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U.S. Republicans to Square Off in CNN Debate; Rubio Targets Trump by Name at Houston Rally; Sanders Campaigns in Three States; Sides Must Agree on Syrian Cease-Fire; Sexual Abuse at the BBC; Inside Notorious South African Prison; Voters on Texas-Mexico Border; Introducing Melania Trump. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired February 25, 2016 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN HOST: Ahead at the INTERNATIONAL DESK, Donald Trump and his rivals gear up for CNN's big debate.
A report from Tehran one day before Iran's crucial elections.
And we take you inside one of South Africa's most notorious prisons.
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CURNOW: Hi, there, welcome, I'm Robyn Curnow at the CNN Center.
We start with a high-stakes debate for U.S. Republican presidential candidates, which you can watch later on CNN. Donald Trump could cement
his front-runner status heading into the crucial Super Tuesday contest.
For Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, it could be their last best chance to put a dent in Trump's lead. One advantage they will have this time: fewer
candidates on the stage. That could give them more time to boost their own policies or to attack Trump. Sunlen Serfaty has more on the big push
leading into the big debate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will be totally prepared. People have not done well against me.
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The GOP front-runner is set to face-off with his four remaining rivals tonight in the last debate
before Super Tuesday.
DONALD TRUMP: So far everybody that's attacked me has gone down.
SERFATY (voice-over): Donald Trump already has more than double the number of delegates than his closest competitors, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz,
combined.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: There has never been a candidate like Donald Trump in a whole lot of ways.
SERFATY (voice-over): Trump notably absent from last night's FOX News town hall, hosted by Megyn Kelly, where the freshman senators continued to argue
that it's only a matter of time before his ballooning lead pops.
CRUZ: We're the only campaign in a position to beat him on Super Tuesday, to win the nomination.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLA., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A majority of Republican voters are not supporting Donald Trump. And obviously, once
this race begins to narrow a little bit, you'll see more of that support consolidating.
SERFATY (voice-over): This as 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney warns about a bombshell to come in Trump's tax records, asking all of the candidates to
release them.
DONALD TRUMP: Tax returns are very complicated. I have many, many companies. I have tremendously -- I have a very complex system of taxes.
But we'll make a determination over the next couple of months.
CRUZ: I will release the remainder of what we have this week. I have released already, I think, five years' worth. But look, the nice thing is
I haven't made enough money that my tax returns are not that interesting.
RUBIO: I'll release them. They are not that complicated.
SERFATY (voice-over): Up for grabs on Super Tuesday: Cruz's home state of Texas, the senator of the delegate-rich state securing the endorsement of
its governor.
CRUZ: We can't be fooled by P.T. Barnum. The time for the clowns and the acrobats and the dancing bears has passed.
SERFATY (voice-over): Meanwhile, at a rally in Houston, Marco Rubio is now targeting Trump by name.
RUBIO: Donald Trump has actually alluded to the fact that he thinks parts of ObamaCare are pretty good.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: That was Sunlen Serfaty reporting.
One big question already swirling around Trump's campaign, if he wins the nomination, who would he pick to run on the ticket as vice president?
Trump isn't saying but he gave some hint during an appearance on Wednesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP: The most important thing is you have to have somebody that can be a great president. But after that, you want somebody that can help
you with legislation, getting it through, et cetera, et cetera. We're going to probably choose somebody that's somewhat political.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: Well, so could Trump select a so-called establishment candidate as V.P.?
Our next guest says Trump himself is already an establishment candidate. This is Russ Schriefer's article, which you can see online at time.com.
It's a great read. Russ is a Republican political strategist, who played a large role in Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. He joins me now
from CNN Washington.
So what do you mean that Trump is now the establishment candidate?
RUSS SCHRIEFER, "TIME": Well, if you look at the number of people, not the political operatives, not the major donors, but if you look at real
Republicans who are out there, lawyers, doctors, people you see normally as part of the establishment class, you hear them. They are starting to
support Donald Trump.
They start to say, well, he's a businessman. Well, he won't be as bad as he is in the primaries. He will start to move to the center.
And, of course, the big thing that they say is he will be better than Hillary Clinton.
CURNOW: Is that the rallying point?
You say there are going to be more bumper stickers --
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CURNOW: -- on cars at country clubs that say Donald Trump.
You worked on Romney's campaign. We heard in Sunlen's piece there that Governor Romney said that there was a bombshell in Trump's taxes.
Do you agree?
Actually, does it even matter?
SCHRIEFER: Well, we don't know. Mr. Trump's candidacy is predicated on the idea that he's very wealthy. He's worth $10 billion.
We really don't know that. We have to take his word for it. We don't know if he's given a lot of money as Governor Romney said.
Has he given a lot of money to charity?
We don't know.
So the only way we're going to find this out is if Mr. Trump releases his income taxes, like other presidential campaigns have done in the past, and
we'll see. I think what Governor Romney was doing is saying, look, it's either time to put up or show up.
CURNOW: Put up or show up.
That said, this is a man who has changed the lines, the rules here of this presidential election.
Let's talk about the debate tonight, the CNN debate. This is really getting to be crunch time. And I know we have said it over and over, but
the next week or so is crucial.
If you were advising Marco Rubio for example, what would your strategy be against Trump?
Or as you said in your piece, will it take divine intervention for Rubio to come back?
SCHRIEFER: Well, if you're Marco Rubio, you have to have a moment where it will be seen that you can go after Donald Trump and win that moment. It
can be over any one of things. It can be over a policy issue. It can be over an ethics issue. It could be over a character issue.
But whatever it is that Republican voters want to see that a Marco Rubio can stand up to Donald Trump and win that exchange. And if you can't do
that, I think voters are saying, well, if he can't beat Trump, how is he ever going to beat Hillary Clinton one-on-one in a debate?
And I think that's a real big opportunity for Senator Rubio in order to -- you know, Donald Trump is in the lead. He's clearly in the lead. And in
order to win, you got to beat the guy who is ahead of you. And Senator Rubio has the opportunity to do that tonight.
CURNOW: OK. You're saying he has to throw a punch with the big boys here.
So what does that mean then about Donald Trump?
What does he need to do next?
Does he need to do anything?
Has he sewn this up already then?
SCHRIEFER: Well, it's interesting. You look at all the different Trump debates. Some people say he did well in one debate. He didn't do well in
another debate.
It just doesn't seem to matter, that Donald Trump is sort of a force unto himself, that if he does poorly, his supporters cheer him. If he does
well, his supporters cheer him.
Donald Trump just needs to continue to do and be the status -- to be, believe it or not, to be the status quo, to be Donald Trump.
If that happens, it's a big win for him and my prediction is, it will probably be a big win for him next Tuesday.
CURNOW: Yes. You say he's the Airbnb of politics.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHRIEFER: He's been a disrupter. I mean, there's this -- clearly has disrupted the process.
CURNOW: So then let's talk about the comments we played just before we came to you. Trump was asked who he would ask as a V.P. if he gets the
nomination. You have been in the room with the last Republican nominee making that very decision. You know what goes into making that decision.
What do you make of Trump saying he's going to pick someone political?
What does that even mean?
SCHRIEFER: Well, I think that -- I think that it's an interesting thing that he said.
And I think what that really points to is that he wants to win. He wants to be seen as someone who is serious, who would be a serious president and
someone that he would pick would have the Washington experience that he doesn't have, that would know how to deal with Congress, would know how to
deal with a legislature, something that he's not familiar with.
And I think he's already looking forward to how to balance what he has, which is this reputation as a disrupter, as someone who can rearrange the
molecules in a room on any given day, with someone who may be more of a steady hand and knows a little bit more about the process, a little bit
more about legislation and probably a little bit more about foreign policy.
CURNOW: A whole lot more about everything is what you're saying.
We will be probably talking about those possible names in the next few days, next few weeks and we'll come and get -- ask you back to get your
thoughts on them. But thanks so much, Russ, appreciate it.
SCHRIEFER: That'd be great. Thank you, Robyn.
CURNOW: Well, watch tonight's Republican debate. It's going to be a talker, moderated by CNN's Wolf Blitzer at his best. It airs 1:30 this
morning -- in the morning, Friday morning in London, right here on CNN.
Meantime the Democrats are busy campaigning ahead of Saturday's South Carolina primary. Hillary Clinton has four events today in the Southern
state and maintains a solid lead in the polls there over Bernie Sanders.
She's also riding the momentum after picking up an endorsement from Senate minority leader Harry Reid. Bernie Sanders will be visiting three other
states in the hours ahead after a rally in the key state of Ohio. Sanders will travel to Flint, Michigan --
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CURNOW: -- to talk to residents about the water crisis there. He will end the day with a rally in Chicago.
Well, coming up, the prospects for peace in Syria as a cessation of hostilities is set to begin.
What does all that mean?
What is the impact?
We'll have a live report.
And why Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, says the only way to help the FBI would be to create the technology version of cancer.
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CURNOW: Thanks for joining me, I'm Robyn Curnow. You're watching CNN.
A partial cease-fire is set to begin in Syria at midnight on Friday. Syria's main opposition group supports the deal brokered by the U.S. and
Russia but says it's not sure that Russia can be trusted. International diplomatic editor Nic Robertson has more from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Hi, there, Nic. Great to see you.
What are they saying to you?
What are the expectations for this partial cease-fire?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Got to say the expectations are not incredibly high. This is where -- Riyadh is where the
Syrian opposition are gathered as the high negotiating committee. This is the group that's been involved in the peace talks in Geneva that collapsed.
They were there in Munich two weeks ago for the Syria talks there.
They range from a former prime minister all the way through to some pretty hard fighting, hardcore, if you will, Islamist groups. But that said, they
have signed up and agreed to go along with what the international community is proposing, what the United States and Russia have said over the last few
weeks.
I have been talking -- just over a month ago now I was talking with the group's spokesman in Geneva, when he went to the peace talks there. I
talked to him again in Munich two weeks ago when the cessation of hostilities was supposed to be penciled in for a week away. Now it's
penciled in for a couple of days away.
So I asked him again can Russia be trusted, given that, all along they have been saying, yes, they will get on board with the cease-fire. This is what
he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPOKESMAN, HIGH NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE: In fact, we don't trust Russia but we trust our friends and we know that they would really take the
responsibility about the lives of the Syrian people.
In fact, since we were in Munich, we have seen escalation of the Russian air raids in targets. They have sites. They really targeted (INAUDIBLE)
Aleppo and Daraa (ph) and it's -- I believe this crime should really stop. Russia will increase this one because Russia wants to keep Assad in power -
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[10:15:00]
SPOKESMAN, HIGH NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE: -- and everybody realize in the international community to Putin and to this one to Putin and to this
(INAUDIBLE) in Syria.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: However, he says they are willing to be patient. They are willing to wait and see what happens with this latest deadline.
But they do want to give this a chance. They do want to get to a political dialogue. But they do feel at this time that their friends and allies in
the international community are really not as strong as Russia in all of this.
He told me that he thought this current agreement between the United States and Russia was sort of only 20 percent United States and 80 percent Russia.
And this is why their confidence in whether or not Russia will go along with a cease-fire, he said, even if it does get going, it may collapse
after 48 hours. But they're still holding out and hoping.
CURNOW: OK. Thanks so much for that report there, Nic Robertson in Riyadh, appreciate it.
Well, Pyongyang could be facing its toughest round of sanctions yet after its recent nuclear test and rocket launch. A U.N. Security Council
diplomat told CNN the U.S. and China have reached an agreement on a new draft resolution to punish North Korea. The diplomat said Beijing and
Washington disagreed on a number of issues but the deal was reached out of a mutual desire to denuclearize the hermit nation.
And Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, is doubling down on his position not to help the FBI break into an iPhone. An interview with ABC News, Cook said the tech
giant would have to create new software that could have devastating implications.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIM COOK, CEO, APPLE: The only way we know would be to write a piece of software that we view as the software equivalent of cancer. We think it's
bad news to write. We would never write it. We have never written it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: OK, the software equivalent of cancer. Lots to talk about with CNNMoney business correspondent Samuel Burke, who joins us now from London.
Hi, there, Sam. Tim Cook really digging down there, trying to make it harder, going to make it harder, not easier, for law enforcement.
SAMUEL BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have always heard them say we don't want to be in this position. And that's something that Tim Cook had to
make very clear and did make very clear in this interview.
This is not about just business. It's not just about security. We don't want to be in this position, he said. Now they may not have to be in this
position. What we are hearing is that right now iPhone -- or rather Apple can get into the iPhone if they are forced to. They can create software to
do this.
But what they are working on now is possibly a way so that the phone is so secure that even if Apple wants to get in, then they won't be able to get
in. So if they are ever in this type of situation again, the United States government coming to them or some other government, for that matter, that
they literally won't be able to get in no matter how hard they try.
Supposedly they're working around the clock right now to try and make that type of technology possible for their hardware devices.
CURNOW: So, with that in mind, let's also just change, I mean, this whole conversation about security and the tech world is a global one. Bearing in
mind the latest propaganda from ISIS targeting other tech leaders, is it also perhaps a symbol of some of the successes against the terror group?
BURKE: Indeed. There's an incredibly chilling video that lasts about 25 minutes that's been posted by a group of ISIS supporters, who call
themselves Sons Caliphate Army (ph). And in it you see images of Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey, engulfed in flames, even with targets on their
heads.
And they threaten not just to take down the social networks behind these two gents, they're also to attack them themselves.
But as you say, it actually could be a good sign. These groups are very upset that these social networks are taking down their accounts, so
frustrated now that they are responding this way. Peter Bergen, CNN's terrorism analyst, was telling me this is a sign that the 125,000 ISIS
accounts or accounts of ISIS supporters, them getting -- Twitter taking the accounts down has really frustrated these groups.
So maybe this is a sign that these groups are really seeing the pushback on social media. The problem, though, Robyn, while we have seen these
threats before, even against Zuckerberg and Dorsey and nothing seems to every come to fruition, thankfully, the problem is, what terrorism analysts
tell me is that sometimes these can be the videos that inspire people, not the creators of these videos that could get into the United States. They
think there's a really low chance of that happening.
But it's that lone wolf, someone who is inspired by ISIS, who might carry out one of these attacks. So of course these social networks take these
types of threats very seriously.
CURNOW: Indeed, unpacking it all for us, Samuel Burke in London, thanks so much.
Still to come here at the IDESK, inhumane living conditions for even the most hardened of criminals. Our David McKenzie and his team gives us an
exclusive look inside of one of South Africa's most notorious prisons. You'll want to watch this piece.
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CURNOW: In Britain, a damning report has just been released on how the BBC handled sexual abuse complaints over a period of nearly 50 years.
The late TV star, Jimmy Savile, was the worst offender. His youngest victim was just 8 years old. Diana Magnay has more from London.
Hi, there, Di. This is a shocking indictment.
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is, it's a hideous picture of rape and abuse by Jimmy Savile and one other BBC presenter, Stuart Hall, who was
convicted and jailed on charges of indecent assault of young girls a few years ago.
And it points to failings in the BBC's management culture, whereby Dame Janet Smith, who conducted this independent review, said I noticed five
cases where junior and middle ranking colleagues of Savile knew what was going on, had victims complain to them but they refused to take that
further up the management ladder and that was because of a very macho deferential culture at the BBC, where they were scared to raise their
concerns. Let's take a listen to what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAME JANET SMITH, AUTHOR OF INQUIRY REPORT: There was a culture of not complaining or of raising concerns. BBC staff felt and were sometimes told
that it was not in their best interest to pursue a complaint. Loyalty to and pride in a program could hinder the sharing of concerns. There was a
reluctance to rock the boat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MAGNAY: "A reluctance to rock the boat;" one of the victims was told when they tried to raise a complaint, "Keep your mouth shut. He's a VIP."
And Dame Janet Smith said that men built this culture of celebrity around them, which was -- made them untouchable. Tony Hall, director general of
the BBC, has issued a very, very full apology and has detailed the steps that the BBC has put in place -- because, let's not forget that this abuse
happened decades ago -- but the very, very comprehensive steps that the BBC has been putting in place to try and make sure that this kind of hideous
abuse cannot happen again.
And that's by putting in place better whistleblower policies; complaint procedures; very, very comprehensive child protection policies. And he did
issue an apology on behalf of the corporation and said, of course, we are trying to make good on those failings of the past.
But this was less a question of who didn't know and more a question of how could people at the top levels of the BBC not known what Jimmy Savile was
doing -- Robyn.
CURNOW: Yes, a really unpleasant chapter in the BBC's history. Thank you so much, Diana Magnay there in London.
Now to a rare look inside one of South Africa's most notorious prisons. It once housed Nelson Mandela --
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CURNOW: -- but prisoners are packed into filthy cells, even an official in charge acknowledges the conditions are inhumane. CNN's David McKenzie has
this exclusive look inside Pollsmoor Prison.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Walls designed to keep dangerous inmates out of sight, also hiding allegations of abuse, disease,
outbreaks, severe overcrowding -- until now. We've been given exclusive access inside Pollsmoor Prison.
We're headed to the one section that's the oversight most overcrowded section of Pollsmoor, (INAUDIBLE) centers. Some of the cells over 300
percent over capacity.
Statistics can be hard to grasp; the horrific reality is not. This single cell, crammed with 86 detainees. It was designed for 19. They all share
one shower and a toilet but often it's just a bucket.
No mattress, no nothing?
The smell, this many bodies in such a small space, is suffocating. The filth is so extreme, skin disease is endemic. Contracting tuberculosis, an
almost certainty. Inhumane conditions for even the most hardened of convicts. But all of these men, yet to be convicted.
How many of you have been here for more than two months?
CLIVE (PH): The worst thing is to see all the people must lay on the floors, (INAUDIBLE). Even during the night, when we want to go to toilet,
we have to climb over them.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Clive (ph) has been stuck here for two years and two months, awaiting trial.
CLIVE (PH): Animals should live like this but not human beings.
MCKENZIE: It seems very unfair to them.
JACOBS: I understand that but unfortunately we don't invite any of them in here. Correctional Services, we don't invite any of them in here. They
come here because they do alleged crimes.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): He says Pollsmoor was designed during apartheid when prisons were meant to break black inmates, not rehabilitate them.
MCKENZIE: It's inhumane.
JACOBS: It's inhumane. (INAUDIBLE).
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Jacobs wanted to show us what wardens were up against.
Today, like each morning, hundreds of remanded inmates head off to court. Some will be let off, some convicted. But the majority will just be
brought back where hundreds more will join them each week inside this prison hell -- David McKenzie, CNN, Pollsmoor Prison.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Great piece there, great access.
Well, still ahead at CNN, it's election eve in Iran, where voters are ready to decide the future of their country. We're live in Tehran, talking to
reformers and conservatives. Stay with us.
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CURNOW: You're watching CNN. This is the INTERNATIONAL DESK. I'm Robyn Curnow. Thanks for joining me. Here's a quick check of the headlines.
(HEADLINES)
CURNOW: It's a showdown between conservatives and reformers in Iran as voters prepare to cast ballots in Friday's pivotal elections. CNN's Fred
Pleitgen has been talking to Iranian voters this week and filed this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Campaigning Iranian style, volunteers for the reform movement hand out
flyers in Tehran's traffic. They say they're confident but not certain they'll win.
"It's unclear what will happen because the Iranians only make up their minds in the last minute," he says. "But the moderates' position is much
better than that of the conservatives."
Tehran is plastered with election posters, as the fierce battle between the reformers around President Hassan Rouhani and conservatives around the
powerful clergy unfolds.
PLEITGEN: Many observers view the upcoming elections as extremely important and also as a referendum on Hassan Rouhani's policies of opening
Iran up to the West.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): The divisions were exacerbated by the recent nuclear agreement designed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons
in return for sanctions relief.
"We support the Rouhani government and the nuclear deal," this reformist says.
"We should have a parliament to support and not to block Rouhani's policies."
But many conservatives view that as a threat.
"Death to America," they chant at this hardline rally. They believe Iran has opened itself to American infiltration with the nuclear agreement.
"We consider the nuclear deal to be American interference," she says, "and we will fight against it and hopefully defeat it. Our nation will not
allow America to influence our affairs."
The decisions Iranian voters make this Friday could do more than just alter the makeup of its parliament. They could also influence the country's
course towards the West and, some believe, the stability of its political system.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: A lot at stake. Fred Pleitgen joins us now from Tehran.
You reported in the weeks before this in your previous trips that a lot of the moderates aren't even on the ballot with these parliamentary elections.
What does that mean?
PLEITGEN: It certainly is something that has been the focus point of a lot of criticism, Robyn. The moderates say that a lot of their candidates were
not allowed to participate in the elections, that they were disqualified by a body that that's the candidates and that's not just accounting for the
parliamentary election but for election for the council of experts as well.
One of the most prominent one is even the grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Ayatollah Khomeini, Hassan Khomeini. He's also not
allowed to participate in these elections.
There are some candidates who filed appeals that, who retrospectively are now allowed to participate in these elections. But certainly it is a point
of criticism by the moderates, who say a lot of their candidates simply aren't allowed to take part.
There's other criticisms as well. The moderates are also saying that a lot of their election campaign rallies have been disrupted by people loyal to
the conservatives, while the conservatives, for their part, are saying that they believe that the moderates are opening the door for infiltration from
the West, especially from the United States.
So there's been a lot of fierce rhetoric going back and forth, a lot of criticism going back and forth, a lot of barbs traded. But certainly going
on the streets today, you could feel people here still very much undecided as to how they want to vote.
CURNOW: Keeping an eye on things in Tehran, Fred Pleitgen, thanks so much for joining us.
Returning now to U.S. politics, one of the biggest prizes on Super Tuesday is Texas. CNN's Gary Tuchman talked to voters along the border with
Mexico, where immigration, of course, looms large and opinions vary --
[10:35:00]
CURNOW: -- over who is the best Republican candidate to handle the issue. Here's his report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN HOST (voice-over): George Brenzovich is a ranch owner in El Paso County, Texas, his ranch a short walk from the Mexican border, in
one of the most violent border areas there is.
TUCHMAN: Are you carrying a gun right now?
GEORGE BRENZOVICH, RANCH OWNER: Yes, sir. It's a normal thing out here.
TUCHMAN: Would you ever walk down here without carrying a gun?
BRENZOVICH: No, because I'm no fool.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Brenzovich has never voted for a Democrat for president and that string will continue this year. The illegal immigration
issue, he says, has a lot to do with it.
BRENZOVICH: We need to secure the border and prosecute the -- those that came in illegally, deport. But you got to secure this border first.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): The Rio Grande separates the United States from Mexico from one end of Texas to the other. There are fences and walls in
this state -- but not right here. And you can see the Rio Grande right over here, which separates the two countries; Mexico's over here, has no
water in it. It's just mud, very easy to cross.
The only water we see is right here in this swampy area.
About a half-mile away, there is a border fence. But it abruptly comes to an end. Anyone could just wander around it, one more reason George
Brenzovich and his wife want this area more secure ASAP.
So who is their choice for president?
BRENZOVICH: I have got all my cards on the table for Donald Trump.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Brenzovich says he has faith in the New York City billionaire.
TUCHMAN: Do you think Donald Trump knows what is he's talking about?
BRENZOVICH: I think absolutely. I think NAFTA is a big failure. We'll use all that money to build a wall you can't imagine.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): There are registered Republicans on the Texas border who don't much like Trump.
Steven Brewer like the immigration stance of Ben Carson, whom he will vote for Tuesday.
TUCHMAN: Do you think Carson is tough enough on that?
STEVEN BREWER, TEXAS BORDER RESIDENT: I believe that he's tough enough, I believe that he's fair. I believe that Donald Trump is over the top. He
really is. What he wants to do with immigration, especially in this area on the border, is just -- it's going to breed ill will between the two
countries.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): But this Republican says the former reality show host is not over the top, saying he was thinking of voting for Rubio but
will instead vote for Trump.
TUCHMAN: Does it trouble you that he talks about sending everyone back who is undocumented in this country?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hell, I'd help him. I think a lot of people would help him.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): And George Brenzovich is one of them. He wants his land back from the people crossing through it illegally. He wants his
safety back so he doesn't have to carry a gun nearly everywhere he goes.
BRENZOVICH: I'm retired. My roots are deep. My property is paid off. I'm staying.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Gary Tuchman, CNN, El Paso County, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: And when we come back, she's a rare sight on the campaign trail. We'll hear from Donald Trump's wife.
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CURNOW: Unlike her husband, Donald Trump's wife has been a rare and quiet presence on the U.S. campaign trail. But now she's giving the public a
glimpse into her life as the wife of the Republican presidential front- runner. Here's Jean Casarez with the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She's been a woman of few words, Melania Trump, seen only occasionally on the campaign trail.
MELANIA TRUMP, DONALD'S WIFE: And he loves you. We love you.
CASAREZ (voice-over): So telling MSNBC she has an influence on the campaign.
MELANIA TRUMP: I follow the news from A to Z. I'm on the phone with my husband few times a day. He calls me. I call him. I tell him what's
going on. He's on the road and I give him my opinions.
CASAREZ (voice-over): At the same time, Trump is a full-time mother to the couple's son, Baron. She talks about her own mother in Slovenia.
MELANIA TRUMP: Really special. She's with a lot of elegance and style. She was in fashion industry for a long time.
CASAREZ (voice-over): And when Slovenia was recognized as an independent nation, she says it helped her father, who was a salesman.
MELANIA TRUMP: Once the Slovenia separated and was possible to have own business, he opened his own business.
CASAREZ (voice-over): At a recent interview and photo shoot for "Harper's Bazaar" shows, Melania is at home before the camera. She came to the U.S.
as a model after studying architecture and design in Europe. And she speaks several languages.
MELANIA TRUMP: English, Italian, French, German.
CASAREZ (voice-over): An immigrant herself, Melania defended her husband's infamous comments on the border when announcing his candidacy back in June.
DONALD TRUMP: They are bringing drugs, they are bringing crime, they are rapists.
MELANIA TRUMP: I don't feel he insulted the Mexicans. He said illegal immigrants. He didn't talk about everybody. He's right what he's talking
about. And he opened conversation that nobody did.
CASAREZ (voice-over): Melania speaks from personal experience when she says she believes immigrants need to come into the country the legal way.
MELANIA TRUMP: I follow a law the way it's supposed to be. I never thought to stay here without papers. I had visa, I travel every few months
back to the country to Slovenia to stamp the visa. I came back. I apply for the green card. I apply for the citizenship later on after many years
of green card.
DONALD TRUMP: I have friends that are Muslims --
CASAREZ (voice-over): Melania even weighed in on her husband's controversial desire to ban Muslims from entering the country.
MELANIA TRUMP: What he said is it would be temporary and it's not for all the Muslims. It's the one -- we need to screen them, who's coming to the
country. He wants to protect America.
CASAREZ (voice-over): Melania says she and her husband do disagree.
DONALD TRUMP: It's political bull (INAUDIBLE). Do you understand?
CASAREZ (voice-over): Especially on his cursing.
MELANIA TRUMP: I tell him my opinions. I tell him what I think. Sometimes he listens. Sometimes he don't.
CASAREZ (voice-over): But it may be those differences that first drew Melania to him.
MELANIA TRUMP: We are own people. I'm my own person. He's his own person. And I think that's very important. I don't want to change him.
He doesn't want to change me.
CASAREZ (voice-over): -- Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: You might be seeing a lot more of her.
Well, moving on, you'll remember these images of a young Afghan boy playing football. Pictures of his homemade Messi jersey was shared all around the
world. Five-year-old Murtaza Ahmadi can now put away the plastic because he has the real thing.
There we go. The U.N. children's agency, UNICEF, gave the boy two jerseys signed by his idol, Lionel Messi. The boy's father says that this is one
of the child's happiest moments.
How wonderful.
Well, that does it for us here at the INTERNATIONAL DESK. Thanks for joining me. I'm Robyn Curnow. "WORLD SPORT" is up next.
END
