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Russian President Vladimir Putin Orders His Forces Out Of Syria; Donald Trump Defends Himself And His Supporters Over Violence At His Rallies. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired March 14, 2016 - 15:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:33:06] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Developing news out of Russia. President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian forces out of Syria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I believe the goal set out to the ministry of defense and the armed forces has overall been fulfilled, and that's why I ordered the minister of defense as of tomorrow to start the pull-out of the main part of our military grouping from the Syrian Arab republic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: CNN senior international correspondent Clarissa Ward is here with me. She just came back from Syria, by the way. We'll talk about that experience in a second. But first, you were saying you were gob- smacked to hear about this order from Putin. Why?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think everybody is really struggling to make sense of this news and perhaps more importantly to understand what does it really mean. Are we talking about a complete cessation of Russian military involvement in Syria, which would indeed be a pretty radical and shocking about-face for the Russians? Or are we talking about more of an incremental withdrawal of ground troops specifically that might not have an effect --

BALDWIN: We don't know yet.

WARD: We just don't know yet. So we're waiting to find out more certainly on the face of it. This is intended as some kind of good will gesture. Today, there are peace talks going on Geneva. The Russians are obviously trying to make some kind of a statement that they too can play a productive role in these peace talks. But of course as we saw when we were on the ground and rebel help Syria, up until this point, Russia has certainly not been playing a productive role.

BALDWIN: On that, let's get to your piece, "Unprecedented exclusive access." This is behind rebel lines in Syria. You went undercover to report on the violence in everyday life. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WARD (voice-over): Moving through rebel-held northern Syria is difficult and dangerous. As foreign journalists in areas with a strong jihadist presence, we had to travel undercover, to see a war few outsiders have witnessed. The city of Idlib is the only provincial capital under rebel control. This was the courthouse until it was hit by an airstrike into December. Dozens were killed.

40-year-old lawyer Talala Al-Jawai (ph) told us he was inside the building when it was hit. His arm was smashed but he was lucky to survive.

[15:35:25] UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The Russian planes target anything that works in the interest of the people. The goal is that people here live a destroyed life, that people never see any good, that they never taste life. This is the tax of living in a liberated area.

WARD: An hour later, we saw that tax for ourselves while filming in a town nearby. We heard the scream of fighter jets wheeling overhead. Moments later, a hit. There was just an airstrike here in the town of Ariha (ph). So we are now driving very quickly. It's not clear yet what was hit. But we are hearing that there are still planes in the sky.

Arriving on the scene, our team found chaos and carnage. Volunteers shouted for an ambulance as they tried to ferry out the wounded. For many, it was too late. A woman laid dead on the ground, a jacket draped over her. An attempt to preserve her dignity. Russia has repeatedly claimed it is only hitting terrorist targets. This strike hit a busy fruit market.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This is just a civilian market. This is not a military area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There are no military insulations here or anything. It's a market. Look, it's a market. A fruit market. Is that what you want, Bashar?

WARD: We couldn't stay long, often jets circled back to hit the same place twice. It's called a double tap.

We just arrived at the hospital where they're bringing the dead and wounded from the three strikes in Ariha (ph) which hit a park and a fruit market. We don't know the exact number of casualties there. But the scenes of devastation, blood on the ground, dismembered body parts and the injured and dead indicate this was a very bad strike indeed.

Among the injured brought in, a young boy, moaning in pain. He died moments later.

The strikes on Arihi (ph) that day killed 11 people, among them, a woman and two children. Rescue workers wasted no time clearing away the rubble. In this ugly war, massacres have become routine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Wow, I mean, the men with the orange, furious, you know, saying this is a market. That's all it is. No military installations. I know you have been a war correspondent for years. But what about this experience did you truly take away with you?

WARD: I mean, I just think that you never get used to seeing something like this. You never get used to seeing civilians killed in such a brutal way, doing something as banal and normal as going out to buy fruit. Nothing really prepares you for that. No amount of experience. And I've covered every war in the last ten years from Iraq to Afghanistan, to Gaza, and Syria is unique in a sense because --

BALDWIN: Why?

WARD: -- it's just a David and goliath scale here, where on the one side you have this air force with the backing of Russian superpower's air force and massive military power, and on the other side, you have rebels who are still fighting with largely rudimentary weapons. And then in the middle of all this of course you have the civilians who really, from what we saw on the ground, they are the ones bearing the brunt of the bombardment, particularly since the Russian intervention began in late September. So I think there will be many Syrians on the ground in the areas that we visited who will be delighted if, in fact, Russia really is going to curtail its military involvement in Syria. But at this stage, I would guess most of them are very skeptical indeed that that will actually happen.

BALDWIN: It was a risk you and your crew took, but we are grateful you did to shine a light on this part of the world. Thank you so much, Clarissa Ward.

WARD: Thank you.

BALDWIN: And you can find much more from her trip. Just go to CNN.com/Syria.

We'll be right back.

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[15:44:23] BALDWIN: Just a short time ago, Donald Trump defending himself and his supporters over violence at his rallies. Here is Mr. Trump with Wolf Blitzer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, SITUATION ROOM. Both of the democratic candidates had sharp words for you. First, listen to Hillary Clinton.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Like a case of political arson. You know, he has lit the fire and then he throws his hands up and claims he shouldn't be held responsible and he should be held responsible.

BLITZER: Your reaction to Secretary Clinton?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (on the phone): Well, she has to say what she has to say, Wolf. I mean, she has very uninspired crowds. Her crowds are very small. Her -- you know, if you look at the poll numbers, they're down 35 percent, because people from four years ago, because people are not inspired by her or by Bernie. There's nothing much to be inspired. It's boring and it's not very inspiring. So she only wished she had my crowds and she only wished she had the enthusiasm I have in my crowds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:45:27] BALDWIN: And Wolf joins us now.

So in this conversation, did Donald Trump take any responsibility for any of the violence at his rallies?

BLITZER: No, he really didn't. He was very insistent that whatever violence occurred had nothing to do with his supporters. There were other supporters. I pointed out, of course, that elderly man who sucker punched that individual was being escorted out, obviously. He said he doesn't condone that. Certainly doesn't support that but he was not blaming himself. And he pointed out of the tens of thousands of people who have showed up at his rallies over the past several months, said there's been very little violence, and he basically was bling, you know, Bernie Sanders supporters, to a lesser degree, Hillary Clinton supporters and others showing up, trying to disrupt that Chicago event he had scheduled for Friday night, that they had to cancel, and he thought it was the smart thing to do because he was really afraid people could be injured in the course of that Friday night event. But he was not saying he was responsible for that at all.

BALDWIN: OK, in terms of tomorrow, the all-important Florida and Ohio primaries, I'm sure you asked him about how he's feeling going into tomorrow, what did he say?

BLITZER: Well, he said that John Kasich, the governor of Ohio, possibly could win in Ohio. He says the polls are very close, shows a very tight race. So he's open to the possibility of maybe not winning Ohio. I think he is very confident about Florida. Polls there show he's got a significant lead over Marco Rubio. I think he is confident about the other states as well. Five contests tomorrow. But the two most important winner take all, Ohio and Florida.

Of course, my own sense is based on conversations not with him but with others close to him is if he does win all those states tomorrow, he thinks he's well on his way to capturing the nomination. We'll see what happens tomorrow. Ohio could be very, very close.

BALDWIN: Let's hear a little more from your interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: If you're calling the Ohio governor John Kasich an absentee governor, you have added another Ohio rally to your schedule later today, are you concerned that Kasich will win in Ohio and keep on going?

TRUMP: Well, don't think he'll keep on going. He may win Ohio. It's right now a tie according to most of the polls. Literally tied. He may win in Ohio. I mean, who knows, he is the governor. But he has not done a good job. He's convinced people he has, he hasn't. They're losing industry tremendously. He voted for NAFTA which is the reason they are losing industry. Now he wants TPP. He raised real estate taxes in Ohio through the roof. And frankly, the only reason he's doing well in Ohio is because of the oil that they got lucky and they found. I mean, Ohio happened to be sitting on top of oil.

BLITZER: What about Florida tomorrow? Because the polls show you way ahead of the incumbent senator Marco Rubio. Cruz looks is looking like there's a little fight going on for second place.

TRUMP: Well Marco is not a very popular guy in Florida. He doesn't show up to vote. He's got the worst voting record in the United State senate in 20 years. This guy doesn't vote. They put him in. He really defrauded the people of Florida, Wolf, because they put him in and he was their senator and from that point on, I mean, he started running for president. He's failed very, very badly at that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We will watch much more of your interview, Wolf Blitzer, on "the SITUATION ROOM," 5:00 eastern, right here on CNN.

Thank you, sir, very much.

BLITZER: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Still ahead, a man who spent years on death row for a crime he did not commit. He challenges Hillary Clinton about her stance on the death penalty. He said he was satisfied with her answer. Are you? We'll play it for you next.

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[15:53:06] BALDWIN: Donald Trump speaking live there in Tampa, Florida, as he hits all the big super Tuesday states including Florida and Ohio. Voters in five states going to the polls tomorrow and the results could shape the outcome of the race. CNN will have complete live coverage all day. Do not miss it.

Coming up next, the emotional moment between Hillary Clinton and someone who asked her a question during our CNN town hall.

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[15:57:39] BALDWIN: An innocent man spends nearly 40 years of his life in prison, part of it on death row. And now he gets a chance to challenge Hillary Clinton face to face during CNN's town hall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator, I spent some of those years on death row, and -- excuse me, I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's OK, brother.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I came perilously close to my own execution. And in light of that, what you've just shared with you and in light of the fact that there are -- there are documented cases of innocent people who have been executed in our country, I would like to know how can you still take your stance on the death penalty in light of what you know right now?

CLINTON: You know, this is such a profoundly difficult question, and what I have said and what I continue to believe is that the states have proven themselves incapable of carrying out fair trials that give any defendant all the rights that defendants should have, all the support that the defendants' lawyer should have. And I've said I would breathe a sigh of relief if either the Supreme Court or the states themselves began to eliminate the death penalty.

Where I end up is this, and maybe it's a distinction that is hard to support, but at this point given the challenges we face from terrorist activities primarily in our country that end up under federal jurisdiction for very limited purposes, I think it can still be held in reserve for those. But what happened to you was a travesty and I just can't even imagine what you went through and how terrible those days and nights must have been for all those years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That was Hillary Clinton's response. By the way, Bernie Sanders says he opposes the death penalty in all cases.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me here on this Monday afternoon.

"THE LEAD with Jake Tapper" starts now.