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U.S. Aerial Attack Kills 150 Militants in Somalia; Thousands of Refugees Stranded in Greece; State of the Republican Race; The Battle to Build The Delegate Count; North Korea Shows Provocative Threats; U.S. Taking North Korean Threats Seriously; MH-370 Families Face Deadline to Settle or Sue; Funeral Arrangements Announced for Nancy Reagan; Scientists Say Identified Banksy. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired March 08, 2016 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:11] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM. Live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour, the U.S. says an airstrike has taken out 150 al-Shabaab militants before it claims the terror group could strike first.
Plus, European leaders are said to have made a breakthrough on a refugee deal with Turkey. And just before the next big vote in the U.S. presidential race, Donald Trump claims it's time for one of his rivals to step aside.
Hello, everybody. Thanks for being with us. I'm John Vause. Another hour of NEWSROOM L.A. begins now.
It's 9:00 a.m. in Mogadishu, Somalia where a U.S. military official say they may have averted a disaster. The Pentagon says the al- Shabaab militants were planning an imminent attack on U.S. and African forces, but U.S. drones and warplanes struck first.
CNN's Jim Sciutto begins our coverage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was one of the deadliest U.S. airstrikes in years. Drones and manned aircraft strike an al-Shabaab training camp in Somalia killing what the military says were some 150 suspected al-Shabaab fighters.
U.S. intelligence says the Pentagon indicated the group was in final preparations for a large-scale attack on U.S. and African Union Forces. The camp had been under surveillance for weeks by U.S. Special Operations Forces, part of a small U.S. military presence in the East African nation.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The removal of those terrorist fighters degrades al-Shabaab's ability to meet the group's objectives in Somalia, including recruiting their members, establishing bases and planning attacks on U.S. and AMISOM forces.
SCIUTTO: It's part of a disturbing trend. Al-Shabaab ramping up efforts to carry out terror at home and beyond Somalia's borders. An al-Shabaab claimed today that it has just tried but failed to bring down a passenger plane. A bomb hidden in a laptop and another electronic gadget exploded in an airport in Somalia today killing several. The blast detonating as security officials inspected luggage before being loaded on a flight. Somali police said they have several suspects in custody.
Al-Shabaab launched a similar attack just last month, exploding a laptop bomb on this passenger plane departing Somali capital, Mogadishu. The suspected bomber killed as he was sucked out of the hole in the plane's fuselage. The airliner managed to land safely.
The fear now that al-Shabaab is gaining technology and know-how previously believed to be the specialty of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula or AQAP and its notorious bombmaker Ibrahim al-Asiri.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is concerning because it does show that these groups, including al-Shabaab, are getting a little bit more sophisticated in how they are conducting attacks. And note, too, that they do have an eye towards the U.S.
SCIUTTO (on camera): Africa is of increasing concern to U.S. and Western counter-terror officials beyond AQAP and al-Shabaab. ISIS, the fear now that ISIS may attempt to establish a caliphate in Libya as they've done in Iraq and Syria. Libya also an increasing magnet for foreign fighters finding it more difficult to get to Iraq and Syria. They now go to Libya and join ISIS there.
Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: For more, Bob Baer, former CIA operative now a CNN intelligence and security analyst joins us live from Newport Beach in California.
So, Bob, you know, we've heard from Jim's report that, you know, al- Shabaab is increasing its technology, its ability to carry out these attacks. What is their threat capability, I guess, in your assessment beyond Africa looking towards Western targets?
BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Well, John, there's always the possibility of these planes coming out of Africa transiting Europe. There's a couple of airports there you could get through and get on to American flights, especially if it's hand luggage and this stuff is hidden in a computer.
You know, we're lucky at this point that that first bombing on the 2nd of February didn't take the airplane down. If it did at a higher altitude it would have. So they are getting good. This is brand-new technology for them. Where they got it from al Qaeda, from the Palestinians, it's hard to say. But once you start spreading it, it becomes a real danger.
VAUSE: So, again, it appears that the al-Shabaab militants have been under surveillance for a couple of few weeks before this strike was carried out. We've said that, you know, U.S. ability to monitor these groups and gather intelligence in Africa is getting better or was this just kind of a one-off?
BAER: Well, John, I think it's always been pretty good. We've got bases in Djibouti, we've got drones over the area, we've got satellites covering it. Intercepts and the rest of it. As far as getting inside these groups with human sources, very difficult to do, it's very rare, these people are true believers.
[01:05:06] It's always been a weakness of Western intelligence. So I think they're really relying on technical means to get inside these groups. And the fact that they were training in a base allowed them to watch them very closely.
VAUSE: How significant is it that the U.S. called in, you know, obviously, more planes, fighter jets to carry out this strike and in such a huge death toll in this strike?
BAER: I think it's significant because Washington is scared. And everybody else is. This movement, this jihadist movement is not slowing down. You had the attack in Tunisia. You have attacks today in Syria. There's attacks almost every day in Baghdad. This is not slowing down in the least, and we're bringing in conventional forces to fight it. We are no better off today than we were on 9/11 in terms of the force of this movement.
VAUSE: Yes, 150 militants killed in one strike. It's obviously a huge toll, one of the biggest in the post-9/11 era. What sort of retaliation would you expect from a group like al-Shabaab, I mean, ahead of the hit now, but will they carry out more of those bomb attacks at airports, that kind of thing?
BAER: I think they're going to go after an American airplane if they can get a device on, if they could find a weakness, there's some place where airport security is not all that good. I mean, clearly this -- this technology is probably in the '60s but the fact that it's come back, it's got more sophisticated, tells me that at some point they may get lucky and they'll definitely come after Americans.
VAUSE: Bob, thank you. Bob Baer, former CIA operative, now intelligence and security analyst. Appreciate it, Bob.
Now to Tunisia where government forces say they've killed three dozen terrorists who attacked a military barracks near the border with Libya. The government says ISIS is to blame. At least 17 people were killed in the barracks attack including civilians, National Guardsmen, and police.
ISIS has carried out several deadly attacks in Tunisia in the past year. One at the museum in Tunis and another at a beachside resort in the town of Zeus.
Britain's counterterrorism chief says the U.K. are preparing for potentially enormous and spectacular attacks by ISIS. He says the terror group is expanding its focus beyond military and police targets pointing to the Paris attacks and the downing of the Metrojet Flight 9268 over Egypt. A police spokesman says there is no specific intelligence at this point in time of any known terror plots. The European Union and Turkey are trying to stem the flood of migrants
pouring into Europe that's created the biggest refugee crisis the continent has seen since World War II. In Brussels EU and Turkish leaders have agreed on the broad outlines of a plan which was proposed by Ankara. Under the proposal, Greece which is buckling on the influx of thousands of migrants would return migrants to Turkey who do not have a legitimate claim to asylum.
There's also being called a one in, one out provision for every Syrian, in fact, from Greece to Turkey, EU countries will take in a Syrian refugee from Turkey. EU leaders hope for a formal agreement when they meet again next week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA MERKEL, CHANCELLOR, GERMANY (Through Translator): This proposal that was brought forward by the Turkish side is a breakthrough, if it is to be realized, because it would break this vicious cycle of entering illegally on a boat, and then, as a result, being given the right to stay in Europe. We will have to turn this around in order to achieve an orderly migration.
FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, FRENCH PRESIDENT (Through Translator): If we stop this movement, if the migrants don't cross the Aegean Sea, then we have found a solution that is both efficient and humane. Because it will not prevent the settlement of refugees, but it will be controlled as planned by the Schengen measures.
DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think it's been a long and difficult evening, but I think we do have the basis for a breakthrough which is the possibility that in future of all migrants who arrive in Greece will be returned to Turkey. Now that would, if implemented, break the business model of the people's focus and end the link between getting in a boat and getting settlement in Europe.
Now that is something I've been arguing for for a year, and I think this is significant but only if it's fully implemented, and that's what needs to happen next. That will make a real difference.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Almost 2,000 migrants are arriving in Greece every day making the dangerous sea voyage from Turkey.
The Port of Piraeus is known as the gateway to Athens but as thousands of refugees are finding out, it's no longer the gateway to Europe.
Here's Atika Shubert.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jet planes left to rust on a runway in Athens.
[01:10:03] A former airport, this vast space was converted into an Olympic Park more than a decade ago. And now it is home to thousands of refugees stranded in Athens.
Laundry lines the entrance to the terminal. Most here are from Afghanistan but also Pakistan, Iran and Morocco, banned from crossing the border because they are considered to be from a safe country.
While they wait in limbo, this is where the Greek government has placed them, until they can find more permanent shelter.
(On camera): I want you to take a look at this. It's almost as though they've preserved it, as a kind of a museum or a time capsule. And if you can see up here, they still have some of the signs up. Paris now boarding, London on time. There's something very surreal about having them camped out at an abandoned airport.
Every hour, planes used to leave here for Paris, for London, and now all of those refugees want to get to those exact destinations but they can't. So there's nothing for them to do but to wait.
(Voice-over): At the former stadium, where Olympians once competed for gold, Afghan kids now play with a deflated ball. Residents invited us in to see how an estimated 3,000 people are living here.
(On camera): This is a pretty extraordinary scene. There are families sleeping out here in these abandoned buildings; children, mothers.
(Voice-over): Inside, a sea of gray U.N. blankets supplemented with thin padded sleeping mats. There are no beds, only the occasional cot.
It took one month for Mustafa Saidi to get here from Kabul with his wife and two daughters, smuggled in by car and boat.
MUSTAFA SAIDI, REFUGEE: It was so dangerous.
SHUBERT: Like so many here, he has only one destination in mind.
SAIDI: Germany.
SHUBERT (on camera): Why Germany?
SAIDI: The Germans accept refugees so we decide to go there.
SHUBERT: But the borders are closed now.
SAIDI : So we are praying for God.
SHUBERT (voice-over): This is the warehouse of souls the prime minister of Greece warned his country would become. Not a refuge but a purgatory of fading hopes and broken dreams.
Atika Shubert, CNN, at Ellinikon Airport in Athens, Greece.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: A short break here. When we come back, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio is -- Marco Rubio, I should say, is banking on a primary win in his home state of Florida as his rivals rack up delegates in the presidential race. That story just ahead.
Also, MH-370 was supposed to arrive in Beijing March 8th, 2014 but never did. We'll have the very latest on the search for the missing airliner and how Malaysia plans to remember the victims.
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(SPORTS)
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[01:17:03] VAUSE: At least 14 people have been injured after a passenger train derailed in California. The train was heading from Stockton to San Jose. One of the trains which had fallen off to the tracks. Rescue workers say most of the injuries are minor. And those who are more seriously hurt are expected to be OK.
We're just hours away now from the start of another big day in the U.S. primary race. Voters in four states will make their choice for the presidential nominee.
In the Republican race, rivals Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are calling for Marco Rubio to step aside.
Jason Carroll reports now from the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Who's going to win North Carolina?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump's confidence on full display today campaigning in North Carolina, whose primary is still more than a week ago. The GOP frontrunner running strong in tomorrow's big Super Tuesday prize, Michigan.
TRUMP: I've been to Michigan a lot and I think we're going to do well there.
CARROLL: A new Monmouth University poll released today shows Trump at 36 percent in the Wolverine State, followed by Cruz at 23 percent.
After big weekend wins, Trump and Cruz say the GOP primary fight is now turning into a two-man race.
TRUMP: Marco Rubio had a very, very bad night and personally I'd call for him to drop out of the race. I think it's time now that he drop out of the race. I would love to take on Ted one on one. That would be so much fun.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We started with 17 candidates. As the field narrows more and more and more, we're getting closer to a two-man race. I believe this race will end up with a two-man race between me and Donald Trump.
CARROLL: Cruz picking up some momentum after scoring wins this weekend in Kansas and Maine, helping close Trump's advantage in the delegate county. And today he's making the case to Republican voters that they should line up behind him as the Trump alternative.
CRUZ: In this race it is clear a vote for any other candidate, a vote for Marco Rubio or a vote for John Kasich, is a vote for Donald Trump because there there's only one candidate who has beaten Donald Trump. There's only one candidate who can and will beat Donald Trump.
CARROLL: Trump, meanwhile, edging out Cruz in Kentucky and Louisiana.
Rubio earned his second victory of the primary season on Sunday, in Puerto Rico, coming on the heels of disappointing results in Saturday's contest, and tonight Rubio responding to Trump and Cruz's calls that he should exit the race.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Of course Donald Trump is calling on people to drop out but, you know, I think Donald's suffered some real damage over the last week. People are starting to learn that Donald Trump the character and Donald Trump the person are not the same thing and what you get as president is not the character you see on television; it's the person.
CARROLL: Rubio's effort to derail the frontrunner getting a boost from Super PACs opposed to Trump. The latest highlighting Trump's sometimes course language on the campaign trail.
TRUMP: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) he gets a nomination they're going to sue his (EXPLETIVE DELETED). She said he's a (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I don't give a (EXPLETIVE DELETED). We'll beat the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out of them.
[01:20:08] CARROLL (on camera): The Rubio camp saying they're not expecting any wins in any of Tuesday's states. Not Michigan or Mississippi or Idaho or Hawaii. All their attention focused on Florida, a state they must win, a state they say they will win.
Jason Carroll, CNN, Tampa Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Democrats also fighting for votes in Michigan's primary. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders appeared in a town hall in Detroit. Secretary Clinton once again answered questions about the e-mails on her private server during her time as secretary of state. She insisted the information she shared was not classified.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Others might say, you know, that wasn't at the time but now with circumstances, we don't want to release it. So therefore we have to classify it. I've asked, and I echo Colin Powell in this. Release it and once the American people see it, they will know how absurd this is. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Senator Sanders has clarified his comments which he made on Sunday about white people not knowing what it's like to be poor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I talk about poverty all of the time. What I meant by that is that in African-American communities you have people who are living in desperation, often being abused by white police officers. That is a bad thing, and that has got to change. And that's why I'm fighting to reform a broken criminal justice system. But I know about white poverty. It exists in my state, it exists and all over this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Both will face off again on Wednesday. CNN will air the Univision-"Washington Post" Democratic debate live from Miami at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time. That's 10:00 a.m. on Thursday in Hong Kong.
Well, the candidates are fighting for a large number of delegates in Thursday's primaries. Yet it could be a turning point for several campaigns.
Chief U.S. correspondent John King breaks down the numbers for both sides.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Four states with primaries on our second Super Tuesday of the campaign, two for the Democrats, four for the Republicans. Hawaii, Idaho, Mississippi and Michigan, 166 Democratic delegates at stake, 150 delegates at stake on the Republican side. Just Mississippi and Michigan voting on the Democratic side.
Let's take a look at the state of play right now on the Republican side. Donald Trump with a delegate lead but Ted Cruz, after a good weekend, closing in at second place. He says he has momentum. Marco Rubio won Puerto Rico over the weekend. He says he's still on the hunt. A lot of question marks about that.
Let's just take a look on our second Super Tuesday if Donald Trump sweeps with about 35 percent of the vote in those wins, he'll start to pull away a little bit. Ted Cruz hoping to run at least second everywhere and also hoping for maybe a surprise in Mississippi. Maybe a little closer than you would expect in Michigan and watch the smaller battles in Hawaii and in Idaho. Sometimes if you do get a surprise that's where you get it.
But if Trump sweeps, which is his belief going in, he'd start to pull away a little bit in the delegate side. This is why it matters. Donald Trump has won 43 percent of the Republican delegates to date. If he can win 54 percent from here on out, he'll clinch the nomination. Now that's not as hard as it looks in the sense that we begin to move
next week into winner-take-all, big prizes like Florida, big prizes like Ohio. If you can win them all, you'll -- you add to the numbers. A little steeper hill for Ted Cruz. He's won 33 percent so far. He needs 60 percent. And you see Marco Rubio in third place and John Kasich in fourth place. They need to change the dynamic of the race, fundamentally, if they could ever make the math work. But Trump and Cruz right now at the top of the pack looking for tomorrow and beyond to show they can add up some more delegates.
Let's switch to the Democratic side. Come back over here. Here's where we start. This is pledged delegates. Hillary Clinton with a 200-delegate lead over Bernie Sanders. She's favored in both contests tomorrow. If she picks them both up, number one, she'll start to stretch out her delegate lead. Number two, she'll send a very important message to Bernie Sanders. I'm beating you in the south and now I'm proving I can beat you in the big industrial Midwest.
So Michigan is a huge test for Bernie Sanders. Not only for momentum and for the message of the Midwest, but also because of the math. If you look at a Democratic map, Hillary Clinton has won nearly 60 percent of the delegates to date. If she wins 59 percent, the same percentage of the pledge delegates meeting on primary and caucus day here on out, she'll clinch the nomination.
Bernie Sanders has a much steeper hill. He's only won four in 10. He needs to win 66. And this math for Hillary Clinton is actually a tad misleading. This she would clinch if she won only the pledge delegates. She also has some super delegates in her back pocket, so Bernie Sanders needs to make a statement and make it soon. The Michigan contest in the Midwest would be the right place to do that, but the late polls show Hillary Clinton with the lead.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Our thanks to John King for that report.
A short break here. When we come back, the U.S. is taking the latest threats from North Korea seriously. We'll explain what makes the rhetoric different this time around.
Also two years after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared, the families of those on board face a legal deadline. A live report from the Malaysian capital in just a moment.
[01:24:54]
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VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause with a check of the headlines this hour.
U.S. military says it has killed 150 suspected al-Shabaab militants in Somalia. The Pentagon says the airstrikes hit a training camp north of Mogadishu on Saturday. The spokesman says the group was planning a large scale attack on U.S. and African peacekeepers.
Following marathon talks in Brussels, Turkish and European Union leaders say they have reached agreement on the broad principles of a plan to try and ease Europe's swelling refugee crisis. Among the terms, migrants arriving in Greece without a legitimate claim to asylum will be sent back to Turkey. And for every Syrian migrant sent back the E.U. would accept an established Syrian refugee directly from Turkey.
Florida's Senator Marco Rubio is looking ahead to his state's primary as his rivals call him to leave the U.S. Republican presidential race. A new poll shows frontrunner Donald Trump beating Rubio in a delegate rich state. 99 delegates are up for grabs in the winner-take-all contests next Tuesday.
The U.S. is keeping a close eye on North Korea after the country's latest nuclear threats. The North's rhetoric is usually and with a good deal skepticism. But the tone this time around has some officials concerned.
Here's Brian Todd.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Explosions thundering up a mountainside, hundreds of thousands of troops storming ashore by sea and air. These are massive joint military exercises by the U.S. and South Korea. Another round has just kicked off and now Kim Jong-Un is furious, issuing an ominous warning.
[01:30:00] Through its official news reader, North Korea's regime says it will launch a, quote, "preemptive and offensive nuclear strike in response to the drills."
JAMIE METZL, FORMER OFFICER, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: They have threatened nuclear attack before, but the farther North Korea progresses in its development of nuclear weapons and delivery mechanisms like its advanced rockets, the more serious those threats become and the more seriously everybody else needs to take them.
TODD: A U.S. defense official tells CNN the Pentagon is closely monitoring the tension on the Korean peninsula calling on Kim's regime to refrain from provocative actions. But there have been provocations near the most heavily armed border for two solid months, North Korea's fourth nuclear test, its rocket launch, U.S. stealth fighters flying low over South Korea and damage U.N. sanctions against Kim's government.
Could Kim back up his nuclear threat? A U.S. official tells CNN his efforts to advance his ballistic missile capabilities are a serious concern.
Weapons experts say Kim would probably launch a nuclear attack from close range hitting Japan or South Korea if he wanted to. But analyst say there's a key long-range missile capability he doesn't have preventing him from hitting the United States. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A re-entry vehicle that can come back down and
deliver the warhead on target. Major strides yet to be made.
TODD: Still, U.S. officials say Kim is working feverishly toward perfecting that missile capability. Most experts believe Kim would not launch a preemptive nuclear strike against the U.S. or South Korea. That, they say, would bring about his country's annihilation. But they say this is a young leader unpredictable and under enormous strain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kim's under immense pressure to demonstrate his leadership. That explains some of this escalation. Additionally, North Korea is feeling its position weakening. Its relationship with China is fraying. Its economy is in terrible shape.
TODD (on camera): More likely than a nuclear strike from Kim is a conventional attack, maybe a commando raid or possibly a cyber attack like the one North Korea is accused of launching against Sony. In fact, South Korea's intelligence agency now says in recent days, North Korea has tried to hack the Smartphones of South Korean officials.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Now to a grim discovery in China. A 43-year-old woman was found dead in an elevator after possibly being trapped there for a month. The maintenance team inspected it in January. Having heard no response, they cut the power to the elevator. The body was discovered when the crew returned March 1st to fix it. Two maintenance workers have been arrested.
In Malaysia, a moment of silence will be held to mark two years since Malaysia Airlines flight 370 disappeared. It vanished from radar on its way to Beijing March 8th, 2014. 239 people were on board. And to this day, investigators and some familiarly members are holding out hope that the missing plane might just be found. And relatives of the passengers and crew face a Tuesday deadline to take legal action against Malaysia Airlines.
CNN's Saima Mohsin joins us from Kuala Lumpar with more on this.
Saima, we're also expecting another report from the Malaysia government into the disappearance of this plane. What more can you tell us?
SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, that pronouncement is due to be made in the next hour or so. The family members have, since that interim report, it's an interim report because they can't make the final report yet because they simply haven't found the plane. One of those families has sent me a copy. I have it here in my hands. And pretty much, John, there's not a lot new to say. In fact, one of those daughters of one of the people on board said to me it's written in bold. It's across three pages. Not a lot there.
There's one thing I did notice that is new and that's the only piece of new evidence there has been in the two years of that plane's missing. And that is the wreckage, the flaperon found last year in Reunion Island and flown to France where I was where Malaysian and French investigators took a month to confirm that was indeed a piece of MH-370.
John, the fact that this is the only evidence to date that has been listed here on this report and that they are able to work with has left a lot of family members in denial.
This is one woman's story from Beijing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MOHSIN (voice-over): A moment of calm, remembrance and disbelief. Zhang's (ph) daughter and son-in law were on MH-370.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): "What's happened to us was too great a blow to my life. At the time we couldn't take what happened to us."
MOHSIN: Two years on, there is still too few answers for families. Even the confirmation of a flaperon from MH-370 being found holds no answers. And the latest debris discoveries unable to shatter their unfaltering hopes their loved ones are still alive.
[01:35:14] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): The debris means nothing to us. Two pieces of debris can't really prove anything, right?
MOHSIN: With the two-year anniversary comes a two-year legal deadline for next of kin to file for compensation or sue Malaysia Airlines. Zhang refused an offer of compensation and plans to sue, but that's not what she really wants.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): What we want is our loved ones, not compensation. Can this whole MH-370 thing be solved with money? Where are our family members?
MOHSIN: She and a number of other Chinese families have written a letter to Malaysia Airlines delivering it by hand to their Beijing headquarters.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): We're asking them to immediately reunite the passengers with their families in the spirit of humanitarianism.
MOHSIN: While Malaysia Airlines tells CNN 118 families are starting legal proceedings, many have not. Others like Zhang remain in denial.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): I only believe this. A mother and daughter's heart are connected. If something had happened to my daughter, I really would have felt it. I think they're safe.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MOHSIN: It really is unfathomable, John, what any of the family members, loved ones and friends of those on board are going through. Still two years on. Now this morning the Malaysian prime minister released a statement saying that he is hopeful that they will be able to find the plane in the time they have left searching in that 120,000-kilometer zone in the southern Indian Ocean. And unlike previously, he said when that search zone is cleared, if they haven't found a plane, they will then sit down with the other governments, China and Australia, to decide where to go forward. Previously they said they will end the search in the summer -- John?
VAUSE: Some tough decisions to come.
Saima Mohsin, thank you, live this hour from Kuala Lumpur.
A short break. When we come back, tennis super star, Maria Sharapova admits she failed a drug test. We'll find out how the sport's governing body and a major sponsor have been reacting to that bombshell news.
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[01:40:44] World-renowned wrestler, Hulk Hogan, testified in court on Monday. He's claiming that "Gawker" media violated his privacy when it posted a portion of a sex tape featuring Hogan on his website. For their part, "Gawker" says they're protected by the First Amendment since Hogan made his sex life a matter of public interest. He described the strange circumstances which led to the video in the first place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HULK HOGAN, FORMER WRESTLER: It was kind of like a group hug and Heather just started walking to the bedroom pulling my hand, and I walked with her. It felt really crazy, and he walked in right behind us and goes, I'm going to go to my office. Here's a condom. Bubba handed me a condom. My gut was telling me that this was off. This was wrong. And like from the feeling I had, it was you aren't filming this, are you? And he just lashed into me. What the hell is wrong with you? I'm your f'ing best friend. How dare you say that to me. I would never do that to you. And it just froze me in my tracks. That's how I ended up staying in that situation. Everything was just so surreal. It just -- that's how it was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That's how it was. Hogan is suing for $100 million in damages.
American sports reporter, Erin Andrews, has been awarded $55 million in a Peeping Tom lawsuit. Andrews sued the man who secretly recorded her naked, as well as the management of the hotel where it all happened back in 2008. The jury found both defendants at fault. Andrews expressed her thanks to the jury and supporters after the verdict.
The International Tennis Federation is banning Maria Sharapova from the sport for at least the time being after Sharapova's bombshell admission she failed a drug test at the Australian Open in January. She says she's been taking the drug Meldonium since 2006 and didn't realize it had become a banned substance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIA SHARAPOVA, PRO TENNIS PLAYER: I made a huge mistake. I've let my fans down. I've let the sport down that I've been playing since the age of 4 that I love so deeply. I know that with this I face consequences, and I don't want to end my career this way. And I really hope that I will be given another chance to play this game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The 28-year-old is the world's richest female athlete with an estimated net worth of $195 million. A Nike spokesperson says the company has decided to suspend its relationship with Sharapova while the investigation continues.
"After 18 years, it's time." Those words from legendary quarterback, Peyton Manning, as he announced his retirement from the NFL on Monday. Manning's speech had some emotional moments but perhaps none more so than this.
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PEYTON MANNING, FORMER DENVER BRONCOS QUARTERBACK: When I look back on my NFL career, I'll know without a doubt that I gave everything I had to help my teams walk away with a win. There were other players who were more talented, but there was no one who could out-prepare me. And because of that, I have no regrets. There's a scripture reading, 2 Timothy 4:17, "I have fought the good fight and finished the race." Well, I fought the good fight. I have finished my football race, and after 18 years, it's time. God bless all of you and God bless football.
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VAUSE: Manning put a finishing touch on his storied career with his second Super Bowl win last month.
Former U.S. First Lady Nancy Reagan will be laid to rest on Friday. Flags near her home in Los Angeles and across the U.S. are flying at half staff in her honor. She'll lay in repose for two days before being buried next to her husband, former president and Republican icon, Ronald Reagan.
Funeral details now from Kyung Lah.
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KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John, the Reagan Presidential Library announced services for Mrs. Reagan. She will lie here in repose on Wednesday and Thursday for several hours. That will be open to the public. The public will be able to pay their respects in person. Her funeral is scheduled for Friday at 11:00 a.m. local time. Those services will be closed to the public. Mrs. Reagan died on Sunday at age 94 of congestive heart failure.
She'll be buried at the presidential library next to her husband. President Reagan referred to her as the woman who gave his life meaning, a woman he called his treasure -- John?
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[01:45:41] VAUSE: Kyung Lah, thank you.
Now for more than a decade, the street artist known as Banksy has been able to keep his identity a mystery. Now a group of scientists say they may have pinpointed who he really is. More on that when we come back.
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VAUSE: The iconic rockers AC/DC are postponing a few shows because the lead singer, Brian Johnson, could actually go deaf. They've warned him to stop touring immediately or risk total hearing loss. 10 upcoming shows in the U.S. will be rescheduled for later this year.
[01:50:07] The same technology used to identify criminals and sources of viral outbreaks is also being used in an attempt to reveal the identity of Banksy, The most elusive street artist. Scientists say the data are linked to just one candidate.
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UNIDENTIFIED ARTIST: He tried to make a documentary about me. He was actually a lot more interesting than I am. So now the film is about him.
VAUSE (voice-over): Perpetually hidden in the shadows, a humble front for the most famous street artist, pulling off stunts like this one at Disneyland. Hanging a dummy dressed as a Guantanamo Bay prisoner.
(SHOUTING)
VAUSE: His work spans the globe from London to New York to the West Bank, always with a message. In Bethlehem, he put a dove in a sniper's cross hairs. Or in Britain --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Dismalland.
VAUSE: -- again, mocking Disney as well as Europe's response to the migrant crisis, as well as celebrity culture. In New York's meat backing district he loaded a truck with stuffed animals squeaking for help.
(SQUEAKING)
VAUSE: And in the Bronx, he pointed a finger at privilege, showing a servant catering to a young graffiti artist.
Occasionally, the message gets lost. Like in 2006, when he tried drawing attention to poverty by literally painting the elephant in the room. Animal rights activists were furious.
UNIDENTIFIED ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: It's exploitation and it's meaningless and unnecessary and stupid.
VAUSE: Banksy's work is also profitable. One sold at auction for $145,000. Some pieces are cut from the wall to be sold. Others are stolen.
And fans flock to Banksy exhibits.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I always like to see Banksy's stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a longtime Banksy fan.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love street art.
VAUSE: And now the world may be closer to unmasking Banksy. Researchers in London used a technique call geographic profiling to identify a so-called anchor point by mapping 140 of the artist's works. The evidence they say zeros in on Robin Gunningham, first I.D.'d by "Daily Mail" in 2008. The study concedes it's difficult to make conclusive statements about Banksy's identity. Plus, Banksy and the family deny any connection. So for now, the mystery continues.
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VAUSE: For more on the detective work, let's go to Kim Rossmo, a criminologist and research professor at Texas State University. He joins us via Skype.
Kim, can you explain in broad brush strokes how this geographic profiling actually works?
KIM ROSSMO, CRIMINOLOGIST & RESEARCH PROFESSOR, TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY: Geographic profiling is typically used in a police investigation where a serial crime, serial murder or rapist or robber, and it analyzes the locations where they've committed their crimes. They are using computer software that works its way backwards and gives us a color map showing the location where the offender most likely lives.
VAUSE: So I guess there is obviously a bigger application for using this type of technology. Some say it can be used to track down terrorists.
ROSSMO: Well, one of the purposes of the study was to see how well it would work with something like graffiti. We'd done an earlier study based on some data collected by the Gestapo in the Second World War in Berlin, and that is very promising. The reason we did a large project that we did looking at terrorism in Europe and Asia and we found there was often many examples of graffiti that were being used or put forth by support groups for terrorists. We thought this would be a useful means of intelligence. Rather than wait for an exPLOsion or major terrorist act, it would be wise to track a lot of the minor stuff, analyze it and then get some idea of where to focus investigations. Because counterterrorism efforts suffer from information overload. Lots of suspects. Lots of -- where do you start? Who do you pay attention to?
VAUSE: Very quickly, what about a potential for misuse here? Surely, if somebody wants to remain unidentified and private, don't they have that right?
ROSSMO: If they want to remain unidentified and private, they probably shouldn't be putting their artwork on other people's property in big public places. So if you are talking about Banksy, he's playing a bit of a game with everyone. And that's to his credit. But he also can't expect to be ignored or anonymous. And in this particular case, Gunningham was identified through an investigation by reporters many years ago. We just assessed whether or not he was a good suspect. geographically.
VAUSE: One thing which was interesting is in this study, graffiti is described as a minor terrorism-related act?
[01:55:14] ROSSMO: No, that was something that somebody picked up and then was repeated by a number of newspapers and reporters. What we said was that some terrorists engaged in minor acts, including seditious graffiti. Most graffiti is not acts of terrorism. Somebody has twisted that around and got it all wrong.
VAUSE: Kim, I'm glad we settled that out.
We're out of time. Appreciate you for being with us and explaining how all of this works.
ROSSMO: You're welcome.
VAUSE: And you're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.
The news continues with Rosemary Church and Errol Barnett at the CNN Center after a short break. Stay with us.
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[02:00:07] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Turkey's pivotal role in a plan to help stem the flow of migrants into Europe.
