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Hillary Clinton Rolls to South Carolina Victory; Skies over Syria Quiet; Taliban Claim Attack in Afghan Capital; Climate Change Will Impact Flight Times; Hollywood Gears Up for the Oscars. Aired 12- 12:30a ET

Aired February 28, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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

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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Not even close; in a landslide, Hillary Clinton takes South Carolina in the U.S. Democratic primary.

In Syria, an unfamiliar quiet settles over the war-torn country.

The question now, how long will the cease-fire hold?

"The winner is..."

The nominees, the favorites and the outsiders in this year's Academy Awards. That's later this hour.

It's ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. We're live in Atlanta. Thank you for joining us. I am Natalie Allen.

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ALLEN: It is just after midnight in the state of South Carolina, where Hillary Clinton is celebrating a resounding win in the Democratic presidential primary. Clinton's victory has solidified her spot as the Democratic front-runner. She collected 39 of the Southern states, 53 pledged delegates.

The former secretary of state beat Vermont senator Bernie Sanders by a nearly 50 percent margin.

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HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We now have gone through four early states and I want to congratulate Senator Sanders on running a great race and tomorrow this campaign goes national.

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ALLEN: Indeed, her campaign is now full steam ahead to Super Tuesday. While celebrating her win in South Carolina, she took a shot at Republican front-runner, Donald Trump. Senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar was there.

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: The Clinton campaign just relishing their big win here in South Carolina. Hillary Clinton's communications director, Jen Palmieri, is saying they did better than they expected they would. Campaign sources have been telling us they think Donald Trump is going to be the Republican nominee.

It was significant that in Clinton's speech, she outlined what her argument in a general election would be against Donald Trump.

CLINTON: Despite what you hear, we don't need to make America great again. America has never stopped being great.

But we do need to make America whole again. Instead of building walls, need to be tearing down barriers.

KEILAR: Publicly, Clinton aides are striking a cautious tone, saying they still have 46 states ahead of them. They have a long way to go. But, privately, they're not as cautious. One aide telling me they think they'll have this wrapped up by March 15th. We'll see a series of contests then following those series of contests that we're going to see on Tuesday for Super Tuesday.

By mid-March, almost 60 percent of delegates will have been awarded. By then, aides think it will be clear there is no pathway to the nomination for Bernie Sanders -- Brianna Keilar, CNN, Columbia, South Carolina.

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ALLEN: Josh Kraushaar is the political editor for "National Journal" and pens the weekly "Against the Grain" column.

Josh, thanks for joining us.

JOSH KRAUSHAAR, POLITICAL EDITOR, NATIONAL JOURNAL: Good to be here.

ALLEN: It has been a long day, a long week on the campaign trail. Let's talk about South Carolina and the outcome. Hillary Clinton expected to win big and she certainly seemed to pull that off.

KRAUSHAAR: Boy, a 45-plus point margin of victory in South Carolina. And not only was the victory huge, but she won African Americans by over 80 percent of the vote according to exit polls. She even tied Sanders with white voters in South Carolina.

This was a decisive victory. It's going to give her crucial momentum heading next week into the big Super Tuesday states.

ALLEN: I was going to ask you, was it an issue primarily of geography, since he dominated in New Hampshire, but perhaps not then?

KRAUSHAAR: The big challenge for Hillary Clinton was showing and proving that she could dominate, not just win, but dominate among African Americans and among Hispanics. And she showed that she thoroughly won the African American vote in both Nevada and South Carolina. And she won Hispanics.

If you look at the precinct data out of Nevada, she did very well with the Hispanic voters, too.

For a Democratic candidate and a Democratic primary, if you're doing well with non-white voters as well as Hillary Clinton has done, it's a pretty sure path to winning the Democratic nomination.

ALLEN: Well, she said in her acceptance speech, "We go national from here."

So what must she achieve on the national stage come Super Tuesday?

KRAUSHAAR: She's got a win the vast majority of delegates in states on Super Tuesday. And, frankly, most are concentrated in the South. They have similar demographics to South Carolina. States like that -- and also Texas with its sizable Hispanic population.

So, there's an opportunity for Clinton to do, again, very well with Hispanic and African American voters and --

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KRAUSHAAR: -- do well with the overall delegate count.

Now Bernie Sanders is going to make a showing in the caucuses next week, Minnesota, Colorado and Massachusetts primary, three of the big states that the Sanders campaign is counting on.

But when you just look at the likely delegate count if the momentum continue for Clinton, she's going to start to build what's looking like an insurmountable lead for the Clinton campaign.

ALLEN: What happened to the "Feel the Bern"?

Where did that go?

What turned it for Hillary?

KRAUSHAAR: Well, look, Iowa and New Hampshire were about as favorable states as you can draw for the Sanders campaign. They're very liberal and they have very young and white Democratic electorates.

Once we get to the South and the more diverse Democratic states, it was a bigger challenge for Sanders.

Sanders always had to prove he could expand his own coalition to winning more non-white voters, to doing well with African Americans, at least making some inroads with that constituency.

As we are seeing right now in South Carolina, not only that he did not make inroads, but he got wiped out. If he doesn't make any inroads by next week, the game is over for the Bernie Sanders campaign. ALLEN: Well, there are certainly those that would want to trip up Hillary Clinton. I mean, from the emails, to Benghazi and now the speech transcripts, he still talked about that.

Is there anything that he can say or that can happen that could trip her up at this point on her way to getting more delegates?

KRAUSHAAR: Well, look, Hillary Clinton is her own worst enemy. She's certainly improved her stump speech. She sounded more empathetic in her victory speech tonight in South Carolina.

But it's really -- her issue is in the general election. I mean, she has poor favorability numbers in the general election. A lot of people in the country still don't trust her outside of the Democratic base. So her big challenge looking forward is to think about the general election.

But she hinted at some lines preparing for a match-up again Donald Trump in her victory speech tonight. But this is someone who's going to be focused primarily on November and less toward Bernie Sanders and the Democratic primary.

ALLEN: Well, it is Donald Trump and Hillary, she might need practice from Marco Rubio, maybe train with him, since he finally got his speed up there late in the game against The Donald this week.

But we appreciate your thoughts. We'll talk with you again. Josh Kraushaar, political editor for "National Journal," thank you.

KRAUSHAAR: Thanks, Natalie.

ALLEN: As Josh mentioned, Super Tuesday is an important day for all the campaigns but especially the Democrats this year and Jonathan Mann tells you why.

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JONATHAN MANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Super Tuesday is a chance for candidates to get a very large number of delegates to the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions; 12 states will either vote or caucus.

About half of them are in the South, which is why you will also hear this called the SEC primary, taking that nickname from the Southeast Conference, an association of Southern universities that may be best known for its football rivalries. No football tie-in there but the U.S. Territory of American Samoa will also hold its caucus on Super Tuesday.

There are more delegates up for grabs on Super Tuesday than any other day of the calendar. That one day offers nearly half, fully 48 percent is what is needed to win for Republicans; more than a third, 36 percent, for Democrats.

Super Tuesday will probably not decide the race for Republicans though because of the number of candidates still in the race. They split the vote too many ways for a clear, fast win. But it could have a significant impact on the Democratic race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

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ALLEN: Keep it right here for complete coverage of the Super Tuesday primaries, caucuses and the results all day on Tuesday.

An uneasy calm hangs in the air throughout much of Syria. Ahead, hear the latest on the fragile cease-fire now in effect.

Plus, with votes still being counted, we will tell you who is leading in Iran's first major election since the landmark nuclear deal.

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ALLEN: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM.

A cease-fire in Syria is still holding more than a full day after it went into effect. The truce between the Syrian government and most of the rebels is supposed to allow aid to flow to civilians but terror groups like ISIS are not part of that deal and as Arwa Damon reports, the fragile agreement has not stopped all the fighting.

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ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Any attempt to fully end the violence in Syria was going to be relative at best, with the Syrian coalition accusing the regime of at least 15 violations of the so-called cessation of hostilities that took place according to the Syrian coalition throughout the country, where they accuse regime forces of firing heavy machine guns, artillery and, in at least one instance, dropping barrel bombs in an area, a town just outside of the city of Jusid al-Shurud (ph).

Now this is an area that is controlled by the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front that is not part of the cessation of hostilities agreement. But the area that Nusra controls do also have civilians among them.

That being said, in most of the country, the skies were quiet; no Russian fighter jets pounding areas as they have in the past, going after civilian targets deliberately, according to a number of aid organizations, targeting medical facilities and in the rebel-held parts of Aleppo that have seen the most intense bombardment by barrel bombs there were none.

And this allowed children to go out and play without fear. This allowed their parents to be able to see them, at least for a brief period of time, act, relatively speaking, normal with residents in rebel-held Aleppo saying that they could hardly believe that they were able to pass hours without hearing the terrifying sounds of fighter jets and helicopters in the skies.

In regime-held Damascus that has seen little violence, it must be said, people in some instances saying that they were doubtful the cessation of hostilities would hold, others saying that they really hoped it would bring about a more long-term solution.

Now of course ISIS is not a part of this agreement and there were reported clashes between ISIS and regime forces as well as ISIS and Kurdish fighting forces. Nusra, as I was mentioning, not a part of this agreement, either, with its leader coming out and warning other rebel groups not to fall for this ploy, saying that it was simply an attempt to force the opposition to give in to the regime.

But for so many, it is bringing about, perhaps, a little bit of hope that, at this stage, humanitarian aid that is so crucial will be able to reach some areas, whether it's in the form of food supplies or medical assistance that is so desperately needed -- Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul.

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ALLEN: In Iran, early results from Friday's elections show reformers making big gains in parliament. The votes are still being counted and preliminary results for the powerful Assembly of Experts show former Iranian president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and the current president, Hassan Rouhani, in the top spots. Final results to be announced on Tuesday.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban are claiming responsibility for an attack which killed at least 12 people in the capital. Afghan officials say a suicide bomber targeted the defense ministry in Kabul.

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ALLEN: It was the second suicide bombing in the country on Saturday. Peace negotiations with the Taliban are planned to resume next week but the Afghan president vows to defend the country from terrorist attacks.

Thousands of U.S. and British troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 2014 and now they are fighting a new battle.

CNN's Freedom Project is introducing us to some wounded military veterans, who are working with a non-profit called Protect. Their mission: tracking online predators who target children.

As Kyung Lah found out, these men, once again, are very much on the front line.

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KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Protect says the United States is the world's largest producer of child pornography. The images, too hard to look at, often too horrible even to describe. But for these heroes, the idea of not taking action is not an option.

J. CHRISTIAN, CEO, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION TO PROTECT CHILDREN: But what we're dealing with is actual capturing of crime scenes. It gives you that sense of urgency to make sure that you're able to get there as fast as you can.

When they go out into the field, the main objective for the hero is to aid and assist in child rescue.

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ALLEN: You will hear their stories and learn about their successes and what more needs to be done. It's all part of our Freedom Project starting Monday right here on CNN.

We have been talking about the blustery weather over in Europe for, let's see, Karen Maginnis, three days now, so that is our dominant storm system you are watching.

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ALLEN: Let's talk climate now. Climate change is already impacting many aspects of people's lives but airline travel isn't usually the first thing that comes to mind, however flight times are the latest things that could be changing along with the climate as we hear from Rachel Crane.

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RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It usually takes about seven hours to get from London to New York City but our changing climate might make that trip a little longer.

Paul Williams of the University of Reading noticed that when the concentration of carbon dioxide is doubled, it causes jet streams winds to strengthen, directly impacting planes flying 35,000 feet in the air.

PAUL WILLIAMS, UNIVERSITY OF READING: The atmospheric winds and temperatures up there are very strongly tied together and, therefore, the winds are changing in response to the temperature changes.

CRANE (voice-over): His experiment looks specifically at the route between New York City's JFK airport and London's Heathrow Airport.

WILLIAMS: We found that transatlantic aircraft will be in the air for an extra 2,000 hours --

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WILLIAMS: -- each year. And this is going to add about $22 million to airline fuel costs.

CRANE (voice-over): With the strength in prevailing jet stream winds, Williams says travelers can expect eastbound flights to be shorter, under 5.5 hours and longer when heading west, more than seven hours.

Williams also warns that other routes could be at risk and in a previous study, thanks to climate change, he found that travelers can expect double the turbulence.

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ALLEN: Don't like that turbulence.

Well, the biggest awards show of the season is almost here. We have a preview of Sunday's Academy Awards, the Oscars coming up next.

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ALLEN: The stage is being set for Hollywood's biggest night, the 88th Annual Academy Awards are just hours away with comedian Chris Rock doing the hosting duties.

The film "The Revenant" leads the pack this year with 12 nominations. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio and it's very much believed he could walk away with an Oscar this year.

Also as you know, this year's Oscars have been clouded by controversy due to the lack of diversity among the nominees.

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ALLEN: Kim Serafin of "In Touch" weekly joins us with some Oscar predictions.

This is Oscar Eve, Kim. It doesn't get any more exciting than this for all of you in Hollywood, does it?

KIM SERAFIN, SR. EDITOR, "IN TOUCH": No, this has definitely been a very busy week. There's lots of events that lead up to the Oscars and lots of award ceremonies and parties and kissing suites and there's so much going on.

So --

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ALLEN: Yes, hoopla, USA. For right now, all the big stars are getting their spray tans and whatever else their people are doing to help them look totally glam. Can't wait for that part. But let's talk about the predictions. So the Independent Spirit Awards were held today, still more leadup awards to Oscars.

What were the outcomes of that?

SERAFIN: Yes, the Independent Spirit Awards often predict some Oscar winners and today the big winner was "Spotlight." And "Spotlight" is one of the ones that people are watching.

There's three to watch in the Oscars race. "Spotlight" is one of them. "Spotlight" was a big winner at the Independent Spirit Awards, so this could potentially predict that "Spotlight" could be a big winner.

Brie Larson also was a winner at the Independent Spirit Awards today. So I think this makes her pretty much a lock for Best Actress.

ALLEN: Yes, Brie Larson and Leonardo DiCaprio, those names are said tomorrow night, no one will go, right?

SERAFIN: No, this is Leo's big nomination. I think if anything is a definite at the Oscars, it's Leo getting his first Oscar. This went back to 1994, when he was nominated for "What's Eating Gilbert Grape." It's pretty amazing that he's been nominated this many times and has not won..

But I think this is one thing that everyone agrees will definitely happen at the Oscars, Leo gets his first Oscar.

ALLEN: Yes, that's fantastic and "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," that was one of my Leo favorites (INAUDIBLE), right?

Well, let's talk about supporting actor. What would it mean if Sylvester Stallone got to go up on stage and take an Oscar hone?

SERAFIN: Pretty amazing. This would be another fantastic Hollywood story to have Sylvester Stallone to finally win that Oscar. He was nominated for two things in 1977, for Best Actor, and for screenplay. He did not win. But for him to come back and win this many years later for playing Rocky, just kind of the older version of Rocky --

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SERAFIN: -- it would just be such a sweet Hollywood ending. And I think so many people want to see that.

And a lot of times you see the supporting actor award go to somebody who just kind of deserved it over a lifetime of work. And I think this for Sylvester Stallone, it's pretty much a lock if you saw him win at the Golden Globes, he got a standing ovation in the room. And I think that's definitely predictive of what is going to happen at the Oscars when he potentially wins Best Supporting Actor.

ALLEN: We'll wait and see. And I want to ask you, too, of course, this ceremony has been criticized because there are not any African American nominees but it will have African American and comedic icon Chris Rock onstage.

Any hints as to how he may play with that a little bit during his opening monologue?

SERAFIN: I think everyone knows he will definitely going to be talk about the whole #OscarsSoWhite controversy. They've kept everything really, really quiet, very secretive. He did send out a tweet basically saying, "See you Sunday," and then

#blackout. Nothing else.

But he has been appearing at some local comedy clubs here in the L.A. area to test out his monologue material, so there has been little things leaked out and, of course, definitely deals with diversity issues. He's made some jokes about Jada Pinkett Smith, because she was obviously one of the first people to say she was boycotting the Oscars.

He's made some other comments about other actors, Kevin Hart he mentioned. But he definitely will be targeting the diversity issue.

And I think Chris Rock, they picked him back in December, way before any of this controversy started. And it could not have been a more perfect choice. And I think people are expecting him to really go forward, have some really biting humor.

So that's the other thing. You can expect Leo to win, you can expect it'll be a tight race between "Spotlight," "The Big Short" and "The Revenant," and you can definitely expect Chris Rock will take on the #OscarsSoWhite controversy.

Those are the three givens for the Oscars.

ALLEN: Kim Serafin, thanks so much. Have a great time

SERAFIN: OK, thanks so much.

ALLEN: CNN is the place to turn before and after the Academy Awards for the glamor from the red carpet to Hollywood's biggest night, that's 7:00 am Monday in Hong Kong, 8:00 am in Tokyo.

And once the Oscars wrap up, join Don Lemon and Isha Sesay for "And the Winner Is..." During the ceremonies, you can also vote in our Oscars poll at cnn.com/awardsvote.

Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'll be right back with our top stories.