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Terrorist Detonate Car Bomb in Turkey's Capitol; Terrorist Attacks on Ivory Coast Beach Resorts; Trump Dominating Topic in Democratic Town Hall; Inside Rebel-Held Syria; Multiple Attacks on Ivory Coast; North Koran Nuclear Threats over U.S., South Korean Military Drills; Man Who Rushed Stage at Trump Rally Speaks Out. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired March 14, 2016 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[02:00:33] ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: A big welcome to those of you watching here in the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Errol Barnett, with you solo today for the next two hours. Let's kick off your week. CNN NEWSROOM starts now.
More than four dozen people are dead after terror attacks target civilians in two countries. First, a powerful car bomb detonated in a busy square in Turkey's capital. At least 34 people were killed and 125 others wounded. Hours earlier, gunmen stormed several beach resorts in Ivory Coast, opening fire on tourists there. When it was over, 16 people were dead. Security forces killed six attackers. Now, there's been no claim of responsibility for the Ankara bombing, but Turkey's president is blaming regional instability for the violence. Kurdish rebels and ISIS have launched attacks in recent months.
Arwa Damon reports from Ankara.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is one of the main boulevards that runs through the capital, Ankara, in a very central part of the city, an area that is normally very crowded, filled with traffic and people. And was especially packed at the time the blast took place at about 6:45 local.
The exPLOsion caused by, according to Turkish authorities, a car packed with explosives, driven and then detonated very close to a bus station that according to eyewitnesses was extremely busy at the time. Among the dead are one or two of the attackers.
The Turkish government investigators still looking into specifically which terrorist organization may have been behind this attack that happens at a time when Ankara is already in a state of heightened security following another attack that took place here less than a month ago. That attack, according to the Turkish government, was carried out by an offshoot of the Kurdish separatist group the PKK. And then back in October, there were two twin suicide bombers that attacked a rally. That attack was blamed by Turkish authorities on ISIS. And this just underscores how vulnerable Turkey is at this stage.
The U.S. embassy had put out a statement, a warning to its citizens on March 11th telling them to be careful in a certain area in Ankara different to this one but saying that there were warnings of a potential terrorist attack there against government institutions.
But all of this coming at a time when Turkey continues to face numerous threats from a variety of different organizations.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Ankara.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Separately, an al Qaeda offshoot is take responsibility for the deadly attack in Ivory Coast. The militant group has stormed other hotels in neighboring West African cities in recent months.
CNN's Robyn Kriel has the details of just their latest target.
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ROBYN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The attack began shortly after midday Sunday. Grand Bassam Beach was reportedly packed with people from the nearby Ivorian city of Abidjan, sunbathing, swimming or eating at beachside cafes. Eyewitnesses told CNN they heard sustained gunfire for about 15 minutes and saw people running away from the three hotels screaming.
UNIDENTIFIED WITNESS (through translation): He arrived near my young brother, who was in communication. He shot one bullet in the head. When he shot at him in the head, he shouted, "Allah Akbar." At that moment, the three others arrived and started to shoot.
KRIEL: Authorities say they killed six attackers who attacked three upscale hotels and sealed off the area.
Grand Bassam is extremely popular with wealthy Ivorians and Westerners, particularly on Sundays.
UNIDENTIFIED WITNESS (through translation): Truly, truly it was terrifying. I never thought that this could happen here under these circumstances. It's truly not easy. It's not easy. It's not easy.
KRIEL: This attack bore all the hallmarks of previous attacks by the al Qaeda affiliate al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The group has launched two major attacks on Western interests in West Africa in the past five months. First, in the Malian capital, Bamako, in November, when gunmen stormed the Radisson Blue Hotel killing at least 22 people. Then in January, gunmen from the same group attacked another luxury hotel and cafe frequented by Westerners in Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou. At least 29 were killed there.
Security analysts say this sort of attack targeting the heart of progress in yet another country means AQIM is committed to broadening its operational reach by crossing borders into countries such as Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, perceived by extremists as pro West and anti- extremist movements.
The Ivorian government recently announced its plans to tighten its border security so that extremists wouldn't be able to cross over from mail and launch attacks much like Sunday's.
Robyn Kriel, CNN, Nairobi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:05:47] BARNETT: The attack in Ivory Coast is the third of its kind in West Africa in recent months and that's raising an important question. Should other countries there be concerned? Well, we'll discuss that later this hour with an expert. So do stay with us for that.
All right. It's just past 2:00 a.m. here on the U.S. east coast, and that means there's just one day left before five states hold primaries that could set the tone for the rest of the U.S. presidential election. And the Democratic hopefuls fielded questions from some of those voters at a CNN/TVOne town hall in Ohio Sunday night. However, it was a Republican, Donald Trump, to be specific, who seemed to dominate their discussion.
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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I), VERMONT & DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Take a look at virtually every national poll that has been done. Take a look at the NBC/"Wall Street Journal" poll of two or three days ago. Guess what? Bernie Sanders was defeating Donald Trump by 18 points.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: There are going to be a lot of arguments to make against him that we can look forward to. I'm not going to spill the beans right now.
(LAUGHTER)
But suffice it to say there are many arguments we can use against him.
But one argument that I am uniquely qualified to bring, because of my service as secretary of state, is what his presidency would mean to our country and our standing in the world. I am already receiving messages from leaders. I'm having foreign leaders ask if they can endorse me to stop Donald Trump.
(LAUGHTER)
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BARNETT: Now, Trump, of course, is the Republican front-runner. And he was very much on the minds of both Democratic candidates, especially because Trump is persistently accusing Sanders supporters of disrupting his rallies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: I don't even call them protesters. I call them disruptors. A lot of them come from Bernie Sanders, whether he wants to say it or not. And if he says no, then he's lying. Bernie Sanders, they have Sanders signs all over the place, and they're made by the same people that make the regular Bernie Sanders signs. They're professionally made.
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BARNETT: Sanders insists he is not behind the disruptions which have become increasingly frequent and bold, and Clinton says Trump's rhetoric goes against American values. Listen.
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SANDERS: Donald Trump is a pathological liar.
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SANDERS: We have never -- our campaign does not believe and never will encourage anybody to disrupt anything. We have millions of supporters. People do what they do. People have the right to protest. I happen not to believe that people should disrupt anybody's meetings.
CLINTON: All Americans should be concerned. It's clear that Donald Trump is running a very cynical campaign, pitting groups of Americans against one another. He is trafficking in hate and fear. He is playing to our worst instincts rather than our angels of our better nature. He actually incites violence in the way that he urges his audience on, you know, talking about punching people, offering to pay legal bills.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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BARNETT: Joining us now for more on the Democratic town hall are Democratic strategist, Theron Johnson, a supporter of Hillary Clinton -- you see him on the left of your screen -- and political strategist, Jonathan Tasini, a Bernie Sanders supporter, on the right of your screen, joining us from Tampa, Florida.
Welcome to you both.
We saw both Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders speak out against Donald Trump, saying he is inciting violence by considering paying the legal fees of one protester charged with assault. Sanders called him a pathological liar. Clinton describes him as bigoted.
Jonathan, I want to start with you, because there were Sanders supporters at the Chicago rally, which was canceled due to a fear of violence on Friday. What did you make of that?
[02:10:04] JONATHAN TASINI, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Well, I will say that Donald Trump is a dangerous man and he has in fact incited violence at his rallies. He's created a fear -- a climate of fear among many people across the country, not just at the rallies itself. And I'm going to guess -- and I can't -- I have no evidence of this -- that there were people in the crowd who were protesting and that might vote for Bernie Sanders and might vote for Hillary Clinton. And I'm not trying to put the onus on the Clinton campaign. The opposite. I'm trying to say that both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton together have condemned the racism, the bigotry and the violence, and the violent atmosphere that Donald Trump is creating.
BARNETT: And, Theron, what do you make of that? Because at the town hall Secretary Clinton says she's holding back some of her strongest language against Trump. And indeed what she said was a bit more subdued than what Sanders said. Why is that and what is she waiting for?
THERON JOHNSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I don't know about being subdued. I think what she said is along the lines of what Bernie Sanders said. What happened in Chicago was just very, very unfortunate. One, it's unfortunate for the Trump supporters because look, we had people there were who was in line for eight to 10 hours. The problem with the whole Trump event is the rhetoric and sort of the tone that he's put forth to his supporters. He's used terms like, hey, if you punch him in the face I'll pay your legal fees, get those people out of here. I mean, he has had a tone not just for the last few weeks but for the last few months. What Secretary Clinton said was we cannot condone that type of behavior.
BARNETT: But we are at a bit of a crossroads here on the Democratic side.
Jonathan, there are nearly 700 delegates at stake on Tuesday. You've got five states holding their primaries. Sanders has half the overall delegate count of Clinton. And if we look at just the polls currently in Ohio and in Florida, the two big prizes, Clinton is comfortably ahead. Has Bernie Sanders hit his limit?
(LAUGHTER)
TASINI: Well, when you cite polls I would only use one word -- Michigan. Polls have proven to be pretty unreliable. And you know, I'm a basketball fan. And since I'm in Florida, let me invoke the great scholar, Yogi Berra, when he said, "It's deja vu all over again." In most contests, if you look at Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, where Bernie was 25 points down five weeks out and he came close to winning that, the polls don't really mean much when you've got tens of thousands of people, literally -- and I was just at a phone bank kicking it off here in Tampa, Florida, people calling Florida voters -- those polls don't need much when there's energized people calling. I think we're going to do very well. But let's be clear. This is going to continue to the convention. After this set of elections, primaries on Tuesday, the map becomes much more favorable to Bernie Sanders.
BARNETT: Polls have Clinton ahead by double digits in Michigan and they were all wrong. Are we looking at a similar situation? Has Clinton fixed anything? JOHNSON: At a time where Hillary Clinton right now has a 206-delegate
lead against Bernie Sanders and then when you actually add the super delegates, it's a very significant lead. The challenge for the Bernie Sanders campaign has been this, since Iowa and New Hampshire, which you've seen, is their inability to basically win in states that has a very diverse electorate. What I mean by diverse, particularly, Errol, women of color. If you look at polls that do matter and you look at the exit polls, these are polls that after people vote for her, she's doing extremely well with women of color between the ages of 50 and 65. So the challenge particularly for Bernie Sanders' campaign in Florida and Ohio, which you're absolutely right is going to be two big states, which by the way she's actually leading in every single state that we're going to have on our super third Tuesday, as we're calling it, is Bernie's ineffectiveness to basically be able to back his rhetoric up with actually policy decisions and actually policy votes that appeals to particularly also Hispanic-Americans. Let's not forget, this is the same Bernie Sanders who did not actually support true comprehensive immigration reform when he was actually voting. That's a challenge and that's something a lot of the Hispanic voters are going to be paying very close attention to.
And then, it goes back to what we saw time and time again, it's the outstanding support that Hillary Clinton has in the African-American community.
BARNETT: Jonathan, I saw you about to jump through the screen there. A quick final comment?
(LAUGHTER)
TASINI: Look, first of all, it's completely false to say that Bernie Sanders is not for comprehensive immigration reform. In fact, he opposed parts of the immigration reform that targeted -- that was about guest workers because --
(CROSSTALK)
JOHNSON: He voted against it, Jonathan.
(CROSSTALK)
JOHNSON: The bottom line is he voted against it.
TASINI: He's always been -- please, I didn't interrupt you. So let me finish.
Since he was always for protecting workers. He was against the guest worker program, which was about exploiting workers, particularly the most vulnerable people from Mexico, for example. Number two, it is true, in the first contest he did not do as well among African- American voters. But that has shifted. And he's increased his share of the African-American vote, particularly among young voters. So it tends to be generational. The older African-American voters, that's true, Theron and his wife, are favoring Hillary Clinton, but the younger people, African-American, and across all races, are favoring Bernie Sanders. And the last point I'll make is this. When voters in industrial
states look at the policies that Hillary Clinton has supported, which has destroyed middle-class jobs, she supported every bad trade agreement with the exception of one, CAFTA, and she supported NAFTA, she helped destroy the middle class by supporting these trade agreements that have shipped jobs abroad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:15:28] BARNETT: Our thanks again to Jonathan Tasini and Theron Johnson speaking to me earlier there.
Syria is prepared to resume peace talks Monday. Coming up, an exclusive look inside the rebel-held region of the country. A CNN team went deep undercover to report on the destruction there and witnessed a war crime just hours into their journey.
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[02:19:58] BARNETT: Peace talks to end Syria's civil war are set to resume Monday in Geneva, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is calling on Russia and Iran to rein in the Syrian regime. He says Syria's recent refusal to discuss the future of Bashar al Assad's presidency are an attempt to disrupt the peace process. The talks come amid a fragile cease-fire which each side has accused the other of violating.
Our CNN senior international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, and producer, Salma Abdelaziz, went undercover into rebel-held Syria where virtually no western journalists have gone for more than a year. They worked with Syrian-based filmmaker, Bilal Abdul Kareem, on this exclusive report.
I have to give you a warning here, some of what you're about to see is graphic.
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CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (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 its courthouse until it was hit by an air strike in December. Dozens were killed.
40-year-old lawyer, Talal Aljawi, told us he was inside the building when it was hit. His arm was smashed, but he was lucky to survive.
TALAL ALJAWI, LAWYER (through translation): 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.
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WARD: Moments later, a hit.
(on camera): There was just an air strike here in the town of Ariha. So we're now driving very quickly. It's not clear yet what was hit, but we are hearing that there are still planes in the sky.
(EXPLOSION)
WARD (voice-over): Arriving on the scene, our team found chaos and carnage.
(SCREAMING)
WARD: Volunteers shouted for an ambulance as they tried to ferret out the wound. For many, it was too late.
(SHOUTING)
WARD: A woman lay dead on the ground, a jacket draped over her, in an attempt to preserve her dignity.
(SHOUTING)
WARD: Russia has repeatedly claimed it is only hitting terrorist targets. This strike hit a busy fruit market.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translation): This is just a civilian market. This is not a military area.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translation): There are no military installations here or anything. It's a market. Look. It's a market. A fruit market. Is this what you want, Bashar?
WARD: We couldn't stay long. Often jets circle back to hit the same place twice. It's called a double tap.
(SIREN)
WARD (on camera): We just arrived here at the hospital where they're bringing the dead and the wounded from those three strikes in Ariha, 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 that we've seen arriving here indicate that this was a very bad strike indeed.
(voice-over): Among the injured brought in, a young boy moaning in pain.
(SHOUTING)
WARD: He died moments later.
The strikes on Ariha that day killed 11 people, among them, a woman and two children. Rescue workers wasted no time in clearing away the rubble. In this ugly war, massacres have become routine.
Clarissa Ward, CNN, Ariha, Syria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Part 2 of Clarissa Ward's exclusive reporting from inside Syria is coming up tomorrow. She'll take us down the only rebel road leading into Aleppo. It is surrounded by snipers, but is a lifeline to the people who still call the embattled city home. Take a look.
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WARD (voice-over): As you arrive in the city, the scale of the destruction is breathtaking, stretching on and on. Entire residential neighborhoods reduced to rubble.
Still, we found pockets of life among the devastation.
"Should we leave our country and go to another country? No. This is our country, and we will remain in this until we die."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[02:25:02] BARNETT: You'll see the full report tomorrow.
And you can find more from this exclusive journey on our special web page at CNN.com/Syria. There are blogs there written by Clarissa and a special 360-degree look at all of the devastation in Aleppo. All of this is part of our exclusive coverage "Inside Syria, Behind Rebel Lines," airing all week, only on CNN.
Still to come this hour, a day at the beach ends in horror with deadly gunfire at a resort city in Ivory Coast. A look at the terror group claiming the attack and others, next.
Plus, the man who tried to rush onto the stage while Donald Trump was speaking, well, he sits down with CNN. Hear what his motivations are.
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BARNETT: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Errol Barnett. We're half an hour into our two-hour meeting together. Let's update you on our top stories.
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[02:30:24] BARNETT: More now on Saturday's terror attack in Ivory Coast. This is the first such attack in that country but the third in West Africa in recent months. For example, in November gunmen opened fire at the Radisson Blue Hotel in Bamako, Mali, killing 21 people, you'll remember. Al Qaeda, an affiliate group, claimed responsibility. On January 15th, 29 people were killed when a luxury hotel in Burkina Faso came under attack. An al Qaeda-linked group is believed to have been responsible for that.
Joining me now by telephone to discuss this is J. Peter Pham. He's the director of the Africa Center at the Washington-based Atlantic Council.
Thanks so much for your time today.
First, this attack, the multiple attacks in Ivory Coast is solidifying this growing fear that all West African nations really now need to deal with small sporadic acts of terror. Do you agree? Is this the new reality there?
J. PETER PHAM, DIRECTOR, AFRICA CENTER, ATLANTIC COUNCIL (voice-over): Unfortunately, it's not so much a new reality as it's one that's being recognized. But we've been warning about something like this really for most of the past year, that al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and its allied extremist groups were seeking to attack beyond their bases in the Sahel. And, in fact, in recent months both French and American intelligence have picked up on signals warning specifically of Cote d'Ivoire and Senegal and have warned both those governments that something was amiss and something was coming. And unfortunately, today we saw it.
BARNETT: Now, last week, the U.S. killed more than 150 al Shabaab militants at a so-called graduation ceremony. This is over in Somalia. It says this is a part of an effort to deny ISIS and any al Qaeda-linked groups any momentum in the Horn of Africa. Why aren't we seeing the same type of effort in West Africa?
PHAM: Well, we've been seeing some efforts. In West Africa, the terrorist groups are actually older, having links to not only al Qaeda but more remotely to also the Algerian civil war of the 1990s. These are groups with literally decades of experience. They are not known to do things as foolhardy as Shabaab in Somalia, which actually gathered hundreds of people together and presented a target for U.S. warplanes and drones to attack them a week ago. They've worked much more with smaller groups. In fact, today's attack was carried out by only several gunmen. We're still trying to find out exactly how many. Al Qaeda is claiming only three were involved. Other reports say more. But it's really a low-tech operation. It's one that requires a small investment on the part of the terrorist group. But the returns are quite high given the attention they've received and the fill-up they're going to see from this, unfortunately.
BARNETT: Now, you've also noted that African Union and United Nations troops in some West African nations, they're not really postured in a way to take out, as you mentioned, some of these smaller, older militant forces. How can that be changed? Should that be changed?
PHAM: Well, just days ago, actually, a U.S.-led military exercise that takes place annually, Flintlock, came to a conclusion. It's an exercise meant to build up confidence and communication between African countries. These are small countries that, by themselves, divided, quite literally, they fall. But if they can increase the sharing of intelligence and information and trust between them, I think we have the beginnings of something there. On the other hand, I would say in defense of the Ivorian government, it's worth noting this is a government that has delivered tremendously just coming just four years out of a civil war. They've had averaging 8 percent annual economic growth. And they've spent the security funding that they do have primarily on reintegrating and demobilizing combatants, which is what one should do in a post-conflict situation. It's one of those situations where you can't do everything and it's very easy for terrorists and others to slip through the cracks, and that's rather unfortunate.
BARNETT: And we should note there is a lot of stability and peace in many of these West African nations, but they, as other developed nations, still have to deal with small sporadic attacks.
J. Peter Pham, thanks for your time, joining us on the phone, the director of the Atlantic Council's Africa Center.
Now massive drills under way as the U.S. and South Korea stage their largest ever joint exercises but these war games are doing nothing to ease rising tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Our Ivan Watson saw Saturday's drills up close and has this report from South Korea.
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[02:35:15] IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Under bright blue skies, a flotilla approaches.
(EXPLOSION)
WATSON: And with a blast of explosives, the amphibious assault begins, a mock invasion, performed by U.S. and South Korean Marines.
This weekend's drills are one small part of an eight-week series of joint military exercises that both countries perform annually. With more than 300,000 South Korean troops and 17,000 U.S. forces participating, South Korea says this year's drills are the biggest ever.
They're taking place during a time of heightened tension on the Korean peninsula.
(on camera): This is an opportunity for the U.S. to reassure its South Korean ally within months of North Korea testing what it claims was a hydrogen bomb and firing a satellite into space.
(SHOUTING)
(voice-over): The U.S. argues this show of force serves as a deterrent to North Korea.
UNIDENTIFIED U.S. GENERAL: We sincerely believe in peace through strength. And it is the strength of our alliance that we believe that we can deter and avoid war.
(SHOUTING)
WATSON: But North Korea calls these exercises a threat.
UNIDENTIFIED NORTH KOREAN ANCHOR: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WATSON: Pyongyang claims the U.S.-South Korean drills are a precursor to a possible invasion, and it has threatened to carry out preemptive nuclear strikes in response.
Of course, North Korea often makes big shows of its own war games. Just last week, they released images of Kim Jong-Un observing a missile launch, just days after Pyongyang announced it successfully miniaturized a nuclear bomb, making it small enough to fit on top of a missile.
(SHOUTING)
WATSON: Some South Koreans are disturbed by the saber rattling on both sides of the Demilitarized Zone.
(on camera): There is some opposition to these drills. You have several dozen demonstrators, some who have travelled hours to get here. They are arguing that it's better to have peace talks rather than military exercises. And as you can see, there is a substantial police presence keeping the protesters at bay.
(voice-over): The nearby protests do not disrupt the military exercises. This, after all, is a carefully choreographed operation, part of a cycle of tension between North and South that ratchets up every year during the joint military exercises.
The danger here, if one of these well-armed rivals makes a misstep or misinterprets an enemy signal, then the risk of escalation is very, very high.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Pohang, South Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: A quarter of a million people are in the dark right now in Washington State. It's just approaching midnight there. That's because a powerful winter storm hit the region.
Our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us from the International Weather Center with the latest.
Pedram, what happened?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: This is a storm system here that of course we're going on our final few days of the winter season. Impressive storm for any time of year coming in across parts of the northwest. Very easy to pick out what's happening on water vapor imagery. As you see, an atmospheric weather pattern driving right into California bringing tremendous rainfall. Massive energy just to the north bringing in storm after storm to the northwest. In fact, as Errol told you, at least 250,000 people without power across much of Washington State. Some of the scenes from the 520 bridge across the Seattle area over the last several hours, waves battering the coastline across this region. Some of the observations showing you how strong the winds are were on the immediate coast easily getting up to healthy category 1 equivalent of a hurricane, 87 miles per hour. Working your way toward Seattle, Everett, up toward Bellingham, winds as high as 64 to 66 miles per hour. Certainly can tell you that is going to cause some significant power outages across the region. Look at the observations on the coast. These are wave heights, about 13 to 15 feet over a 24-hour period. How high some of these buoys were observing waves across Washington state. Parts of the 520 bridge were closed on Sunday because of the dangerous situation there across the Seattle area. It's been raining very much Seattle-like in nature but how about this? Over 17 now consecutive days of rainfall across Seattle. That is about halfway to the all-time record of 33 days for most consecutive days of rainfall. Last time it did not rain in Seattle was back on February 25th. You look at this season, in particular, it has rained about two out of every three days all winter, but it looks like the streak's going to come to an end. We get some rain on Monday and Tuesday, it dries up, begins to moderate out as we head toward the latter portion of the week, improving conditions there.
Look at the national perspective. About 8 percent of the U.S. has snow on the ground. For this time of year, mid March, this is the lowest snow coverage for the United States in about 10 years' time. So it shows you how quiet it is, especially across the eastern side of the United States, where typically you would have snow at least on some of the northern states. But California really doing well when it comes to snow coverage this past weekend. Two-plus feet of snowfall came down across this region. In fact, look at the 13th of March going into Sunday's date for California, 11 percent of the state had snow on the ground. You compare that to a year ago on Sunday's date, March 13th, .1 percent of the state had snow on the ground, compared to two years ago, a little over half a percent. So certainly great news when it comes to what's happening across parts of California.
And we'll leave you with this, Errol, take you toward northern Spain. Look at the images here. How about a bulldozer to get snow out of the way? This is how some of the highways looked in some of the higher elevations of northern Spain as folks out there clearing the roadways as folks try to make their way up toward the mountain passes in very much a wintry nature there across Spain.
BARNETT: You can't even call in to work because they've seen the proof now on television.
JAVAHERI: That's a good point.
(LAUGHTER)
BARNETT: Thanks very much. See you next hour, Pedram.
Now, surely you've heard about this. A student gave one of the U.S. presidential candidates a scare. Next, we find out what the 22-year- old was thinking when he rushed Donald Trump on Saturday. More on that after this.
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BARNETT: Welcome back. So the man who rushed the stage while Donald Trump was speaking on Saturday says he has no regrets. The Secret Service stopped Thomas Dimassimo after he jumped a barricade at a Trump rally in Ohio. It made for this dramatic moment. The 22-year- old is charged with disorderly conduct and inducing panic. He heads to court on Wednesday.
CNN's Martin Savidge sat down with Dimassimo and asked him what was he thinking?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[02:45:21] THOMAS DIMASSIMO, ARRESTED AT TRUMP RALLY: The dangers that exist in our country exist between Donald Trump and his people. And whether or not I show up at a rally and try to do something, you see there is violence. There's violence when people just stand there and hold a sign. So the idea that they now feel that they're under attacks is ironic and laughable because they've been the ones who've been doing the actual attacking to other people. I in no way harmed anyone, intended to harm anyone. I'm not a member of ISIS. I have no known ties to ISIS. I've never been out of the country. I only speak English.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christian?
DIMASSIMO: Christian, yeah. I was raised Southern Baptist. And I went to a Baptist church all the way -- you know, till I went to college.
SAVIDGE: OK. So given that, what were you thinking?
DIMASSIMO: I was thinking that Donald Trump is a bully and he is nothing more than that. He is somebody who is just saying a lot of bold things. He's making bold claims. But I can see right through that. And I can see that he's truly just a coward and he's opportunistic. And he's willing to destroy this country for power for himself.
SAVIDGE: That's your motivation. But what were you thinking at that moment? Why did you do what you did?
DIMASSIMO: I was thinking that I could get up on stage and take his podium away from him and take his Mike away from him and send a message to all people out in the country who wouldn't consider themselves racist, who wouldn't consider themselves approving of what type of violence Donald Trump is allowing at his rallies and send them a message that we can be strong, we can find our strength and we can stand up against Donald Trump and against this new wave he's ushering in of just truly violent white supremacist ideas.
SAVIDGE: If you'd made it to that stage, were you going to attack him? DIMASSIMO: No, not at all. There would have been no point. Donald
Trump is 6'3". I'm 5'9" maybe. You know. He's a giant man surrounded by thousands of followers, 12 Secret Service, and a former Ohio State offensive lineman. That would have accomplished nothing.
SAVIDGE: But can you see how people might have perceived that you were --
(CROSSTALK)
DIMASSIMO: Of course. And I wasn't expecting there to be as much Secret Service as there was there that day. From what I'd sort of seen, there hadn't been that much or hadn't been that much in a contained area. So I thought my chances of getting up on stage and getting to the podium would have been better. But again, it was more important for me to show that there are people out there who aren't afraid of Donald Trump. He says scary things. He lets his people do scary things. He's threatened Mexico, Islam, you name it. And yet, I'm unafraid. And if I can be unafraid enough to go take his podium away from him, then we all can be unafraid enough to not let this man walk into the White House.
SAVIDGE: Did the thought ever cross your mind that you could be killed?
DIMASSIMO: Yes.
SAVIDGE: That the Secret Service would shoot you or do something to harm you gravely to stop you? Because you were perceived as a threat.
DIMASSIMO: Right.
SAVIDGE: I mean, you look at that video, looks like you're moving right on him.
DIMASSIMO: I mean, I would say the Secret Service is very well trained. And they were able to immediately assess that I had nothing in my hands to harm him.
SAVIDGE: Did you have a weapon?
DIMASSIMO: No. Secret Service had metal detectors that you had to go through to get into the event. You had to empty out all your pockets and put your stuff -- you had to walk through a metal detector. So the idea that I somehow had a knife is ludicrous and untrue.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Interesting stuff there. That was our Martin Savidge speaking to the man who rushed the podium when Donald Trump was speaking on Saturday.
A lot of people have opinions on this online. Let me know what you think. But we will have part two of that interview next hour. So stay tuned. All right. Nine countries in eight days. How does that sound? Well,
flying nothing but low-cost airlines. Still interested? We'll get an update on Richard Quest's marathon round-the-world journey next here on CNN NEWSROOM.
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(WEATHER REPORT)
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[02:53:29] BARNETT: Welcome back. Flying around the world conjures up romantic images of luxury travel, doesn't it, to exotic locations? But what if you went across the globe in a little more than a week flying nothing but budget airlines? That is what our Richard Quest is doing right now. You see, over the course of eight days, he will travel to nine countries flying on 10 different low-cost airlines. So that means there are no lay fat -- lay-flat beds, I should say, no personal attendance, just basic economy seats. The journey is aimed at highlighting the world's growing range of budget carriers.
Quest and his team left London's Gatwick Airport on Saturday, flying first to Brussels and then on to Prague where he sent us an update on the trip. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: Our round-the-world journey is well and truly under way. And we are, as you can see, in Prague. This is the Charles Bridge looking up toward the Prague castle here in the Czech capital. So far, we've been through four airports in three countries and experienced two low-cost carriers, EasyJet and RyanAir, the two largest in the business in Europe and the ones very much setting the rules. We've seen and experienced how they're changing the way the low-cost model is operating in Europe, offering more services and seemingly giving a better class of flight, if you like.
Tonight, we leave the Czech capital and we fly to Dubai. Fly Dubai is the airline, where we will get an experience of how the gulf airlines are now turning their hand to low-cost flying.
Richard Quest, CNN, Prague, the Czech capital.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:55:20] BARNETT: And we have a bit of an update. Richard's flight on Air Dubai touched down just a short while ago. Hopefully, he's watching us from the airport.
Hey there, Richard.
He offered up this view of the airline on his Twitter page. That's @richardquest. He sent this message. Let me say it how he would. "Feels more full service than low cost. They even give free meal. @richardquest." Next up, Richard and his team leave Dubai for Colombo, Sri Lanka,
flying on the bargain carrier Air Arabia. Stay with us for more updates on his round-the-world journey.
You can also follow along on Richard's Twitter page and send questions for the team, what they should do in their brief stop in each place. Use the #flywithquest.
I'm Errol Barnett. While you're on Twitter, keep me company, won't you?
Next hour, more of the day's top stories, including part two of our interview with the man who rushed Donald Trump's podium.
And there's a new top dog in the world. All will be explained, next.
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