Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Dozens Dead In Ankara After Car Bomb Rips Through Square In City Center; John Kerry Slams Syrian Government As He Tries To Forge Path To Peace; Al Qaeda In Islamic Maghreb Claims Responsibility For Fatal Shootings On Ivory Coast; Harsh Words For Republican Frontrunner Donald Trump After Violence Breaks Out At Rally; Massive Worldwide Tea Industry's Dark Underbelly. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired March 14, 2016 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00] ERROL BARNETT, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: Dozens dead in Ankara as a car bomb rips through a square in the city center. We bring you the latest on the third major attack in Turkey in six months.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry slams the Syrian government as he tries to forge a path to peace in a country torn apart by five years of Civil War.

And in the battle for the democratic presidential nomination, Sanders and Clinton have at least one thing in common. Harsh words for republican front-runner Donald Trump.

Hello, and a big welcome to our viewers here in the states and those of you watching all around the world. I'm Errol Barnett. And this is our second hour of CNN Newsroom.

More than four dozen people are dead in the aftermath of terror attacks that targeted civilians. One happened in a beach resort city in Ivory Coast, the other in Turkey's capital. That's what you see here.

At least 34 people were killed when a car bomb detonated at a busy transport hub in Ankara. More than 100 others were wounded. So far there's been no claim of responsibility. Turkey's president blames regional instability for the violence. ISIS and Kurdish rebels have mounted attacks in recent months.

Arwa Damon brings us more from Ankara.

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 that 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.

BARNETT: Now, hours before that blast in Turkey gunmen opened fire at a resort city in Ivory Coast. The Al Qaeda affiliate taking credit for the deadly attack has stormed other hotels in neighboring West African cities in recent months.

CNN's Robyn Kriel describes what happened with their latest target.

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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TRANSLATED): 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, "Allahu Akbar." at that moment the three others arrived and started to shoot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KRIEL: Authorities say they killed six attackers who attacked three upscale hotels and sealed off the area. Grand Bassam is extremely popular with wealthy Ivoirians and Westerners, particularly on Sundays.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (TRANSLATED): 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP) 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.

[03:05:06] 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 Mali and launch attacks much like Sunday's.

Robyn Kriel, CNN, Nairobi.

BARNETT: Now earlier, I spoke with African security expert J. Peter Pham about the group taking credit for the attack in Ivory Coast, and he says this attack was anticipated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J. PETER PHAM, AFRICA CENTER AT THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL DIRECTOR: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: And Pham also told me West Africa's terror groups are older and more experienced with ties to Al Qaeda and the Algerian Civil Wars of the 1990s.

Now peace talks to end Syria's Civil War are set to resume Monday in Geneva. Those talks come amid a fragile ceasefire between the Syrian government and its opposition that each car -- each side has accused the other of violating.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the Syrian government's recent refusal to discuss Bashar al Assad's presidency are an attempt to disrupt the peace process. He called on Russian and Iran to rein in the Syrian regime. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: President Putin, who is invested

in supporting Assad with enormous commitment and it has made a difference obviously in the battlefield, everybody's seen that, should be somewhat concerned about the fact that President Assad is seemingly singing from a completely different song sheet.

And that he sent his foreign minister out yesterday to try to act as a spoiler, to take off of the table what President Putin and the Iranians have specifically agreed to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: So, what is happening inside Syria right now? Well, CNN's senior international correspondent Clarissa Ward and producer Salma Abdulazeez went undercover into rebel-held parts of the country where virtually no Western journalists have gone for more than a year.

They worked with Syria-based filmmaker Bilal Abdul Kareem on this exclusive report. And we have to give you a warning here. There are graphic images.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

Forty-year-old lawyer Tal Al Jaway (ph) told us he was inside the building when it was hit. His arm was smashed, but he was lucky to survive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TRANSLATED): 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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 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. Arriving on the scene, our team found chaos and carnage.

(CROWD SHOUTING) Volunteers shouted for an ambulance as they tried to ferry out the wounded. For many it was too late. A woman lay dead on the ground, a jacket draped over her, in an attempt to preserve her dignity.

[03:10:08] Russian has repeatedly claimed it is only hitting terrorist targets. This strike hit a busy fruit market.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TRANSLATED): 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?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

Among the injured brought in, a young boy moaning in pain. 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.

BARNETT: Part 2 of Clarissa Ward's exclusive reporting from inside Syria is coming up tomorrow. Join us as she goes down the only rebel road leading into Aleppo surrounded by snipers, it's a lifeline to the people who still call the embattled city home.

WARD: 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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)

BARNETT: Now if you can't wait until tomorrow, you can find more from this exclusive journey on our special web page @cnn.com/syria. There are blogs written by Clarissa and a special 360 degree look at the devastation there in Aleppo. All of this is part of our exclusive coverage, "Inside Syria: Behind Rebel Lines," airing all week only on CNN.

Well, the democratic presidential candidates fielded questions at a town hall Sunday night. But many of their answers involved one influential republican. We'll show you what happened after the break.

Plus, India is the world's foremost tea producer. But as the CNN Freedom Project discovered, the industry has some dark secrets.

[03:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: I'm Kate Riley with your CNN World Sport headlines.

We start with the quarterfinals of the English F.A. Cup where on Sunday Manchester United hosted West Ham. Ham thought they were through into the semis after Dimitri Payet put the visitors ahead. But Anthony Martial's late equalizer would see the match end 1-1.

And in the days of the quarterfinal Watford took their place in the semifinal at Wembley after beating cup holders Arsenal 2-1. Odion Ighalo and Adlene Guedioura would both score for the visitors as the Hornets get their first victory in 28 years over Arsenal.

And what a week it's been for Paris Saint-Germain. There's been no shortage of crowing after they dealt Chelsea out of the Champions League and now they are champions of France once again. They officially clinched their fourth consecutive title with an absolute demolition of Troyes, nine goals to zero on the road.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic would score four times for PSG. According to the stat holders out there that is the biggest away win in the history of Ligue 1.

And to rugby, Six Nations Jeremy Guscott, West, Scotland 28-18 win over France on Sunday means England can't be caught and have won their first Six Nations title since 2011. The new champions will try to secure their first Grand Slam since 2003 by beating the French in Paris next Saturday.

And that's a look at all your sports headlines. I'm Kate Riley.

BARNETT: The democratic U.S. presidential candidates answered questions at a CNN/TV One town hall Sunday night in Ohio. They talked about a broad canvas of issues, but through it all one single name kept coming up. And I'll bet you can guess whose name that is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CROWD CHEERING)

BERNIE SANDERS, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump is a pathological liar. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He is trafficking

in hate and fear.

SANDERS: Donald Trump is literally inciting violence.

CLINTON: He actually incites violence.

SANDERS: The way you beat Trump is to expose him.

CLINTON: I'm the only candidate who's gotten more votes than Trump. One in three African-American men, if the trends that we see today continue, will spend some time in jail or prison. That is absolutely unacceptable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As president what would you do to create a zero tolerance policy for unjust police killings?

SANDERS: Any police officer who breaks the law like any other public official must be held accountable. Period.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I came perilously close to my own execution. I would like to know how can you still take your stance on the death penalty?

CLINTON: The kind of crimes I'm thinking of are the bombing in Oklahoma City. The plotters and the people who carried out the attacks on 9/11.

JAKE TAPPER, THE LEAD SHOW HOST: Who is the person that is closest to you with whom you disagree the most?

SANDERS: A fellow named Jim Inhofe from Oklahoma. And Jim is a climate change denier. He is really, really conservative. But you know what? He's a decent guy, and I like him. And he and I are friends.

CLINTON: I watch my husband campaign. I watch President Obama campaign. It is poetry. I mean, it is just -- I mean, I get carried away, and I've seen them a million times, you know. That's not necessarily my forte.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: All right. A bit of a highlight reel there for you. Now, a short time ago, I spoke to two political strategists, both democrats, with one supporting Hillary Clinton and the other supporting Bernie Sanders. Just listen to our conversation here as their takeaways from this latest town hall meeting are quite different.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: We saw both Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders speaking 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?

[03:19:58] JONATHAN TASINI, BERNIE SANDERS' SUPPORTER: 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 in 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.

And I think all of us, all democrats deplore that and are astonished that the Republican Party has fallen so far that their front-runner, the man who seems to be likely to be the nominee is an outright racist who potentially is creating this kind of situation where someone is going to lose their life at a rally in the future.

BARNETT: And Tharon, 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?

THARON JOHNSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I don't know about being subdued. I think what she said is along the lines of what Bernie Sanders said. I mean, 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 8 to 10 hours.

But the problem with the whole Trump event is the rhetoric and sort of the tone that he's put forth to his supporters. I mean, he's used terms like hey, if you punch him in the face I'll pay your legal fees, you know, get those people out of here.

I mean, he has had a tone not just for the last few weeks but like for the last few months. Now what Secretary Clinton said was that we cannot condone that type of behavior. And the person that's responsible for his events is Donald Trump.

And it's very interesting to me is that he compliments law enforcement on one end and then he basically, when they are doing their job and putting these people out who are peacefully protesting, by the way, Errol, then he basically says that oh, it's the secret service and it's the police department and it's not my campaign.

So, I totally agree with Jonathan. I think this is a very, very big concern for all Americans because it's only a matter of time that if this doesn't stop and if Donald Trump does not come out and repudiate what his supporters are doing and say stop it now we're going to see something very, very bad happen. BARNETT: And we've been saying that for some time. We are at a bit of

a crossroads here now 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?

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 its 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. There's no question that we have to find states where we win outsize majorities. When I say outsize, 60 percent and higher, in order to get a larger share of the vote.

When you win, when either candidate wins by a few points, the delegates basically get divided equally. There's no winner-take-all. But the map turns very favorably towards Bernie when we get to states like Oregon, Washington, California which is a huge prize. New york, other states. So, we're very, very confident at the end of the day we will catch and surpass Secretary Clinton.

BARNETT: OK. So, he's in it for the long haul. But Tharon, Jonathan makes a great point. Polls had Clinton ahead by double digits in Michigan and they were all wrong. Are we looking at a similar situation? Has Clinton fixed anything?

JOHNSON: Absolutely not. Listen, I admire Jonathan's spirit. I mean, he's definitely a democratic supporter of whoever wins this contest but at a time where Hillary Clinton right now has a 206-delegate lead against Bernie Sanders. And 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. And what I mean by diverse, particularly, Errol, women of color.

And if you look at polls that do matter and you look at the exit polls, these are polls after people vote for her; she's doing extremely well with women of color between the ages of 50 and 65.

[03:25:02] And 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 that did not actually support true comprehensive immigration reform when he was actually voting. And so, that's a challenge and that's something that a lot of the hispanic voters are going to be paying very close attention to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: And we thank our guests for joining me. Now, stay with CNN for complete coverage of Tuesday's critical primaries with winner- take-all delegate prizes that will, let's say, probably alter the course of the campaign trail. That is all day Tuesday right here on CNN.

Now Speaking of politics, many of you are sounding off on my Twitter page right now about this story. It is one of the more unforgettable moments from the Trump campaign so far. A man breaks through a barricade and rushes toward the republican front-runner. Trump suggested he was linked to ISIS. What's the real story? Next. You'll hear what the man had in mind when he made his move.

Also, tea is the world's most popular drink but the massive industry has some dark ties to abuse and human trafficking. Coming up, a special report from the CNN Freedom Project.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARNETT: Welcome back to those of you watching here in the states and those of you tuned in all around the globe. It's your last half hour of CNN Newsroom with me. I'm Errol Barnett.

[03:30:04] Let's check your headlines. At least 34 people are dead after a powerful car bomb detonated in Turkey's capital on Sunday. Turkey's health minister says the attacks may -- the attackers may be among the dead. Another 125 people are wounded. This happened at a busy transport hub in central Ankara. There's been no claim yet of responsibility.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is claiming responsibility for fatal shootings in the Ivory Coast. Gunmen attacked three hotels, killing 16 people. The same group claimed responsibility for the attacks on hotels in Mali and Burkina Faso last year.

Questions about Donald Trump kept coming up during a CNN/TV One town hall for the democratic U.S. presidential candidates. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both spent a lot of time discussing Donald Trump. Clinton said the republican front-runner is bigoted. Sanders called him deceitful, saying Trump is a pathological liar.

Now, Donald Trump is hitting his rivals hard in the days before the next round of nominating contests. He's also patting himself on the back for postponing his rally in Chicago.

CNN's Sara Murray battled a very loud Elton John soundtrack to bring us this report.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Just days before the Florida primary Donald Trump was here rallying the crowd and taking aim at the home state Senator Marco Rubio, calling him an absentee politician. But even here in Florida, Donald Trump also went after Ohio Governor John Kasich, and he overhauled his planned events on Monday to add an event in Ohio.

A clear sign that he now thinks John Kasich is a bigger threat to his way to victory than Marco Rubio is here in Florida. Now of course, Trump is having a very newsy weekend. He had to cancel an evened in Chicago on Friday after there were so many protesters the campaign did feel like they could not go forward. He addressed that in Boca last night, saying he believes he made the right decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We had an interesting week. On Friday, we went to Chicago. We had 25,000 people coming. No, it's OK. We had 25,000 people coming. We had some, I would say they were -- let's be nice. Protesters. OK? Let's -- sorry, let's call them protesters.

And we had a decision to make. We had to make this decision. We want peace. We want happiness. We want everybody to go home really happy. Really peaceful. So, we said you know what we'll do? We'll postpone it. And it was a very wise decision. We've been given a lot of credit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Now in light of the number of protester that's have been appearing at Trump events we have seen a strong security presence but here in Florida last night there were relatively few interruptions.

BARNETT: Al right. CNN's Sara Murray reporting amid rocket man. Now, Donald Trump described the past week as interesting. And there was that postponed rally in Chicago. But there was also clashes between Trump supporters and protesters. This is in Kansas City. And you see police there had to use pepper spray.

But then there was this incident in Ohio. Take a look. A student jumped a security barrier and rushed Trump. The secret service encircled him. He's now set to face criminal charges in court on Wednesday.

CNN's Martin Savidge sat down with him to find out why he did it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Was this a spontaneous thing? Were you just sort of standing on the sidelines there and then made your --

THOMAS DIMASSIMO, RUSHED TRUMP'S PODIUM: No. For some time since even back in November I watched Donald Trump rallies and was terrified. And I was like, this man is basically having Klan rally light. And I said this is going to become a problem that these people have a safe haven to be as boldly racist and violent as they want to be.

And as time went on, I was right. Things have gotten more and more violent. To the point now where his people are attacking protesters, using violence and threatening their lives. It was in North Carolina that a man attacked another man, a black man, and then said he might have to kill him.

And so, it's gotten to a point now where I said I've watched it, I've thought about what I want to do and the sort of image I want to create, and he's in Dayton, it's time for me to go do this.

SAVIDGE: OK. So, you knew in advance you were going to...

DIMASSIMO: Of course. Yes. And I tweeted about it.

SAVIDGE: Now, he has rights too. Those who are there to listen to him have rights.

DIMASSIMO: Yes.

SAVIDGE: In other words, free speech. They have a right to assemble. They have a right to listen and share ideas. You may not like those ideas.

DIMASSIMO: Right.

SAVIDGE: And clearly you don't. But he does have rights.

DIMASSIMO: And I also have the right to heckler's veto. I have the right to non-violent civil disobedience.

SAVIDGE: But was it non-violent? That's the point. You make the move toward the stage there. It could be perceived, wait a minute, this is not...

[03:35:00] DIMASSIMO: Well, what do we define violence as? Is violence running? Because if we're defining violence as running, then, yes, I committed violence. But that was all I did. You perceived that violence was going to happen. But it didn't.

SAVIDGE: Well, unfortunately in history we've seen it has happened. Not with you. Other candidates, other times in history, people have done things.

DIMASSIMO: Inside of -- yes. Inside of rallies where there's metal detectors? That you have to get through. I mean...

(CROSSTALK)

SAVIDGE: Not in this country I can think of but in others. I mean, yes, OK. But, I mean, that's not the point. I'm just saying that it was the perception. What's been the reaction? Well, let me back you up. Tell me, how did you begin? Because I see that video. You're already moving. You're already here, you're already over the barrier. Was it a barrier? What was in front of you?

DIMASSIMO: It was sort of -- it looked to me like maybe a -- sort of a gray barricade sort of freestanding thing and kind of had it loosely attached at the bottom.

SAVIDGE: You obviously purposely got yourself in that kind of area.

DIMASSIMO: Yes, yes, yes. No, I got there very early in the morning. I waited in line to make sure that I would be close to the front. I positioned myself close to the stairs. Unfortunately, when Donald Trump finally got off his plane, he showed up an hour late and when he finally got there he came in with a -- I don't know.

Ten maybe secret service, 12. And the two that were on my side, one was standing directly in front of me facing me the whole time, and the other was right behind him with his foot on the stair.

So, I realized that I wasn't going to be able to go up that way. And to my left there was a six-foot-tall guy right there. And between them was a small gap. And I said I'm just going to have to time out the moment when these two -- because they look around. When these two are looking that way, the guy over here's looking that way, and I'll have a sliver of a chance to run between them.

SAVIDGE: So, your moment was chosen not by a word that Donald Trump said, it was by the actions of the secret service.

DIMASSIMO: Yes. I mean, I intentionally wanted to run up on stage when he was going to reference Chicago. That was my goal. But as the rally began and secret service spread out I realized throughout the entire rally that I was going to have to rethink how I was going to get up on stage.

SAVIDGE: So, you step over? Like, physically, what did you do?

DIMASSIMO: I put my...

(CROSSTALK)

SAVIDGE: Do you remember it?

DIMASSIMO: Yes. There was a -- so it didn't go all the way down to the ground. It was maybe like half a foot off the ground. I put my foot on there. It had slits. So, I already had like a foot up. And then I just pushed off. I lifted my legs over.

SAVIDGE: And you're focused on that stage.

DIMASSIMO: I'm focused on getting up there. And it's not even anything about Donald. I'm focused on the microphone. Because the second I can get to the microphone and I can clutch it in my hands, I can speak and I've robbed him of his power. I've robbed him of his voice. Even for a moment. That moment transcends.

It transcends across images on social media. It transcends time. It shows that even for a moment you can be taken -- your power can be taken away from you, that we can keep you from becoming the worst president in the history of the United States.

SAVIDGE: But you didn't even get close.

DIMASSIMO: I got my hands on the stage. And I think that was enough to show people that there are people out there who aren't afraid. We're not afraid of Donald Trump.

SAVIDGE: There were people who were afraid of what you did. You sort of traded one fear for another.

DIMASSIMO: The people who were afraid of what I did are also afraid of the nation of Islam. Which throughout the majority of the world is peaceful. They have their extremists and we have ours. They're afraid of Mexicans.

SAVIDGE: But you've created a scary moment. I'm not saying that you're an, you know, you equate on the levels of these people who carry out horrific crimes. I'm just saying for a fraction of the second it was a scary moment to see someone making a move to a stage.

DIMASSIMO: I'd have to disagree with you there. They live in a constant state of fear. Him and his followers. That is all he does. He gets them to be afraid of this person, the Mexicans, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, socialism, establishment republicans. Mexicans. Whoever.

He has gotten his followers afraid of pretty much everyone that isn't him. So he has all the power. So, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if I hop the fence, if I stand there with a sign. They're ready to attack at any moment.

They're ready to defend themselves because he has them legitimately believing that their entire way of life, their bank accounts, their homes, their country are all under attack. They're under attack from our government. They're under attack from ISIS and Islam and Mexicans. And it's not true. It's just simply not true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Now, many of you have strong opinions about what that man did and the fact that we are even speaking with him. You're telling me your thoughts on Twitter. Just search Errol CNN to see some of it.

[03:40:03] But to reiterate that was the man who rushed the podium in Ohio where Trump was speaking Saturday, talking to our Martin Savidge.

Now, a powerful winter storm has left a quarter of a million people in the dark in Washington State right now. Our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us with more. Pedram?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Errol, yes, this is going to be a memorable winter season for our friends across the northwestern part of our country and across Seattle. We know the conditions there over the past several months, about every two out of three days has brought rainfall over this region. Now this culminates with a tremendous wind storm that's in place.

We've got a couple disturbances working the way towards this direction. We've got an atmospheric river pattern which is essentially looking at the moisture plume that's diving right into California.

So, that's wonderful news for skiers and snowboarders and also for the water reserves over this region. But notice the winds they have been howling over this region as Errol told you, about 250,000 people without power across this region of Washington State with winds as high as almost 90 miles per hour and working your way toward Seattle.

Even there around 60-plus miles per hour. But Seattle has been a very soggy pattern. Some 17 consecutive days where rain has come down at least parts of the day for 17 straight days. And the last time it was dry back on the 25th of February.

And in fact, when you compare this with other major cities around the United States going back over the last 13 to 14 months places like New York City or Boston or even Chicago the most in a row they've seen rainfall about five to six days in a row when you compare this to what's happening in Seattle right now quite a soggy setup of course.

Then you take a look some thunderstorms possible on Monday you could still get a few showers in on Tuesday and then a dryer trend returns here toward the middle and latter portion of the week and notice the temperatures want to begin to moderate out.

So, at least some good news there. You take a look at what's happened nationally speaking for the United States, snowfall has been really non-existent. Especially across the eastern side of the U.S., typically you'd have tremendous snow coverage for Sunday's date only 8 percent of the U.S. has snow on the ground and it's almost exclusively across the western U.S.

And California one of the better places across the high Sierra. Of course, in recent years, you know, the snow has been non-existent. You compare the 13th of March for just on Sundays date where 11 percent of the state had snow on the ground versus 0.1 percent a year earlier.

Two years earlier, about half a percent of the state had snow on the ground. So, certainly improving conditions across that region of California. Now I want to take you over to Europe. If you're joining us this morning across Europe look at this massive area of high pressure blocking any sort of wet weather over the next couple of days over this region.

And as this sits in place the temperatures really begin to moderate out across parts of Europe. And in spring, in Madrid spring has sprung certainly across this region. The flowers blossoming in full bloom across this region. The temperatures have been mild.

In fact, the areas indicated here in the greens and the light blues showing you the mild temperatures and how far to the north they extend over this region. Certainly good news if you're a fan of mild weather.

And look at Berlin, look at Belgrade, temperatures generally on the upswing across this region. Even Moscow makes it up through 4 degrees, Errol, over the next couple of days. And spring officially starts on Sunday. So, for a lot of people it's starting to feel like it.

BARNETT: Very good. Who isn't interested in mild weather, right, at the very least?

JAVAHERI: Absolutely.

BARNETT: Pedram, thanks very much.

Now, many young girls are falling victim to systemic abuse and trafficking within India's tea industry. The CNN Freedom Project will introduce you to one brave victim who's fighting back. Next.

[03:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARNETT: A new expose from the CNN Freedom Project is focusing on India's tea industry and the dark secrets it harbors.

We take you to the northwestern region of Assam, which produces the most tea in the world. There, Muhammad Lila and a CNN team uncovered a harrowing tale of abuse and that one young victim who's bravely struggling to stop it.

MUHAMMAD LILA, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: We're driving through one of the world's most beautiful places. A place of winding roads and mountains on the horizon. We're driving through Northeast India right now right along the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains.

This is the Indian State of Assam. It's one of the major tea-producing areas in this country. If you drank a cup of black tea this week, there's a chance it came from right here, the State of Assam. With hundreds of tea plantations, this region produces more tea than anywhere in the world. As the paved roads gave way to broken gravel...

All right. So, we're here.

We walk through this village. A place where goats roam free and sewage lines the side of the road. And this is the house we're going to.

Inside, 18-year-old Manju Gor (ph) still remembers the day the trafficker came knocking at her door.

Describe to me what happened. How did you first meet this agent?

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

But she says "it was all a lie." The trafficker sent her to Delhi, locking her in a house full of young girls just like her waiting to be sold as domestic labor. That's when she says she saw other girls being sexually abused.

When did you first realize what this trafficker was doing to the girls?

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE) Were you afraid for your life?

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

Like everyone else here, Manju's family are tea pickers. Among the hundreds of thousands who pick the tea leaves people drink every day. Most of the workers here are descendants of bonded laborers brought in from elsewhere by the British when they ruled the country decades ago.

Often, they make less than $2 a day. Legally, the plantation owners are supposed to provide housing, education, subsidized food and medical care to all their workers. But as we discovered...

All right. So, she just said there's no electricity.

Often nobody enforces the rules, leaving thousands of people living in extreme poverty. So, come take a look at this. This is, she says this is where they actually do a lot of the cooking and this is their stove. They use firewood to cook their meals.

[03:50:01] Its conditions like these that make tea workers ripe for trafficking. Police in India tell CNN there are hundreds of cases like Manju's every year.

Girls from tea plantations lured with promises of earning money but forced into hard labor and sex in India's big cities. When the CNN Freedom Project went to India's minister in charge of the tea industry, she told us she wanted to discuss it with other elected officials.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it is so restricted trafficking rested only to the tea garden area if there's anything I need to rush in to do it, I will do it. But I have elected members of parliament who have not drawn my attention to this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LILA: State and officials from the tea industry wouldn't comment to us about the trafficking. Back in her village, Manju says she will continue to speak out.

People around the world watch CNN's Freedom Project. For all of the people that are watching right now, what's your message to them?

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

But this isn't where Manju's story ends. After the interview she shows us this photo of her sister, telling us she was also lured by traffickers and is still trapped. And in a few days she's hoping to be part of a daring police raid to rescue her.

For the CNN Freedom Project, Muhammad LiLa in the State of Assam, Northeastern India. BARNETT: The CNN Freedom Project is focused on ending modern-day

slavery. To learn more and find out how you can help, just visit cnn.com/freedom.

Still to come this hour on CNN Newsroom, this little terrier claimed the top prize at the world-renowned Crufts show. The first to win for her breed in 26 years. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JAVAHERI: It is time to walk weather. You're watching CNN weather watch. I'm Pedram Javaheri.

And we're watching what's happening across portions of the central and South Central United States across the States of Arkansas on into Tennessee. Some storms exhibiting rotation. There were some severe characteristics to it.

Multiple reports of at least tornado warnings that were in place over this region. And notice a lot of rainfall in recent days associated with a feature that was stalled over the past several days. In fact, almost 170 river gauges reporting flooding across portions of the south central states.

That storm system certainly not going to help out with the heavy rainfall that is in store over that region. It does lift off to the north and to the east eventually. All eyes go back out to the northwest where we do have not only one disturbance parked in across the Gulf of Alaska, notice a secondary one coming in.

I can tell you, family living in this region of the United States is telling me the winds are howling across that area. We also know wind advisories in place. But look at the wintry weather that's coming in. Upwards of a foot or more of fresh snow possible across the Siskiyou and the Cascades.

Some thunderstorms unusual in this region across the northwest, Vancouver gets in with 9 degrees the forecast temperature. Dallas soaring up into the 30's for an afternoon high at 31 degrees with sunny skies.

And notice we did get a few showers possible around San Juan, Caracas. Temps from the upper 20s to around 32 degrees in this mid-March day. And expect some thunderstorms possible around El Salvador that gets in on some morning showers as well.

[03:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARNETT: This is called something like to end the show. A fluffy West Highland Terrier took home the top title at this year's Crufts show in Birmingham, England.

(APPLAUSE)

Yes! Geordie girl beat six other finalists to claim best in show. Her owner says winning felt unreal. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIE BURNS, GEORDIE GIRL OWNER: To win best in show at Crufts, I don't think you can find the words to describe it. It's just -- it's just unreal. You know, I mean, I think it's every dog show exhibitor's dream. To be standing here. And you just don't think it's ever going to happen to you. And I don't think it will sink in till I watch it on TV.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Very cool. More than 22,000 dogs compared in the four-day Kennel Club show. And if she's watching now, it's real!

Thanks for watching CNN Newsroom, everyone. I'm Errol Barnett. I appreciate your company these past few hours. Connect with me anytime online. Just head to @errolcnn on Twitter. Early Start is next for those of you in the states. For everyone else, there's more Newsroom. See you tomorrow.

[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)