Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Trump Says Riots Possible If He's Not Nominated; Hillary Clinton Versus Donald Trump; Inside Dangerous Aid Delivery in Syria;; Chinese Paper Compares Trump to Mussolini, Hitler; State Department Demands Release of U.S. Student Sentenced to Hard Labor; China Investing Billions in Soccer. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired March 17, 2016 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:09] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.
Ahead this hour, a troubling new warning from Donald Trump. The Republican frontrunner says his supporters could riot if party bosses block his nomination.
Also the United States fires back against North Korea after a university student is sentenced to years of hard labor for what some have described as an innocent prank.
And heading into the line of fire to help desperate people in a war zone. An exclusive report from inside Syria shows delivering aid is still dangerous even during a ceasefire.
Hello, everybody. Thanks for joining us. I'm John Vause. Another hour of CNN NEWSROOM L.A. begins now.
Donald Trump appears to be on his way to becoming the U.S. Republican presidential nominee, but he needs to win more than half the remaining delegates to clinch the nomination before the party's convention this July. That's not impossible, but Trump has a dire prediction about what could happen if he doesn't get his way.
CNN's Phil Mattingly has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, Donald Trump is calling for the Republican Party to coalesce behind him, even as his path to the nomination remains complicated.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The fact is, we have to bring our party together. We have to bring it together. We have something happening that actually makes the Republican Party probably the biggest political story anywhere in the world.
MATTINGLY: The GOP frontrunner issuing a stark warning if he keeps his sizable delegate lead and Republican leaders turn to a different nominee.
TRUMP: If we're, you know, 100 short, and we're at 1100 and somebody else is at 500 or 400, because we're way ahead of everybody, I don't think you can say that we don't get it automatically. I think you'd have riots.
MATTINGLY: Just days after his rivals criticized him for encouraging violence at his rallies. After another huge Super Tuesday showing, notching wins in three states, Trump pledged today to skip the next scheduled GOP debate Monday night.
TRUMP: How many times can the same people ask you the same question? So I was very surprised when I heard that FOX called for a debate. Nobody told me about it. And I won't be there, no.
MATTINGLY: With John Kasich balking at a Trumpless event, FOX News eventually pulled the plug. Trump's dominant victory in Florida was the final crushing to Marco Rubio's once promising campaign.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The fact that I have even come this far is evidence of how special America truly is.
MATTINGLY: The Florida senator leaving the race with a clear message for Republican voters.
RUBIO: America needs a vibrant conservative movement, but one that's built on principles and on ideas, not on fear, not on anger, not on preying on people's frustrations.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
MATTINGLY: Trump's only setback Tuesday night, coming in Ohio, where home state Governor Kasich picked up a convincing win, his first of the campaign.
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are going to go all the way to Cleveland and secure the Republican nomination.
MATTINGLY: Kasich hitting the trail today in Pennsylvania.
KASICH: For the first time, people are actually beginning to see my name, my face, and hear my message.
MATTINGLY: Ted Cruz, pulling in more delegates and holding on to a clear second-place position, dismissing Kasich's claim that the GOP fight is still a three-man race.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Only two campaigns have a plausible path to the nomination, ours and Donald Trump's. Nobody else has any mathematical possibility whatsoever.
MATTINGLY: And pitching a renewed push for party leaders to unite behind his campaign and take out Trump.
CRUZ: We're seeing Republicans unite behind our campaign because we're the only campaign that is beating Donald Trump over and over and over again, and we're the only campaign that can and will beat Donald Trump. MATTINGLY (on camera): For all the attention and money that have
flowed the way of the stop Trump movement up to this point, Donald Trump still holds a clear upper hand. Ted Cruz and John Kasich both needing something to change drastically in the weeks ahead to really have an opportunity to catch up to Trump's delegate lead. What a lot of Republican operatives are pointing to across the spectrum, a contested convention.
Now Donald Trump has warned of what could happen if we end up at that point. John Kasich has said flatly that's his primary goal. Ted Cruz not quite there yet, but there is no question about it. To stop Donald Trump, something big needs to happen, and that might mean on the convention floor in Cleveland.
Phil Mattingly, CNN, Villanova, Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, for more, I'm joined now by Democratic strategist, Dave Jacobson, Republican consultant, John Thomas.
Thanks, guys, for coming back. OK. Is this comment about, you know, the potential for riots coming from Donald Trump, is that kind of the equivalent of -- you know, hey, GOP, that's a nice convention you've got going over there, it'd be a shame if it got all bagged up? You know, shame if something happened to it.
JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: Is that a threat?
VAUSE: Yes.
THOMAS: Yes. I think it's Donald Trump's way of asserting control.
[01:05:03] He is just letting the establishment know, this is my show. I'm in control of what happens, and so you better not try to pull a fast one on me because let's not forget, like, I've got a mob of supporters.
DAVID JACOBSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I also think it's a preview, we're getting somewhat of a glimpse of what kind of president he's going to be. This is a guy where if he doesn't get his way, he's going to create a war zone and send his troops in. And I think that speaks to his judgment and his temperament. And that's not really what you want from a presidential candidate.
VAUSE: But his supporters do. They love this. They think he is being strong, he's in charge, he's standing up to the establishment.
THOMAS: Right.
VAUSE: This is why they like him.
THOMAS: And that's largely an overreaction of President Obama, who they consider to be weak and spineless. And so they are looking for a strong leader, and Trump does project strength.
VAUSE: Don't you agree that Obama created Donald Trump, right?
(LAUGHTER)
JACOBSON: Hardly. I mean, well, you know, I think obviously Donald Trump created the birther movement, and that sort of inspired this anti-establishment, anti-Obama movement that he's sort of tapped into. And I think, look, there is no doubt that there's tremendous anxiety and anger out there. And I think it all stems from the fact that there's so much gridlock in Washington. That's essentially what gave birth to Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.
THOMAS: Well, you'll also see typically when it's an open seat for president, it's an overreaction to the current president. The outgoing president. Look, George W. Bush largely gave an opportunity for Barack Obama to rise on hope and change. And now we've got, you know, what Republicans think is a weak leader, and they want somebody who is strong.
VAUSE: OK. There's always protesters at political conventions.
THOMAS: Sure.
VAUSE: But just as an indication of where -- how things have changed, back in 2012, outside the Republican convention in Tampa, there was about 1,000 protesters who turned out. There was minimal security. This year, the city of Cleveland is putting out bids for 2,000 sets of riot gear including 200 riot control suits. They want batons, reportedly recruiting for an extra 3,000 extra police. And clearly officials there in Cleveland are now genuinely worried about what could happen come the convention.
THOMAS: And they should be. I mean, the fact is, you know, Bernie Sanders -- Bernie Sanders supporters are not going to have much to do. So they might as well go be disruptive.
VAUSE: I mean, do you really think that Bernie Sanders supporters are --
THOMAS: I mean --
VAUSE: Not encouraged by the campaign.
(CROSSTALK)
THOMAS: Well, at the Chicago rally they were Bernie Sanders people.
VAUSE: I guess, the allegation is, did the campaign send them there? You don't believe that, do you?
THOMAS: No, I don't believe that. I think Moveon.org sent them there. And look, it was smart of the protesters if they want to generate headlines. But also let's be honest, the Trump campaign went into a city that hasn't elected a Republican mayor in a long time.
VAUSE: Yes.
THOMAS: They knew it was going to generate headlines.
VAUSE: Do you think that's exactly what they were trying to do? Is that why he called it off even though the police sort of said, you know, we didn't say call it off in Chicago?
JACOBSON: Look, there's no doubt that Donald Trump is inciting and inspiring violence all across this country. He's genuinely tapped into a nerve, and people are angry and frustrated. But I think he's taking it to the extreme. And I think it's doing severe damage to, you know, the dialogue and the discourse for this presidential campaign.
THOMAS: Yes. If he doesn't become the uniter that he says he's going to become, I think America is in trouble.
VAUSE: Trump is skipping the next debate. Clearly he now believes that he's in currently strong position and that he's -- if not saying the presumptive nominee he believes he is.
THOMAS: Well, and let's face -- what would happen if he showed up at the debate? Ted Cruz is going to go at him again and again and again, and Kasich is going to try to play above it all. Right? And so Donald Trump says, I'm not going to subject myself to that. Kasich says I'm out, because if it's just Kasich and Cruz, Cruz is going to light up Kasich.
JACOBSON: Right. And no one's going to watch. I mean, look, I think --
(LAUGHTER)
THOMAS: That's true.
JACOBSON: I think that's probably the better -- largely function.
VAUSE: OK. Stay with us because we now have a report from Brianna Keilar. She's covering the Hillary Clinton campaign. And Secretary Clinton really now setting her sights on Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hillary Clinton fresh off a sweep last night.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is another Super Tuesday for our campaign.
KEILAR: The Democratic frontrunner bringing home victories in four states adding to her delegate lead over Bernie Sanders.
CLINTON: We are moving closer to securing the Democratic Party nomination and winning this election in November.
KEILAR: With the math and the momentum in her favor, Clinton is looking to the general election.
CLINTON: Our commander-in-chief has to be able to defend our country, not embarrass it.
KEILAR: She's taking aim at GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, treating him as the presumptive Republican nominee.
CLINTON: Our next president has to bring our country together so we can all share in the promise of America. We should be breaking down barriers, not building walls.
KEILAR: Trump firing back at Clinton on CNN Today.
TRUMP: She's under federal investigation. She is -- she doesn't have the strength or the stamina to be president. She talks about defeating our enemies. Where has she been for the last year? We can't even beat ISIS? She not defeating our enemies, she wouldn't know how to defeat the enemies. It's ridiculous. So I think she's an embarrassment and we'll see what happens.
KEILAR: He followed up with a video post slamming Clinton as incapable of taking on leaders like Russia's Vladimir Putin.
[01:10:07] The back and forth, a preview of a potential general election matchup, even as Sanders presses on with his campaign.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Next week, Arizona has a very important election. We will win if the voter turnout is high. Let's make it high.
KEILAR (on camera): Bernie Sanders and his aides have said that he is going all the way to the Democratic convention in July. So while this is shaping up to be a Trump versus Clinton battle, both of these frontrunners still have primary fights on their hands, and that is expensive. You'll note that Hillary Clinton is focusing very much on fundraising here in the coming days as she tries to build up her general election war chest.
Brianna Keilar, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: OK, Dave. So Bernie Sanders says he's going all the way. But really do you think he will hang in there all the way to the convention? Or there's come a point where Bernie Sanders goes from being the lovable guy in the race, you know, that the Democrats love, had some wonderful ideas and, you know, a big influence, to being the guy who is causing problems for the eventual nominee?
JACOBSON: Look, I think the love for Bernie Sanders isn't going to go away. This guy is tapping into a nerve and people are frustrated. And I think, you know, his income inequality, his take on Wall Street, take on the establishment message has really resonated and I think if you look at his fundraising, he's going to be able to have the resources to go on all the way into the California primary, I believe June 7th.
Now in terms of the delegate narrative, though, that's a whole different story. Right? I mean, I think he's 300 delegates behind, just in state allocated delegates. That's not even counting super delegates. She is up over 400 delegates on that front. I think she's got two-thirds of the delegates that she needs to get to the 2,383 threshold to secure the nomination. So she's going to get there. There's no doubt about that. But I don't think he's going away. He has a message, and he is trying to anchor her to the left, and pull her all the way up until the convention so that that narrative is part of the convention moving forward.
VAUSE: And -- sorry, for the Clinton campaign, they wanted Sanders to pull out, considering in 2008 she stayed in.
THOMAS: Well, that's right. Yes. Bernie Sanders' opponent right now is not Hillary Clinton. It's math.
VAUSE: Right.
THOMAS: I mean, and the math is getting very hard to beat.
VAUSE: Have we seen what the campaign is going to look like? Hillary Clinton talking about, you know, Donald Trump being an embarrassment and a divider. Donald Trump firing back with Hillary Clinton barking.
THOMAS: Yes, we're getting a sneak preview of the general election. And honestly if you're Donald Trump, you want to have a fight right now with Hillary Clinton because Donald Trump's base is loving it. Solidifying his support and making Donald Trump look like the nominee in much of the Republican Party as much as many may be divided on whether it's Cruz or Kasich. They all are united in the sense that they want Hillary Clinton to be beaten. So they love seeing this back and forth.
JACOBSON: I think the challenge for Donald Trump is he's got to figure out a way to sort of run up the score with the George Bush coalition that was the last president that was elected in the U.S. The reality is, Donald Trump has been so divisive. He's turned on women. He's turned on Muslims, African-Americans, Latinos, and he's created all these barriers and these enemies that unfortunately when it comes to building a coalition for a general election and appealing to those purple state, you know, Ohio, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Florida voters, he's not going to be able to break through in those states. And that is going to bode tremendously well for Hillary.
THOMAS: Here's what Donald Trump has to do right now to coalesce the base. He has to take the fight to Hillary and make it all about Hillary and not about Donald Trump.
VAUSE: Right.
THOMAS: If he can do that --
VAUSE: Can he do that, though?
THOMAS: Well, I don't know. And sometimes he can't resist talking about how great he is.
VAUSE: Sure. I mean, it's going to be a lot easier obviously for Hillary to move to the center than it is for Donald Trump to move to the center, right?
THOMAS: It is, although she's gotten pulled decently by Bernie Sanders on issues of income inequality and tax rates. No, she'll be easier than Donald Trump. Donald Trump is going to have to take more than 10 feet off his wall to come back to the center.
VAUSE: Last word?
JACOBSON: Well, you know, look, she's definitely been pulled to the left. But I think on a couple of issues, it's been a good thing. Like on trade, that's something that Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have hit on. And I think that's something that resonates with sort of moderate independent voters. And I think that's going to translate well for her in the general election.
THOMAS: Here is the thing Hillary is going to have to do.
VAUSE: Quickly.
THOMAS: Watching these -- first, she talks by sound bite and she looks so rehearsed. She's going to have to figure out how to break that script to be honest going into the general.
VAUSE: Exactly. She needs to be authentic, which has been the word of this campaign.
Dave, John, thanks very much for coming in. Appreciate it.
Well, Donald Trump never at a loss for words when it comes to China. Just ahead, what a government newspaper and the Chinese premier are now saying about Donald Trump.
Also, a CNN exclusive, reporting from Aleppo, Syria. We witnessed the moment airstrikes hit as an aid worker tries to deliver an ambulance to an area in desperate need.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(SPORTS)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:18:26] VAUSE: Now to the ongoing peace talks to end the Syrian civil war. The main opposition group is steadfast in calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down. Syria opposes that option. And Russia continues to withdraw some of its military. Experts hope that will force the Syrian delegation to negotiate. But Moscow's intervention tilted the war in favor of the Syrian regime. Effectively giving Damascus a much better bargaining position.
Even in the midst of a ceasefire in Syria, aid delivery remains dangerous. In this exclusive report, CNN's senior international correspondent Clarissa Ward went undercover into rebel-held Syria where virtually no Western journalists have gone for more than a year. She met up with an aid worker as he dodged airstrikes trying to help civilians trapped by the violence. And a warning there are graphic images in Clarissa's report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a Tuesday in Syria. A British aid worker, Talkir Sharif, is making the dangerous drive to Aleppo.
TALKIR SHARIF, BRITISH AID WORKER: It's really important that we drive with the windows open because any kind of explosions that land close to us, the last thing we want is shrapnel of glass and so on and so forth, you know, landing in our face.
WARD: He is traveling to the devastated city to deliver an ambulance but it isn't long before he is diverted.
Four airstrikes have hit. Sharif runs into the wreckage to see what's needed.
SHARIF: This is a house. Look, it's all houses.
WARD: Remarkably no one has been injured or killed but the sound of another jet means it's time to leave.
[01:20:03] SHARIF: Everybody out. Let's go. Let's go.
They are saying that the plane is in the sky. We can hear it. They are saying a tactic that they uses when ambulances turn up they'll hit the same place again, so we're just going to try and get to a safer place.
WARD: Sharif is one of just a handful of Western aid workers living in Syria.
SHARIF: Most of the big aid organizations they don't want to go into the line of fire in a sense. This is something that we have to do. This is something that is a human response. If we don't do it, then who will?
WARD: In the relative safety of an olive grove near the Turkish border he told us that religious conviction played a big part in his decision to come here three years ago.
SHARIF: We need to look at what do the people really want? And if the people are Muslims, this is not saying it. If the people are Muslims and they want some form of Islamic governance then it's important that we help them to establish that.
WARD (on camera): Is that what they want?
SHARIF: In my opinion, that's what I believe. And you can ask -- you can ask, you can go and ask the people, what do you want? And I don't think the people will settle for anything else, especially after all of this bloodshed. Their right to self-determination.
WARD (voice-over): For many of the 6.5 million displaced people in Syria, there are perhaps more immediate concerns. Most live in sprawling tent cities along the border. Conditions in the camps are brutal. There is a lack of food and clean water. And they become more crowded every day.
SHARIF: We just recently done a survey of this camp. Just this camp here alone, which is a conglomeration of about 40 camps, is around 80,000 people.
WARD (on camera): 80,000 people.
SHARIF: And this is just one on this border. There is another one over -- not too far from here, another maybe 65,000, 70,000 people.
WARD (voice-over): Sharif's favorite project is this smaller camp that houses roughly 100 widows and their children.
Syria is now a country full of widows and orphans, some still too young to understand what has happened to their country, others who have seen too much, all of them dependent on the mercy of others.
Clarissa Ward, CNN, Syria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And earlier I spoke with Ayman Abdel Nour. He is a Syrian writer and activist in exile. He is also the founder and editor-in- chief of the All4Syria Bulletin.
When you look at Syria, when you see the images of all the destruction and the devastation, do you even recognize that country now?
AYMAN ABDEL NOUR, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, ALL4SYRIA BULLETIN: No, it's totally different. And it's not -- this is not only my saying. I will say, let's say, the UNCHR with how they describe the situation in Syria. They said this is the biggest humanitarian and refugee crisis in our time. The UNICEF said that this is in history. And when you say in history that this is unprecedented. And really it's totally different since I left in 2007. It's totally different, what I see.
VAUSE: How much longer can this go on? Because when you look at some of those images, Aleppo especially, there doesn't seem to be much left to fight over.
NOUR: The war, when the UNICEF said, in history that means this war should stop yesterday.
VAUSE: Sure.
NOUR: Not waiting until tomorrow because the destruction is horrible. All the infrastructure are crumbled, ruined, the hospital, the city is by itself completely demolished from the bombing from the Russian airplanes and the regime airplanes. And I raise my hand high for Clarissa Ward, for this nice report from the field.
VAUSE: You're telling me you still have families, still have relatives in Aleppo.
NOUR: Yes.
VAUSE: How do they cope? How do they survive day-to-day?
NOUR: Day-to-day even the water is a precious matter. Precious matter. The electricity.
VAUSE: Yes.
NOUR: It's something also it came two hours per day and sometimes they stand there a few days without electricity.
VAUSE: Right.
NOUR: So you just imagine what happened to the food inside the refrigerator. They are living day-by-day.
VAUSE: One of the things which -- there are so many numbers, many statistics about this. But one thing is that this entire generation now growing up who know nothing about war, and also there is a whole group of kids who haven't been inside a classroom for five years. This is a lost generation. How does a country recover with that?
NOUR: This is one of the important issue. This is the future generation that we should count on and depend on in the future to leave the country. Now they are illiterates, outside the officials schools. And we have a problem for that. They also miss critical vaccinations. They miss a lot of the necessities of the life. The very basic ones. This is -- the one of the biggest problems. Plus, all of this you have to add the mental problems.
VAUSE: And there are physical problems., too. They have been maimed, they've been wounded.
NOUR: Physical, the handicapped. Yes. One leg, one hand. They are in the number of hundreds of thousands.
VAUSE: Yes. And the emotional trauma as well.
[01:25:03] One thing which struck me about your story is that, you know Bashar al-Assad. You went to university with him. You know him from many years ago.
NOUR: I have known him since '84.
VAUSE: OK. You know the man, I guess, from a long time ago. Is he ever likely to go away quietly? Would he go into exile in Iran or Russia? Or is he a man who is determined to take this country with him no matter what and destroy it?
NOUR: Yes. I know he will stay. That's the problem.
VAUSE: He will never leave.
NOUR: No.
VAUSE: A short break here. When we come back, in a display of his fickle media relationship, Donald Trump walks away from another televised debate. How he still manages to dominate the airwaves and what it does to his campaign.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. The headlines this hour.
There are conflicting reports about who is responsible for deadly airstrikes which targeted a market in northern Yemen. Medical officials in Haja tells CNN Saudi Arabia -- launched the attack, rather, which killed at least 78 civilians on Tuesday. But a Saudi military spokesman posted on Facebook that claim is not conclusive.
Thousands of Brazilians are showing their anger by protesting in the streets. Former president Lula da Silva has agreed to become chief of staff for his successor Dilma Rousseff. Critics see this as a move to protect Lula from possible imprisonment over corruption charges.
[01:30:00] VAUSE: And Donald Trump says he believes people would riot if the Republican Party tried to contest his nomination at this summer's convention. The U.S. presidential candidate is leading the race in delegates, but it's possible he might not reach the number needed on the first ballot to secure the nomination.
Even as he was racking up delegates on Tuesday, Donald Trump took time to reignite his feud with FOX News, and in particular anchor, Megyn Kelly. He tweeted out, "Can't watch crazy Megyn anymore. Talks about me at 43 percent but never mentions that there are four people in the race." Also this, "Watching other networks and local news. Really good night! Crazy Megyn Kelly is unwatchable." And so it comes as no surprise, on Wednesday, he said he would not attend the next Republican debate scheduled for Monday on FOX News. Soon after that, John Kasich said if Trump pulled out, so would he. FOX cancelled the debate with the keen observation that it's hard to have a debate with only one person. That would be Ted Cruz.
This is just the latest example of Trump's love/hate relationship with the media and his ability to control the narrative and the news cycle.
For more on this, Dylan Byers, our senior media and politics reporter, is with us right now.
Dylan, this is a candidate, Donald Trump, who is supremely confident. He believes more than ever that he can call the shots.
DYLAN BYERS, CNN SENIOR MEDIA & POLITICS REPORTER: Absolutely. He has demonstrated that over the course of nine months. Going after FOX News was thought to be political suicide for a Republican candidate. But so much of what Trump has done was thought to be political suicide for a Republican candidate.
I think there are a lot of people out there, voters that he is speaking to, who, just because they are conservative, just because they are Republicans, doesn't mean they identify with FOX News. In fact, they see FOX News as being another mainstream media outlet, as being part of establishment media. And they certainly don't feel like it speaks for them. Who speaks for them? Donald Trump speaks for them. And they like a guy who can call the shots. It plays into his bravado.
VAUSE: Despite what Trump says, he does not do well at debates. With only two other candidates on the stage this time, there was every chance he would be grilled, and grilled like never before. Probably have to come up with a lot of details about his policies, and he doesn't do this particularly well. This could be another reason he's walking away from the debates.
BYERS: He is not nearly as skilled of a debater as Ted Cruz. And it goes back to Cruz's days at debate school when he was at college. There is no question that Donald Trump stood to gain very little from going up on the stage in what would have effectively been a one-on-one contest with Ted Cruz, with all apologies to Governor John Kasich.
(CROSSTALK)
BYERS: But in, you know, turning him down, he certainly gives fuel to Ted Cruz's argument -- you know, Ted Cruz likes to call Donald Trump ducking Donald, like he is ducking away from the debate. And he'll continue to push that narrative against Trump for some time.
VAUSE: Trump complains a lot about journalists. He says they are all out to get him, they are vindictive, and a bunch of liars. But he has done so incredibly well out of all the free media coverage. "The New York Times" looked at this and they came up with this incredible figure. Almost $2 billion over the last nine months or so. Compare that to everybody else out there. Hillary Clinton at almost $750 million. That is money in the bank, which is more than has been spent on any other presidential campaign ever.
BYERS: It's crazy. I do believe when the history books are written and we look back on what was the Donald Trump phenomenon, or alternatively how did we get to a Donald Trump president, we will be looking at that study and that figure. $2 billion worth of free media coverage.
VAUSE: So far.
BYERS: So far. And that eclipses all of his other Republican competitors combined. I'm not just talking about the ones still in the race. I'm talking about every Republican who has been in the race and that was 17 candidates.
VAUSE: 17 of them, yeah.
BYERS: The closest to him is Hillary Clinton, who has -- he has two and a half times as much free media coverage as Hillary Clinton has. And, in fact, if you go back to some of Donald Trump's writings from decades ago, he talks about the ability to manipulate the media, to pick up free media coverage by saying incendiary things, by getting under people's skin by doing exactly what he's doing right now.
VAUSE: If he continues to do be the front runner, he continues to win primaries, he continues to controls the conversation like he has been, does that change when this moves to a general election?
BYERS: Yeah, it changes, because, all of a sudden, you have Donald Trump versus probably Hillary Clinton, but certainly, you know, a Democratic candidate, and a lot of Americans who fear Donald Trump. If you look at the exit polls -- Megyn Kelly is right to bring it up -- he can't crack 50 percent. More Republicans don't want to see him in office than do. When you add that to all of the Democrats out there who maybe haven't gotten engaged because they are not enthusiastic about Hillary Clinton or maybe they like Bernie Sanders or what have you, all of those people are likely to rally not around a Democratic candidate but against the prospect of Donald Trump.
VAUSE: Good to speak with you, Dylan. Thank you.
BYERS: Thank you.
[01:35:13] VAUSE: At almost every campaign rally, Donald Trump does not miss a chance to criticize China. It's been part of his stump speech since he announced his run for the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: I've been telling everybody for a long time China is taking our jobs. They're taking our money. Be careful. They'll bring us down.
They're taking our money and our jobs, our manufacturing. They have taken everything. It's one of the greatest thefts in the history of the world, what they have taken out of our country.
We will some day in the not-too-distant future, if I win -- otherwise, it's not going to happen. I have to be honest with you. But Apple and all of these great companies will be making their product in the United States, not in China.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: Negotiating with China, when these people walk in the room, they don't say, oh, hello, how's the weather? So beautiful outside. How are the Yankees doing? Oh, they are doing wonderful. Great. They say, we want deal.
We don't make good deals anymore. We don't win anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Now it seems the Chinese are taking notice. A scathing editorial in one state-controlled newspaper called Trump a "narcissist" and a "clown." It goes on to say, "Americans know elections cannot really change their lives. Why not support Trump and vent their spleen? His remarks are abusively racist and extremist. The rise of a racist in the U.S. political arena worries the whole world. Mussolini and Hitler came to power through elections. A heavy lesson for Western democracy."
For more on China and Donald Trump, Peter Navarro is with us from Irvine, California, the director of the documentary "Death by China" and he's also a business professor at the University of California.
Peter, good to speak with you.
The interesting part about this editorial in "The Global Times," it's sort of a two-for. It's a shot at Donald Trump, and it's also a shot that democracy just doesn't work. Look what you get. You get Donald Trump.
PETER NAVARRO, BUSINESS PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA & AUTHOR: Well, the Chinese Communist Party has a vested interest in snuffing out any form of democracy, whether it's in America or Taiwan or anything in between.
It's telling that Beijing pulled the Hitler card so early in the Trump candidacy. But, John, as we know, Beijing has been sending very strong signals to the American people, they better not elect Donald Trump, which is probably the best way to get Trump elected, because that kind of thing often back fires on Beijing.
VAUSE: Is it possible for China to actually exert any influence over this election? You said that by doing this, it probably galvanizes support for Donald Trump. This is great news for him.
NAVARRO: Well, yeah, it is. But let's run the numbers. All of those sound bites from Trump, that's rhetoric, but it's also reality. Trump wants to slap a 45 percent tariff on China. That's about right, given the illegal subsidies that China basically uses for its products. And the U.S. runs a $1 billion a day deficit with China since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. This country has lost over 20 million jobs to the China trade. We have shut down 70,000 factories. So, you know, we've got blue collar workers here in America with pitch forks out, and they're stumping for Trump. And here's what we've got. And I think Beijing is concerned.
VAUSE: Well, the Chinese premier was asked about Donald Trump at end of the National People's Congress. And let's listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LI KEQIANG, CHINESE PREMIER (through translation): I believe that in the end, whoever gets into the White House, the underlying trend of China-U.S. ties will not change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: I remember back in 2008, I think it was, China came out in the general election, and it seems to come up a lot, and Beijing does trot out that line, we believe there will be strong relations regardless of who is elected. But that's the official line. I think you have to believe that there's something else going on?
NAVARRO: Well, the unofficial line, John, every time you hear in America that the issue of Chinese currency manipulation comes up, whether it's on the floor of Congress or whether it's in the White House, China has threatened what China itself calls the "financial nuclear option." And that would entail basically refusing to buy U.S. government bonds to fund our budget deficit and also to dump massive amounts of bonds onto the market, which would destabilize our stock market and our bond market. So it's a very credible threat. It's backed Congress and Barack Obama off so far. But Trump is not one to stand down. It would be interesting to see how this goes.
I think it's more important to watch what the propaganda arms of China do rather than listening to their leaders, because their leaders may play nice at the highest echelons, but you can see these very harsh Hitler references to Trump and the like, and democracy here in America doesn't work, so don't do it. It's going to be an interesting election.
[01:40:14] VAUSE: Absolutely.
NAVARRO: And we'll see how it goes.
VAUSE: Last question. If you go to Donald Trump's website, he does say he will declare China currency manipulator, and one of the options after that is slapping a tariff on Chinese imports to balance the ledger, if you like.
NAVARRO: Sure.
VAUSE: A lot of people say that's a trade war, it will have a devastating consequence for the world economy.
NAVARRO: Well, two things. This is not the first presidential candidate to say they'd brand China a currency manipulator. Barack Obama did it in 2008 in the state of Pennsylvania. He just never followed through.
As for a trade war, John, this globe is in the midst of a structural disequilibrium brought about by unfair Chinese trade practices. Right now, the best thing to do is for us to have balanced trade here in America and Europe with China. I think that would lead to peace and prosperity around the globe. If we continue doing what we're doing, I think we're all going to circle around the drain, including China. It's just not working anymore. China can't keep sucking the life blood out of the rest of the world.
VAUSE: Yeah. I think even the Chinese government has admitted they have to change the model and start moving towards the --
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: Got to change the model.
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: It's a 16th century model, John.
VAUSE: OK, Peter, as always, good to speak with you. Thanks for coming in.
NAVARRO: My pleasure, John. Take care. VAUSE: A short break here. When we come back, an American student
sentenced in North Korea. The State Department is demanding his immediate release. We'll have the growing tension between the United States and the North Koreans.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:44:56] VAUSE: The latest strain on relations between Washington and Pyongyang, North Korea sentenced a United States college student to 15 years of hard labor. The North accused Otto Warmbier of committing a hostile act against the state by removing a political banner from a hotel lobby.
Ivan Watson joins us now from Seoul with more on this.
Ivan, right now, it seems even though the State Department has condemned this, it seems unlikely that Pyongyang is willing to listen to anyone in the U.S. government.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There are no indications that Pyongyang is really ready to negotiate on this. Yes, the State Department has called for Otto Warmbier's immediate release on humanitarian grounds. But North Korea, in the meantime, has called for a United Nations Security Council meeting about joint U.S./South Korean military drills taking place here right now, saying it sees those as a potential threat. So Washington and Pyongyang are not getting along right now.
In the meantime, this young man, a 21-year-old student at the University of Virginia, is facing 15 years of hard labor after being sentenced. His crime is state subversion.
He spoke to the court. Let's take a listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OTTO WARMBIER, U.S. STUDENT HELD PRISONER IN NORTH KOREA: My brother and my sister need me. I beg that you see how I am only human, how I have made the worst mistake of my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Now Warmbier, and this is now his second time making a confession on Korean television. He confessed to having pulled down a sign in his hotel in Pyongyang and then trying to smuggle it out of the country. We can't confirm whether or not these statements were made under duress, John. But North Korea has an appalling human rights record. Just this week, the U.N. special repartee was human rights in North Korea accused the leadership of committing crimes against humanity and recommended their prosecution at the international criminal court. North Korea boycotted those sessions of the U.N. Human Rights Council -- John?
VAUSE: Well, it does seem like this young man is caught in a really bad situation. And 15 years hard labor for removing a banner in a hotel lobby, I think anyone would say that's incredibly harsh. Ivan, thank you.
Senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson, there.
Well, a short break. When we come back, China putting some serious money towards its soccer goals. We'll take a look at one of its biggest investments in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:51:26] VAUSE: China is investing billions of dollars into football, the soccer kind of football, as it strives for the sports' greatest prize, the World Cup.
CNN's Matt Rivers visited a school focused on the future of China's soccer team. He joins us from Beijing -- Matt?
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, it's safe to say that by any objective measure, the current crop of Chinese football players is not that good as compared to a world standard. But the powers that be here in China want to change that by investing more in training at a younger age.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RIVERS (voice-over): The view from above the Evergrande Football School is expansive, 50 pitches spread out across some 160 acres in southern China, the biggest in the world. It's ambitious, to say the least. A trait matched by a young student far down below.
PHU XINGE (ph), STUDENT (through translation): I want to play for the national team, and then play for Spanish clubs like Barcelona or Real Madrid.
(SHOUTING)
RIVERS: Phu Xinge (ph) is a skinny 14 year old mid fielder from Phugian (ph) Province. His family doesn't have a lot of money. So when he got a full scholarship to Evergrande eight months ago, he didn't think twice. For him, football is life.
XINGE (ph) (through translation): I feel really lucky to be here. Otherwise, I'd be in some normal school playing football on the side.
RIVERS: He is one of more than 2,000 students that live on the Evergrande campus. 80 percent of their time is spent inside these ornate buildings attending class. The rest of the time, they eat together. They live together. And they train together. Collectively, they represent the future of Chinese football.
HU JUNG NAH (ph), PRINCIPAL, EVERGRANDE FOOTBALL SCHOOL (through translation): At school, the aim is to cultivate some soccer stars and help them grow as people.
RIVERS: The principal, Hu Jung Nah (ph), says his school reflects a growing trend in China. Football is becoming more popular.
(on camera): Every Saturday, the entire school gets together and teams from different grades play matches against one another. It's the kind of scene young kids involved, parents coming out to watch, that the Chinese government hopes gets replicated time and again across the country as everyone gets more invested in the sport.
(voice-over): President Xi Jinping, a big fan of the beautiful game, has led a surge of investment in youth football. The sport is now a mandatory part of school curriculums, and there are plans to have 20,000 football-themed schools up and running by 2017. The ultimate goal is to win a World Cup.
To do that, though, you need to develop star players. That's the task facing people like Sergio Zarcodias (ph), a Spanish youth coach, who moved to China four years ago as part of a partnership between the school and European heavyweights Real Madrid.
We asked if he has any future Messis or Renaldos on his roster.
SERGIO ZARCODIAS (ph), SPANISH YOUTH COACH: I hope so, but we are not in a rush because we know this is a process that takes time.
RIVERS: As for 14-year-old Phu Xinge (ph), he might not be the next Messi just yet, but the next time China makes the World Cup, he says he'll be a part of the reason why.
(on camera): You're reminded of China's ultimate goal as soon as you arrive at the school. This replica FIFA World Cup trophy sits right out front its entrance. Principal Hu (ph) says he hopes the national team can manage to qualify for that tournament in the next 10 to 15 years, and maybe even one day, well down the road, even win.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIVERS: Now how realistic those goals are remains to be seen, John, but at least for now, it does appear that the Chinese are putting their money where their goals are.
[01:55:17] VAUSE: Well, we wish them luck. But from everything I've read, it will be a while before they get to that World Cup level.
Matt, thank you very much.
Matt Rivers, live in Beijing.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.
Please stay with us. The news continues with Rosemary Church and Errol Barnett right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:00:09] ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Anger in the streets. The president's announcement that sparks spontaneous protests in Brazil.
