beaten Donald Trump and the only campaign that can beat Donald Trump is this campaign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: All right. Well, CNN politics reporter Tal Kopan joins us now from Washington. And Tal, let's bring out those numbers again because it is just intriguing. Let's bring out those numbers. There they are as we watch Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio vie for this second place position. Ted Cruz 23.7 percent. Marco Rubio at 23.4 percent.
How long will it take, do you think, before the count is done and we will know who has taken the second place?
TAL KOPAN, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Well, I've been watching these returns all night, and the polls closed a few hours ago at 9 p.m. Pacific Time and since then we've only gotten less than 40 percent of the votes counted.
So, there's a good chance that this is going to take some time. And what you're seeing is when these leads change, we're talking about less than 100 votes right now separating them. And you might get a precinct that's a suburban area for a major urban center and that's going to go Rubio.
And then you might get a different pocket of, you know, of rural area, or more conservative area, and that might go Cruz, and that's why you're going to see those numbers go back and forth. I'm not sure we get clarity until pretty late in the game here. And I know that we're not ready to make a call yet for sure.
CHURCH: Yes. It's a nail biter and it's hilarious when you're talking about second place here, and you got the winner Donald Trump there at 43.7 percent. You add Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio's numbers together there and it's just under Donald Trump at this point.
But you and I we were talking in the last hour about the fact that Marco Rubio had gone to bed a long time ago. He's not even watching this at this point, we don't think he is. You were saying Ted Cruz was looking very tired when he came out and spoke. Talk to us about that.
KOPAN: Yes. You know, he gave his sort of usual rousing speech. We saw some pieces of it, that he's the only one that can beat Donald Trump.
[03:10:03] But for those of us who watch Ted Cruz every day, I mean, to borrow a phrase from Donald Trump, we've seen him with a lot more energy, that's for sure. He certainly wasn't at his highest energy today. And it came off a little defeated.
You know, it's quite possible he was just tired having been on the trail and covered many of these candidates. I can certainly vouch for the fact that they put up with a grueling schedule and are going, you know, across states and bouncing back and forth and he's probably still on East Coast time, so it's certainly reasonable that he was a bit exhausted, as many of us are tonight.
But you can't come off exhausted. You can't give a speech that's supposed to reassure your supporters and tell them that you're in it, and you're hanging in there, and you're not set back by this second or third place finish and sound like you are.
So, it wasn't a great night for him. I don't know that, you know, if he had given a rousing second place or third place victory speech it would have made any big difference for him but, you know, perhaps in the morning he'll look back and wish he had gone to bed just like Marco Rubio did.
CHURCH: Exactly. Tal Kopan joining us there live from Washington. You could probably go to bed now. It is just after three in the morning. Many thanks to you. We appreciate it.
KOPAN: Thanks for having me.
CHURCH: CNN's chief U.S. correspondent John King breaks down the results from the Nevada caucuses and how some of the key counties voted.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF U.S. CORRESPONDENT: As you look at the map starting to fill in, Ted Cruz winning this two smaller counties along the Utah border here. But Las Vegas, Clark County, that's where to your votes or more than 70 percent of the population of the state, Donald Trump getting the majority in Clark County so far, 15 percent of the vote in.
Marco Rubio, essentially half of Donald Trump, even less than half of Donald Trump so far in Clark County. The largest area of the state, this is for the casinos of Vegas in the suburbs. And again, Donald Trump proving he can win where the people are where he get the most votes.
Also winning the second largest county out here, Washoe County, Merino is out here in the 15 percent, 16 percent of the state population. Under 50 percent there, but at 46 percent, little more than a third of the vote now, 35 percent of the vote counted out there as it's still coming in.
As you'll look at the map filling in, it's mostly Trump. We're waiting for the votes here in the middle. But once again he's proving he can win in suburban areas, win in the cities here in Vegas and win in other areas as well.
And you pull it out, this is the result tonight, 1, 2, 3. Three wins for Donald Trump, one for Cruz. Remember, Cruz started the race by winning Iowa. Then Trump, New Hampshire, Trump, South Carolina, Trump, Nevada. And so the question now is can he project that going forward.
Let's switch the maps here. Let me come back in time so we'll not get too far ahead of ourselves. But after tonight, Donald Trump is going to be somewhere in the ballpark of 79, might even be higher than that.
This is a scenario giving him 35 percent of the vote in Nevada. He is going to end up higher than that. So, he may crack 80 tonight in delegates. A long way to go to the 1200 plus you need to clinch the nomination. But again, he's three for four so far. And momentum matters in politics.
Let's look ahead to Super Tuesday. A dozen states fill in. We give Ted Cruz Texas here. Looking for other states. You know, the Rubio people, this is hypothetical now, folks, the Rubio people say maybe they'll win Minnesota.
For the sake of the argument let's give it to them. Donald Trump second, and Ted Cruz third and Kasich fourth. Even that, if Rubio wins that, Donald Trump still starting to pull away. So, you look at the end of the night, maybe a couple other states and here to the competitive. But, Anderson, this is the state of the republican race right now.
Donald Trump has won three of the first four states. In any past campaign people would be saying, wow, that's unstoppable. Is he unstoppable? No. But if you have a continued race where the reaction tonight was, Kasich goes after Rubio, Cruz goes after Rubio and nobody goes after Trump, the Trump campaigns feels very strongly that maybe they'll lose Texas on Super Tuesday.
They are going to compete, trust me. But maybe they'll lose Texas, maybe they'll lose one or two other, but they believe by next Tuesday night we're going to be talking about a big Donald Trump lead in the delegate.
CHURCH: All right. John King on CNN a little earlier. And don't go away. We will hear from CNN's political panel next about what they think the future holds for Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz. Our live coverage of the Nevada caucuses continues in just a moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're going to do very well in Ohio. We're beating the governor. That's good. It's always nice to be beating the governor. And Michigan, the whole thing. I mean, it's going to be an amazing two months.
(CROWD CHEERING)
We might not even need the two months, folks, to be honest.
[03:15:00] (END VIDEO CLIP)
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, everyone. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for weather watch right now.
Look at the trend across parts of the eastern U.S. a lot of wet weather working its way from the Europe down towards Atlanta, Miami, Florida. Thunderstorms all of them associated with one storm that is stretching across the eastern half of the U.S. and even snow showers and blustery conditions across Chicago as well.
And how about this, the heat, the warmth, the sunshine continues in what is known El Nino season across parts of the Western U.S. and of course the big attention is drawn to this one storm system locked in across the deep south. It's already spawned at least 21 reports of tornadoes into the early morning hours.
Hundreds of lightning strikes per hour taking place across the southern parts of Alabama, western Florida. All of this activity eventually impacts some of the major hubs of the United States. This initially includes Atlanta in the morning hours of Wednesday.
So, certainly something worth noting across that region. But very unstable atmosphere across this area we're watching carefully. And notice a snowy pattern back behind it. Definitely have some cool air to deal with. And it could bring in some heavy snow showers.
The initial indications are a very narrow band. The heaviest of which I think will happen across parts of northern Indiana across much of the State of Michigan. One area that will take snow showers is across parts of California. Unfortunately, hard press to see this. High pressure large and in charge. A very dry pattern persist again. And later in the week, looking at some conditions to bring in wet weather across that region of California.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. You are watching CNN's special coverage of the Nevada republican caucuses. I want to check the time for you. It's 3.17 in the morning here, but in Nevada it is 12.17. Just to give you a little bit of a time check there.
And Donald Trump celebrating with his supporters in Las Vegas Tuesday and declaring a major victory over his republican rivals. Trump has now won the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries, and now of course, the Nevada caucuses.
Let's take a look at the latest vote tally. And you can see there is vying for second place, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio taking turns in that second place slot. At the moment, Ted Cruz has it, 23.3 percent with 8,114 votes and Marco Rubio right behind him, 23 percent there with 8,003 votes.
We'll keep an eye on that because we are live here on CNN bringing you the numbers. And here is part of what Trump had to say to his supporters during his victory speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It is going to be an amazing two months.
(CROWD CHEERING)
We might not even need the two months, folks, to be honest, all right?
(CROWD CHEERING)
So, tonight we had 45, 46 percent and tomorrow you'll be hearing, you know, if they could just take the other candidates and add them up and if you could add them up because, you know, the other candidates amount to 55 percent. So if they could -- they keep forgetting that when people drop out, we're getting a lot of votes.
(CROWD CHEERING)
They keep forgetting, you know what I'm saying?
(APPLAUSE)
So, I want to begin by thanking my boys. Eric has been all over the place making speeches. He's getting better than me so I'm a little jealous.
(APPLAUSE)
And Don went up to Elko, you were all over, right? And he loves this stuff. This is serious rifle; this is serious NRA both of them. So, both of them.
(CROWD CHEERING)
We love the Second Amendment, folks. Nobody loves it more than us so just remember that.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And Corey and hope, the staff, the whole group, and Charles and Dan and what a group we have. It's just been amazing.
(APPLAUSE)
I want to just thank a couple of friends of mine that are here. The owner of this incredible hotel, Mr. and Mrs. Phil Ruffin, stand up. Great guy.
(APPLAUSE)
[03:20:05] Phil said, Donald, like for the last three months he's driving me crazy. He said, Donald, I want to put $10 million into your campaign. I said, Phil, I don't want your money. I don't want to do it. I'm self-funding. Every time I see him it's hard for me to turn down money. Because that's not what I've done my whole life, I grab, I grab, I grab. You know, I get greedy. I want money, money.
(CROWD CHEERING)
I tell you what we do. We get greedy, right? Now we're going to get greedy for the United States. We're going to grab and grab and grab.
(CROWD CHEERING)
We're going to bring in so much money and so much everything, we're going to make America great again, folks. I'm telling you. We're going to make America great again.
(CROWD CHEERING) And another great friends of mine, somebody respected by everybody, a great friend of Phil, too, Mr. And Mrs. Steve Wynn. Stand up, Steve.
(CROWD CHEERING)
Stand up. Two great people.
(APPLAUSE)
Steve is always calling. He always got advice, right, Steve. Donald, I think you ought to do this and that. His advice I like to listen to, I'll be honest with you. So, Phil and Steve, and families, we appreciate it. You've been great friends. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
So, this was very exciting tonight, but I'll tell you, it looks like we won by a lot Evangelicals. I love the Evangelicals.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And I have to tell you, Pastor Jeffries has been incredible on television and elsewhere. He is been great. And as you know, Liberty University, do we love Liberty University, huh?
(APPLAUSE)
Jerry Falwell, Jr., an unbelievable guy, and he has been with us and with us from the beginning. And I want to thank Jerry and his family. It's been amazing, the relationship. So, we won the Evangelicals. We won with young. We won with old. We won with highly educated. We won with poorly educated. I love the poorly educated.
(CROWD CHEERING)
We're the smartest people. We're the most loyal people. And you know what I really am happy about, because I've been saying it for a long time, 46 percent with the Hispanics.
(CROWD CHEERING)
Forty six percent. Number one with Hispanics. I'm really happy about that.
(CROWD CHEERING)
So.
(CROWD CHANTING)
Thank you. So, I'm very proud of you. This is an amazing night and, you know, I love the country. I love the country.
(CROWD CHEERING) We're going -- we're going in the wrong direction. We're going to keep -- as you know Gitmo are keeping that open. And we're going to load it up with bad dudes.
(CROWD CHEERING)
We're going to load it up with a lot of bad dudes out there. We're going to have our borders nice and strong, we're going to build the wall, you know that.
(CROWD CHEERING)
We're going to build the wall. And I have a lot of respect for Mexico and you just heard we won Hispanics, but let me tell you Mexico is going to pay for the wall, right?
(CROWD CHEERING)
It's going to happen. It's going to happen. They know it, I know it, we all know it. We have a tremendous deficit, we have a trade deficit with Mexico, they'll pay for the wall. They'll be very happy about it. Believe me, I'll talk to them, they'll be very, very thrilled. They are going to be thrilled to be paying for the wall.
(APPLAUSE)
We are going to be the smart people. We are not going to be the people that get pushed around all over the place. We're going to be the smart people. You are going to be proud of your president and you're going to be even prouder of your country, OK?
(APPLAUSE)
So, tonight, folks, this was a great evening. I love this place. I love the state. I love Las Vegas. I have spent and invested so much money over here. Trump International hotel. I keep telling Steve, we have the best hotel in Las Vegas. He's fighting me all the time but that's all right.
But I just want to say, it's a great state and they have great people. And I was so proud. You know, I went to caucus. I was all over the place tonight. The people are amazing. The enthusiasm, it was unbelievable to see. The people of this country are absolutely amazing.
I love you folks very much. Remember, make America great again. We're going to do it and it's going to happen fast. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.
(CROWD CHEERING)
Thank you very much. We love you! We love you! Thank you. Thank you.
(CROWD CHANTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: An emboldened Donald Trump there at his victory speech just a couple of hours ago. And a short time ago, Donald Trump sent out a tweet about his crushing victory. It says simply, thank you, Nevada.
[03:25:07] Well, earlier, Anderson Cooper, our CNN's political panel if there is a path forward for Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz as the primary season continues. And here is what they had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING: I think he's coming and third. When you keep coming in second and third, there's another way to phrase that. It's called losing.
ANDERSON COOPER, AC360 SHOW HOST: I mean, even if Cruz gets Texas.
KING: If Cruz gets Texas, look, the only way to beat Donald Trump is it sounds silly, is to beat Donald Trump. And the only way to beat him and stop him is to beat him in a lot of states. You got dozen states put on Super Tuesday. If Donald Trump wins eight of them, well, you don't need to be a rocket scientist, it's simple arithmetic, that means he is going to start building a delegate lead.
Now, if he starts being inconsistently, yes, you can catch up. There are some big states out there. Texas, let's assume Cruz wins Texas. You look at the map and you say, where does Rubio win? Some people say maybe Virginia, some people say maybe Minnesota. OK. If he can prove that and do that, it gets him a win and allows him to keep raising money. That's the problem.
You have 12 states this week and you have a bunch the week after that, and a bunch the week after that. None of these people, except for Donald Trump who can spend his own money, yes, Cruz has more money than Rubio. Rubio has some money.
Do you know how much it costs to run a presidential campaign if you're doing eight states at a time, 10 states at a time, 12 states at a time, and if you're losing, do you think people will keep sending you checks? It just doesn't -- it simple doesn't work that way.
So, they have to start winning. And you cannot keep coming out saying, yes, third place, thank you. Thank you, everybody. You lose, you go home. You just can't raise the money to stay in.
RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Victory speeches are the new concession speeches.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it wasn't that long ago.
LIZZA: This should have been a state that was built for Cruz. Cruz was the more libertarians in the race. Nevada has a serious libertarian population. Ron Paul's won 20 percent in the state. The proportion of very conservative, secular voters is high. He's done very well with that group in some of the earlier states. So, getting 20 percent and third place is highly disappointing for a candidate. BORGER: You know, it wasn't be that long ago, February 1, that Cruz
was complaining about Rubio bragging about his bronze medal in Iowa having come in third. And here tonight, we heard Ted Cruz kind of try and turn what is a third place showing into a sort of victory because he's the only one who can challenge Donald Trump, so it wasn't long ago.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: And I thought he just sounds stale. He sounds like a stale politician who thinks that voters are looking for a candidate who can check off all the list of things that you want in a conservative candidate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: All right. Some views there. Thank you for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Early Start is next with more from the Nevada caucuses. For everyone else, I will be back in just a moment with more CNN Newsroom.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: And a warm welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.
I want to update you on our top stories now. Donald Trump is celebrating a huge win in the Nevada republican caucuses. Turnout was much bigger than expected, and that helped propel Trump to victory.
Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are locked in a close battle for second place. Ben Carson and John Kasich are both in the single digits. Well, Trump spoke with his supporters in Las Vegas just about an hour after the polls closed. He says he is especially proud of winning in just about every category of voters, including more than 40 percent of Latinos.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We won the Evangelicals. We won with young. We won with old. We won with highly educated. We won with poorly educated. I love the poorly educated. I love the poorly educated.
(CROWD CHEERING)
We're the smartest people with the most loyal people, and you know what I really am happy about because I've been saying it for a long time. Forty six percent with the Hispanics, 46 percent. Number one with Hispanics.
(CROWD CHEERING)
I'm really happy about that. Of course, if you listen to the pundits, we weren't expected to win too much and now we're winning, winning, winning the country.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And soon the country is going to start winning, winning, winning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Well, the democratic candidates have their next primary on Saturday. It's in South Carolina, and that's where they sat down with CNN's Chris Cuomo Tuesday night for a CNN town hall. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders did not appear on stage together but they still managed to level shots at each other.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROWD CHEERING)
CHRIS CUOMO, NEW DAY SHOW CO-HOST: The chair good?
BERNIE SANDERS, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's pretty good.
CUOMO: All right. It's pretty good.
SANDERS: What Secretary Clinton said I will do it if other people do it? Well, I am very happy to release all of my paid speeches to Wall Street. Here it is, Chris. There is none.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Why is there one standard for me and not for everybody else?
(APPLAUSE)
CUOMO: Do you agree to release these transcripts?
CLINTON: Sure, if everybody does it, and that includes the republicans.
SANDERS: This birther issue which we heard from Donald Trump and others, a racist effort to try to de-legitimize the President of the United States. I was -- my dad, as I mentioned, came from Poland. I'm running for president. Guess what, nobody has asked for my birth certificate. Maybe it's the color of my skin. I don't know.
(APPLAUSE)
CLINTON: These five women have lost children to police actions and to random senseless gun violence. There's no doubt that in each case there is a racial component to it.
SANDERS: Kids come up to me and say, you've given me hope and you've -- you've rekindled my interest in democracy and in politics.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you think has been causing this common generational gap between your supporters and Senator Sanders' supporters?
CLINTON: I really don't know, but I want you to know that whether you end up supporting me or not, I will support you, and I will support the young people of this country because that has been -- that has been my life's work. (APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: The Italian Navy rescued more than 700 migrants near the strait of Sicily on Tuesday. Four bodies were also recovered. Now this is the latest of an unprecedented number of migrants and refugees who have landed in Greece and Italy this year.
The International Organization for Migration says so far more than 100,000 people have arrived. Last year, that mark was not reached until the end of June. Now according to the organization, a vast majority of these migrants are from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Now Greece began bussing hundreds of migrants back from its northern border Tuesday amid fears of a bottleneck. This comes as its Balkan neighbors tried to close the main land route to Western Europe. They have started demanding additional identification from migrants and denying passage to those not coming from Syria and Iraq.
But now the U.N. refugee agency is denouncing what they say is the profiling of migrants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All these measures are aimed at keeping refugees out and they are really causing numerous hardships for the people arriving.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[03:35:06] CHURCH: Well, meanwhile, in France, a judge is trying to decide how to rule on a government plan to partially evacuate a migrant camp in Calais. On Tuesday, she delayed a ruling into a so- called jungle near the northern French port. Many migrants fear the conviction because of the sense of community the camp has provided them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just not for everyone. There are 3,000, more than 3,000 people that they're leaving here. They have mosque here, schools here. Everything inside the jungle, so it's become like a small city and they are going to finish it. There's a lot of work and efforts here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Local authorities say more than 1,000 migrants would be forced from that camp, but activists who work there say the actual number is more than triple that of official estimates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We expect a positive humanitarian response where the judge will be fair because we've had a lot of good, fair decisions from both in France, and we expect the same thing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are very much hoping that the judge who visited the camp today will have a bit of a heart and see that there are many, many children there who would completely lose our protection if they had to leave the jungle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Now neighboring Belgium says it is already tightening its border in anticipation of the Calais camp being cleared out. I want to bring in Janet Darley now from London; she is a rabbi for the South London Liberal Synagogue.
Thank you so much for talking with us. Now I understand you have recently been there on the ground in Calais. I want to get a reading from you on what people are dealing with there.
JANET DARLEY, SOUTH LONDON LIBERAL SYNAGOGUE RABBI: Well, as you might imagine, it's a camp. It's very basic, of course. We were there, it was pouring with rain. Everything was very, very muddy walking around, so that's a real problem. But I think the biggest thing that I felt on Monday was a real sense of fear about what will happen.
There are, as you've already mentioned, a number of children there, a number of unaccompanied minors. We think there's probably -- there's over 300, maybe something in the neighborhood of 350 unaccompanied minors.
A large number of those are in Calais because they have family members, close family members, brothers, sisters, even parents who have been granted asylum in the U.K. And they're there because they want to get to their family members. And they've gotten as close as they can get, so it's just a real -- it's a real worry.
These are children, the bulk of them between 12 and 16, and to try to sort out their immigration, it's a real problem. And to be moved away from each other. To be moved away from the children's center, all of those who are giving them help, to be dispersed for a small child, and especially a child who has suffered as much as they already have, some of them have seen their parents killed, their homes destroyed and it's a very tragic and very frightening situation. And there certainly was a lot of fear on the ground on Monday.
CHURCH: Right. And of course this judge will make a decision today, in fact, on whether or not to evict these people. What is the sense, what is the likely outcome here?
DARLEY: Well, it's hard to say, it really is. I think, as we've talked to people, that they do have some faith in the legal system, that they've had good -- good judgments before. There was certainly someone who came around and actually looked through the camp more thoroughly and there was every effort made to make sure that people were up and sort of in the area.
Because one of the things that they think that happened was from the previous census of the camp taken, that they picked a time when people would likely have been out and about and not in their houses, not in their -- they're not really houses but not in their shacks or tents, and so that led to underreporting.
Obviously you can't do -- you know, you can't make very good decisions if you don't really know the situation. So, having somebody come back and look more carefully hopefully will -- will help.
I think another thing that would certainly that would be really, really great to see is if the French government could help to expedite the take charge orders that go to the United Kingdom for the children who should be allowed into the U.K. to have their asylum cases considered there because they have these close family members there.
[03:40:08] So, that would already reduce the numbers in a very sensible way where the children will be taken care of.
CHURCH: We will be watching this very closely, of course. Janet Darley, thank you so much for watching this. We appreciate it.
DARLEY: Thank you.
CHURCH: All right. Let's take a very short break here. But still to come, a ceasefire in Syria on CNN Newsroom. Ahead, details on this newly brokered deal and why so many are so skeptical. Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: It was a campaign pledge back in 2008 and now President Barack Obama is trying to make good on it. He wants to close the controversial detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.
Barbara Starr has more on the opposition his plan faces.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PRESIDENT: I hereby order that Guantanamo will be closed no later than one year from now.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It was a promise that President Obama made on his first full day in office. Close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba. More than seven years later, the president has sent Congress a plan to do just that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Let me point out, the plan we're submitting today is not only the right thing to do for our security, it will also save money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: The plan centers mainly on what to do with detainees that are too dangerous to be sent to other countries. There are 91 detainees, 35 have been determined eligible to be transferred overseas. That could leave 40 to 60 prisoners that might have to be transferred
to a military or civilian prison in the U.S. Some will face military tribunal. The Pentagon calculates compared to
keeping Guantanamo open, closing it would lower costs by up to $85 million a year. That is the toughest part politically. Kansas republican Senator Pat Roberts made his view clear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[03:45:07] PAT ROBERTS, KANSAS STATE SENATOR: This is what I think of the president's plan to send terrorists to the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: Congress already has banned the administration from spending money to transfer prisoners to the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITCH MCCONNELL, U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER: It is illegal, illegal for the president to transfer any of these terrorists into the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: Because of congressional opposition, the Pentagon still has not recommended a specific site for prisoners. Defense officials have looked at the maximum security federal prisons in Colorado, the navy brig at Charleston, South Carolina and the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter is making it clear from the outset the key will be getting congressional approval.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHTON CARTER, U.S. SECRERARY OF DEFENSE: We have to get the support of congress. I hope they'll support a reasonable plan, we'll have to see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: President Obama insists that top terror suspects at Gitmo can safely be brought to the United States and held, many of them suspects in the 9/11 attacks. The only problem is he has yet to convince Congress.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
CHURCH: And republican lawmakers are not alone in their opposition to the plan. Two presidential hopefuls say they want to keep Guantanamo open for future terror suspects.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCO RUBIO, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I'm president, if we capture a terrorist alive, they're not getting a court hearing in Manhattan. They're not going to be sent to Nevada. They're going to Guantanamo and we're going to find out everything they know.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: And just today, President Obama announced his plans to try to shut down Guantanamo terror detention facilities. Let me say this, Mr. President, don't shut down Gitmo, expand it and let's have some new terrorists there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And some are raising questions about whether it's legal for the president to transfer the detainees to the U.S.
John Yoo was the deputy assistant U.S. Attorney General during the George W. Bush administration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN YOO, FORMER U.S. ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: There's a constitutional issue and the international law issue. Constitutionally, I think President Obama's in a tough spot because Congress has forbidden the use of any federal funds to bring anyone from Guantanamo Bay into the U.S.
So, President Obama's the Commander-in-Chief. He can release any of the people at Guantanamo Bay to foreign countries under his constitutional power, but what he cannot do is use -- is to use federal funds in defiance of Congress.
So, he can't bring them into the United States unless he's willing to be the first president other than President Lincoln at the start of the Civil War to override Congress's power of the purse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And there's much more on Guantanamo Bay including an explanation from a CNN security analyst on why it's still open. That's all at cnn.com. Take a look.
U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry says he cannot say yet if a newly struck ceasefire agreement in Syria will work. He testified before the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. The deal calls for the Syrian government and opposition groups to lay down their arms.
All sides have until Friday to agree. The agreement does not include terrorist groups like al-Nusra front and ISIS. And Kerry said that this plan negotiated with Russia is the best path to end five years of violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: It's out there and people know what they are, but I think this is a moment to try to see whether or not we can make this work, not to find ways to pre-ordain its failure and start talking about all the downsides of what we're going to do afterwards. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: More than 250,000 people have been killed since Syria's Civil War began.
We'll take a short break and be back in a moment.
[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Weather watch time. Pedram Javaheri with you watching the pattern across the eastern U.S. here, with a wintry storm that is going to begin to push in a portion of the Midwest.
Eventually it could spill some snow showers for skiers and snowboarders that got excellent news. But I think much of it really going to be confined towards parts of Ontario and Quebec from say, Thursday into Friday as cold air settles in to the latter portion of the week.
How much snow are we talking? Not an impressive amount, 6 to 7 inches. But again, it has been a very quiet season across this portion of Canada. So, certainly any snow will be good news. You notice the temperatures do generally want to warm up just above freezing a few spots. So, something to watch carefully across that region.
Now clear conditions across the station Mountain Blanc (ph), 100 percent of the trails now open. Machine groomed to keep them in that shape. About 40 centimeters has come down for the season. To the south, a little too mild. There's been really the theme this season has been the mild conditions that have been really playing this region.
And the temps were around 9 to 10 degrees not going to do too much as far as bringing new snow down. The trails about 50 percent open for much of that region. And of course look at the West, the intermountain west where you expect it to be a blanket of white. Right now very quiet conditions.
Looking at generally sunny skies across this region. Temps well above freezing from even the highest elevations. The snow amounts picked up a couple of inches in recent days. But notice the trails are all open but much of this is machine groomed conditions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Well, severe storms have roared across the U.S. Gulf Coast killing three people and spawning tornadoes. Two of the deaths happened at this Louisiana recreational vehicle park where 160 motor homes and trailers were pummeled by strong winds.
I want to get more on these storms. We'll turn to our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri who joins us from the International Weather Center. And, Pedram, of course these trailer homes and motor homes so vulnerable under these sorts of conditions. JAVAHERI: Absolutely. Absolutely. Because just of the nature of the
structures that you're in, of course, not very safe in general. And the winds will pick them up. And if you're inside of it, very low likelihood that you would survive.
And you take a look at this video and take a listen to what occurred across portions of Pensacola, Florida. This video are coming out of the region of the Gulf Coast of Florida. It's incredible winds that were associated with actually a tornado line of storms that spawned a tornado just a few kilometers away from this region.
And again, this is what it looks like as we had multiple reports of tornadoes across this region. We'll break down exactly what is ahead of the folks across this region of the U.S. And 1100 kilometers stretch of land with a wintry aspect of it, but of course a severe aspect of it stretching just south of the CNN center at this point working upwards the eastern seaboard.
Anywhere from say, with the nation's capital towards Tampa, Florida, severe weather still a possibility moving towards Wednesday. But the area of concern the highest risk is going to be right towards portions of the Carolinas, Wally (ph) in particular. But this is what's most impressive.
Twenty six reports of tornadoes from Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning. And the reason that's impressive is the month of February is among the quietest time of the year. Twenty nine is typically what you would get an entire month on an average year.
And of course, 90 percent of it occurred in one day over the past several hours. But you take a look, the areas of concern, the time these tornadoes occurred, Rosemary, the overnight hours, when you take a look at the numbers, 40 plus percent of some of the states across the southern U.S. See most of their tornadoes, some of their tornadoes being nocturnal in nature, meaning occurring between say, midnight and dawn.
That is one of the more dangerous times. You are two and a half times more likely to lose your life when it comes the tornadoes occurring in the overnight hours, of course, because you're typically asleep or you're at home and not protected by say, a sturdy structure such as being in office. So, this is something that is being dangerous into the overnight hours, Rosemary.
[03:55:10] CHURCH: Yes, it is a worry, indeed, how unpredictable the weather is these days. Many thanks to you, Pedram.
Well, the U.K.'s Bristol Zoo has released new video of a baby gorilla delivered by C-section.
CNN's Kellie Morgan reports on the rare operation and the circumstances surrounding the doctor who performed it.
KELLIE MORGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a girl, but look a little closer and you'll see there's something extra special about this newborn. She's a gorilla, one of just a handful ever delivered by caesarian.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The birth is very significant for us. It's always important to breed an endangered species and gorillas are considered endangered in the wild.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: Even in captivity this birth was in peril. Staff at Bristol Zoo feared mother Cara was suffering from preeclampsia. A disorder that's one of the world's leading causes of illness and death in human mothers and infants. A local gynecologist who had performed hundreds of caesarians was rushed in to deal with the rare case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CAHILL, GYNAECOLOGIST: The big differences are that you can't reassure the patient, you can't talk to them. But in terms of when the operation starts and going through it, actually it was very similar. The tissues are very the same -- very much the same.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: The procedure was straightforward but the emergency was far from over. The baby wasn't breathing.
ROWENA KILLICK, BRISTOL ZOO VETERINARIAN: I spent a long time resuscitating her. It took us two to three hours to actually resuscitate her, get her breathing for herself. So, yes, it was exciting but also quite nerve racking at the same time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: Now 11 days on, the tiny gorilla which weighed almost a kilogram at birth, is receiving a round the clock care by her keepers. Mother and baby reportedly doing well. The latter already showing some character.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH GODMAN, ZOOKEEPER: It's very forthright just like her mother. And she lets us know when she's awake, she lets us know when she's ready for a feed, so she really is quite bold and gregarious already.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: An indication perhaps to the kind of name her keepers will be looking to give her.
Kellie Morgan, CNN, London.
CHURCH: I'm Rosemary Church. More news here on CNN.
[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
