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Trump Preps For Second Arizona Rally Today; One Person Removed From Outside Tucson Rally; Remaining Paris Attack Suspect Captured; President Obama to Visit Cuba on Sunday; Outraged Latinos Naturalizing to Vote Against Trump; Syrian Aid Delivery Serious Business; Fight to Elevate Women, Minorities in Silicon Valley's Top Jobs. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired March 19, 2016 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:00:02] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. Top of the hour. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. It is 5:00 here on the East Coast. 2 p.m. Pacific. Glad you're with us. We want to begin this hour in Tucson, Arizona, security is tight. One man protester removed from this Trump rally this afternoon. Also, major protests against Trump in not one but two states, earlier today protesters blocked the road near Trump's event in Fountain Hills, Arizona, backing up traffic for miles.

Well, that was happening, demonstrators here in New York marched through the streets from Columbus Circle down to Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. A few of them pepper sprayed and arrested after throwing water bottles at police. All of this playing out before the big primary contest next week, we have Arizona and Utah. Ninety eight delegates for the Republicans at stake. Arizona one of those winner take all states.

Let's begin in Arizona, Boris Sanchez standing by at the Trump rally in Tucson. You've got folks behind you, not full, but what's the main message there from the supporters today?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, people are still pouring in here. There is expected to be a big crowd. Earlier Donald Trump really spoke to his core message that anti-immigrant message, that fiery rhetoric that plays extremely well here in Arizona. You remember in 2010 the state passed a controversial law that allowed police officers to detain anyone simply because they didn't look like a citizen. So, Trump's message plays well very here. He is expected to do very well here.

He's received some key endorsements too, one from former Governor Jan Brewer as well as several border patrol unions and one from controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio who is extremely popular here. He's been re-elected about six times. So that message that we should build a wall between the U.S. and make Mexico and make Mexico pays for it is music to the ears of Arizona Republicans. Here is a taste of what he talked about earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This country has a big, big problem with illegal immigration, and all of a sudden we started talking about it, and then you had lots of bad things happening, crime all over the place and for the first time people saw what was going on. You had so many killings, so much crime, drugs pouring through the border, people are now seeing it and you know what, we're going to build the wall and we're going to stop it. It's going to end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: So, we're expecting to hear more of that later today. As you mentioned Poppy, every delegate counts from here on out. Arizona could be big for Trump. Fifty eight delegates here, winner take all. He's expected to perform very well here. And if he can get these delegates it will really help him cross that barrier of 1237 delegates needed to go into Cleveland with a majority and not have a contested convection and potentially a fractured Republican Party -- Poppy.

HARLOW: What about Hispanic voters there, Boris? I mean, Jeffrey Lord, Trump supporters who will be on with us in just a moment has spoken extensively about sort of the support that Trump has among Latino voters. What are you seeing this behind you? In this one shot, we see a lot of white voters, but you have the lay of the land there really behind you. Is he getting that Latino support?

SANCHEZ: For the most part what I have seen this crowd is mostly white. A couple of African-American people here. I didn't really see very many Latinos but I didn't spend too much time outside. My colleagues assigned were out there.

HARLOW: Right.

SANCHEZ: What I can tell you is that Arizona is not exactly a very contested state, Trump is expected to do very well. His main competition is Ted Cruz who was here last night. John Kasich has yet to visit the state. So, it's not exactly going to be extremely competitive here --

HARLOW: Right.

SANCHEZ: But again, Trump can really use all these delegates -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Absolutely. Especially when you're talking about winner take all for Arizona, Boris. Thank you. Let's head out to Sara Sidner outside, she is outside with dozens of folks that are staging anti- Trump protests. As we prepare to hear from the Republican front- runner he will speak and spent hours' time. What's the main message there, Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've been here for hours, it's been very quiet. Lines of people trying to get in to see Donald Trump. And there are still lines of people trying to get in to see Donald Trump. And now there are a group of protesters about 200 people who have shown up. They've been screaming all different sorts of things like shame on you and they're talking directly to this crowd. They have also been saying Trump is a racist and so are his supporters, which you know, have upset some of the folks who are in line.

But people are still getting through, they are still walking through into the event. But there are plenty of folks who are standing here who are very clearly upset with Donald Trump and his message, a lot of Latinos are here. A group of people from a various different backgrounds. So, at this point in time, they are still allowing people to come in but this group is growing getting louder and louder and louder.

HARLOW: Sara, is the police presence growing as well?

SIDNER: Yes. Yes. So I mean, basically it's very hard to hear you but we're going to kind of go around these bicycle and kind of show you just kind of how far back this line still goes. And people have been here for hours and hours and hours. But now you're seeing a little bit of back and forth between the crowds and those who have come in to see Donald Trump. You're seeing it closer to the entrance. This crowd just got here and got here in mass. And they have various different messages and you're seeing both sides engage a little bit about Donald Trump and about his message -- Poppy.

[17:05:38] HARLOW: Sara Sidner live for us in Tucson, bring us more as you have it, Sara. Thank you.

Let's talk about all of it with our political panel, Jeffrey Lord, a Trump supporter, Ben Ferguson, a conservative radio host and he is backing Ted Cruz. On the Left, Marc Lamont Hill, a CNN contributor and professor at Morehouse College, thank you gentlemen all for being here. Let's start with this.

Look, Jeffrey, today largely peaceful, you have protesters at the earlier Arizona event and the event today in Tucson that is about to happen. But if you look overall recently Trump has been widely criticized for how he's handled protesters, invoking the word riot this week, saying if he were denied the nomination there would be riots in the streets. Does he have to step up Jeffrey even as a supporter of his, does he have to step up and more to address this?

JEFFREY LORD, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, you know, I think they addressed it before every rally. I think somebody comes out and says something about this.

HARLOW: Does he, does he the candidate? You're right. The campaign does.

LORD: Yes. Sure. He said repeatedly that he doesn't condone violence. I mean, I don't know how many times, this is like the clan thing. How many times do you have to say this? He said it and he said it and he said it and he said it. You know, he doesn't condone violence. Again, Poppy, what we're facing here is a political movement that has historically throughout its entire history tended for violence. They are tended for violence now, they are tended for violence when I was a kid. And they tended to violence with occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter. This is what they do. So, I mean, Donald Trump is just merely the latest in a long line of targets that they go after. HARLOW: Ben, Mitt Romney came out this week, he announced he is going

to vote for Ted Cruz. He said in the statement that he was repulsed by the Trump campaign. And Trump fired back on Twitter. Let's show that saying, "Failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the man who choked and let us all down is now endorsing lying Ted Cruz, that's good for me." So Romney says, he'll vote for Ted Cruz. He didn't exactly endorse him. Do you see that as a lack of conviction?

BEN FERGUSON, HOST, "THE BEN FERGUSON SHOW": I don't see it as lack of a conviction. And to be honest with you I'm not sure right now you really want the Mitt Romney endorsement because it adds to this Trump rhetoric which is you know, the establishment is against us, and we're going to beat the establishment. I do think this will have an impact in Utah, I think it's important to also note that Donald Trump took a swipe at him saying he might not even be Mormon. I don't know why you take that risk right now if you're Donald Trump but this shows exactly what you should expect from Donald Trump, which is a guy who says, I don't endorse violence but he says punch a guy in the face I'll pay for your legal fees, I wish -- on stretchers.

But I never ever, ever, ever have said that I would be violent. He has said this consistently ratcheting up the rhetoric. And now he's a guy that not only is he questioning if you are a person of faith think about this record for a moment. He's questioned Marco Rubio's faith, he's questioned and demeaned Ted Cruz's faith also implying that somehow he was Catholic that would be a bad thing because his family was from Cuba. He's questioned not only that but also if the citizenship, the American citizenship of two different candidates, in Rubio and Ted Cruz. And now he is going after Mormons as well. And I wonder if you are a person of faith, whether you've been evangelical or Catholic or Mormon, do you find this offensive now that Donald Trump has gone this much and attacked this many religions in such of this tasteful non-presidential way.

HARLOW: Let's listen to that. I mean, we have that sound, Ted Cruz talking about his faith. Let's roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Stop going to the gutter. Politics should be about bringing us together, about uniting us, it shouldn't be following the pattern of Barack Obama the last seven years. It shouldn't be dividing us and tearing us apart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Marc, to you. Your response to that, but then also, you know, Ted Cruz when he was asked a few months ago about President Obama's faith, you know, he didn't -- he said, I don't want to speculate. I don't know what it is. I don't know what it is. Despite the President saying, time and time again, he is a Christian.

MARC LAMONT HILL, PROFESSOR, MOREHOUSE COLLEGE: Exactly. What Ted Cruz tried to do for a very long time was link up very closely to Donald Trump. He didn't challenge Donald Trump's rhetoric. He didn't question Donald Trump's rhetoric and in some ways he softly mimicked it.

HARLOW: But now this.

HILL: Right. Because he was hoping that eventually Donald Trump would lose, that he would fall out of a race and he would inherit all of Donald Trump's voters. But now Donald Trump's rhetoric has come back to bite him and now he is outraged. Hard to feel sorry for Ted Cruz although Ted Cruz is right about the rhetoric and the tone of Donald Trump's candidacy. And yes, Ben Ferguson is also right. Donald Trump is -- I love you Ben but he's absolutely right here. Donald Trump has repeatedly thrown rocks that's hidden in his hands. He always says, I don't endorse violence however, if -- at my rallies, punch him in the face. I don't endorse riots but riots should break out if I'm not the nominee. He continues to do this and he moves out of the way and he continues to work for him. We're going to see the same problem over and over.

HARLOW: Let's take a listen to what the co-chair of Trump's campaign said, Sam Clovis talking about the potential for what would happen if we do have a brokered contested convention if he feels like the nomination is quote-unquote, "taken away from his candidate." Let's play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAM CLOVIS, TRUMP CAMPAIGN ADVISER: And I will tell you this, if the Republican Party comes into that convention and jimmies with the rules and takes away the will of the people, the will of the Republicans and the Democrats and the Independents who voted for Mr. Trump, I will take off my credentials, I will leave the floor of that convention, and I will leave the Republican Party forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Jeffrey, you worked in the Reagan administration, would you walk away from the party if they denied Trump the nomination?

LORD: I will support the Republican nominee period. As does Ronald Reagan. But I understand what he's saying. And historically speaking, you know, in 1912 when former President Teddy Roosevelt tried again for a nomination against his onetime protege President Taft, there was that feeling that the nomination was still in and President Roosevelt supporters walked out of that convention, formed their own third party and proceeded to defeat William Howard Taft. So, there is a lesson here and you do need to be careful.

HARLOW: Let me ask you this, Mark. Let me ask you this Mark before I let you go, just looking at all of these supporters and also these protesters of Donald Trump. It was interesting because the former Governor of Pennsylvania Ed Rendell said, who is a Clinton supporter, said that Trump has, quote, "Crossed over appeal with some of the blue collar working class Democrats and he said that there is an opening for Trump in that." An opening that the Clinton camp should be aware of.

HILL: Absolutely. HARLOW: Ben and Marc. Ben and Marc.

HILL: That is absolutely correct. I mean, one of the things we see is Trump's message of economic populism combined with this very specific targeting of faulty and flawed trade policy resonating with White male working class voters. And because Bernie Sanders had success in those same areas as opposed to Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton needs to be very, very concerned about this, she needs to address that dead on. I'm not sure if she can do it. But Donald Trump has a -- about there in places like Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia. She better be careful.

HARLOW: And Ben quickly.

FERGUSON: I agree. I think, you know, you look at the Bernie Sanders rise and some of this is he's saying I'm looking out for you when Hillary Clinton and the establishment Democrats have not. Some of those people certainly could vote for Donald Trump because they are both tapping into the same anti-establishment, we're mad as hell, we want to take Washington back and we don't feel like these establishment on the Democratic side and the Republican side have been representing us, and I agree. I think that is a real possibility. I think it's a possibility for anybody on the Republican side to tap into that because Ted Cruz, remember, to quote Donald Trump, he is the most hated man in Washington. That includes, that means you're an outsider by default.

HARLOW: Yes. Jeffrey Lord, thank you. Ben, Marc, thank you. We have got to leave it there. We'll be back with more from all of you in just a little bit. I do want to get to this programming note though.

Monday night, a three-hour prime time event right here on CNN, the five remaining presidential candidates all on one stage, one huge night, Republicans, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, John Kasich. Democrats, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders on the stage hosted by our Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper. Monday night, 8:00 p.m. only right here.

Coming up next, the most wanted man in Europe being questioned after four months on the run. He has finally been captured. Will he provide police with details about that massacre in Paris that took 130 lives? A live from Brussels ahead. Also, our exclusive CNN reporting from inside Syria, aid workers risking their lives to help families caught in a brutal civil war.

Our Clarissa Ward goes one on one on a perilous journey with aid workers.

And Donald Trump inspiring more Latino immigrants to become U.S. citizens. Why? Because they want to vote against him. Some of them do. That at story from our Kyung Lah also ahead this hour. Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:17:56] HARLOW: You're taking a look at live pictures at a Tucson, Arizona on one half of your screen, Trump supporters gathering waiting to hear from the GOP front-runner. On the other side protesters gathering outside of that rally. We'll have more on that in just a moment.

But first, to Europe. And the one remaining suspect in the Paris terror attacks now being captured. We are learning more about what Salah Abdeslam told authorities about his role in the November 13th attack that killed 130 people.

Abdeslam and four other people were captured last night in Brussels. After a fierce gun battle with authorities. He was shot in the leg, he is alive and he is answering questions from the authorities.

Our senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir is on the outskirts of Brussels. You're in Molenbeek, the neighborhood where apparently Nima it looks like he was hiding out ever since the attack. Basically in plain sight. Clearly he had some support and help from people. And now he's talking to the authorities. Do they feel like he is giving them material information that will help in this investigation?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the French prosecutors are stressing Poppy that at this stage in the interrogation process, they are treating everything he says with caution. But they also admit that the picture that is emerging is giving them really chilling insight into the conspiracy that carried out this attack. That he seems to have been key to this plot. They are characterizing him in fact as essential. They believe that he was mobilizing what they call the commando unit that carried out the attack, they believe that he rented the Reno Clio, that ferried those units.

They also are trying to understand what made him turn back at the last minute. He admits to prosecutors that he was supposed to be among those attempting to gain entrance at Stade de France where some 80,000 people were inside watching that sporting event where he was supposed to be among those trying to detonate Stade de France. But he didn't. But for prosecutors, this isn't just about unraveling what happened that lead up to those events, it's what's stopping what potentially could happen now. Interpol is warning all European countries to be vigilant, the concern is that some unforeseen circumstances could emerge in terms of militants scattering after this capture -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Certainly though, huge Intelligence win for authorities there in Belgium tonight. Nima, thank you very much.

Coming up next, we will take you live to Cuba. President Obama is preparing for a historic visit. This is the first time a U.S. president has gone to the island nation in 88 years. Tomorrow live on this show, just about 24 hours from now, you will see Air Force One land in Cuba. Our special coverage of that tomorrow. But next we'll take you to Cuba for a report. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:24:40] HARLOW: President Obama will make history tomorrow when he lands in Cuba on an official visit. He will be the first sitting U.S. President to set foot in Cuba since Calvin Coolidge in 1928. The two- day visit underscore the warming of relations between the two countries following the recent U.S. reductions in sanctions and regulation against Cuba.

Our Patrick Oppmann is live in Havana with me tonight. The President making a huge trip, very, very monumental. This is historically. But practically speaking, what does he want to accomplish on the ground?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, in just about 24 hours from now Poppy, he will step off Air Force One with the first family making history. The first sitting president to visit a post- revolution Cuba. And it's going to be frankly a blur these days visiting old Havana, now the historical center of the city, having meetings with Raul Castro, speaking directly he said with the Cuban people. And we had the opportunity just a few hours ago to sit down with the chief Cuban official who deals with the United States, has led the normalization process, he says yes, while there will be cultural events, a lot of moments for President Obama, to reach out and speak to crowds of people you expect to pack the streets, there are also going to be some very serious frank discussions talking about the differences that still exist between the United States and Cuba.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEFINA VIDAL, CUBA MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: We can speak frankly and openly about the differences of conceptions that we have. But not with the pretension that we will change you or you will change us. Because it will be finally up to our populations with our sovereign to decide what kind of model, what kind of government they consider is better for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OPPMANN: And Poppy, I can say that four years of living here, I've covered lots of other presidential visits, presidents from other countries. I have never seen anything like this. Over 1200 members of the Obama delegation, hundreds of press pouring in of the city. Not enough hotel rooms, not enough cars, not enough of anything. They are trying to get absolutely everything ready for this historic visit -- Poppy.

HARLOW: It's so telling what that diplomat just told you there. You won't change us, and we won't change you. Saying we'll go the way we want. Yes, things may be opening and changing, but we are not changing who we are as a nation. And you still have U.S. sanctions against Cuba that cannot be lifted unless the U.S. Congress lifts them. And you still have the dissidents and you still have people who say this administration, you know, has infringed on our human rights.

OPPMANN: Very much. And this is a paradox, Poppy that of course President Obama comes here because he wants to change Cuba, he wants to change the human rights records. The issues of freedom of speech and the Cuban government has been very, very clear that those issues are off the table, we're going to see what comes out of this visit -- Poppy.

HARLOW: We will. Patrick Oppmann, you will be live with us tomorrow night on this program. Chris Cuomo will also be in Cuba, special coverage tomorrow night when the President lands in Cuba.

Also tomorrow night something you will not want to miss. Our Bill Weir travels to Havana for the season premiere of "THE WONDER LIST." It is at 10 p.m. Eastern tomorrow night, a fascinating look at the people, the culture, the history of Cuba ahead.

Coming up next, a surge in Latino immigrants filing to become U.S. citizens, the reason, our Kyung Lah found out, it's so many of them can vote against Donald Trump. What will it mean for the race going forward? We'll discuss ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:31:24] HARLOW: In every election, several million people in this country don't vote for the simple reason that they can't because they are not U.S. citizens. They are legal permanent residents who could become citizens but haven't formally gone through the process.

This year, many of them have found a reason to. They tell our Kyung Lah it's because they want to vote against Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: Number one with Hispanics.

(SHOUTING)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Visible and loud, the protesters at Donald Trump's rallies, many of them Latino, holding and wearing their outrage.

(SHOUTING)

LAH: More subdued, but just as powerful, Ed Ripoli protest. A native of Colombia and legal resident for 10 years, it's only now Ripoli feels the need to naturalize in time for November.

(on camera): Do you have Donald Trump to thank for bringing you out here?

(voice-over): "If I could become a citizen, I can vote against him," he says.

Across the U.S., from Florida, to Nevada, to Illinois, to North Carolina, Latinos once content to carry green cards now seek citizenship, because when Trump teed off his presidential candidacy with this --

TRUMP: They are bringing crime, they are rapists.

LAH: -- and this --

TRUMP: And who is going to pay for the wall?

(SHOUTING)

LAH: -- the federal government says naturalization applications jumped 14.5 percent compared to the same six months as last year.

(on camera): If all of those green cards become naturalized citizens, what happens politically?

RAUL HERNANDEZ, LEGAL SERVICES: It is a game changer.

LAH (voice-over): The numbers reveal that political power. Swing state Nevada has 73,000 Latinos eligible to naturalize. Arizona holding its primary next week, 146,000. Florida, 637,000. Nationally, the U.S. is home to 4.5 million Latinos eligible to naturalize.

MARIA ELANA SALINAS, UNIVISION ANCHOR: The very same group that he has been attacking is the one that's going to stop him from getting into the White House.

LAH: There is no love loss between Univision anchor, Maria Elana Salinas, and Trump.

Univision, a powerful media organization, owned by a Hillary Clinton donor, has joined with grassroots groups to get out the vote in November. The national response? Overwhelming.

SALINAS: You feel it. You know Donald Trump is your enemy, because he declared war, because he is the one that declared us enemies.

LAH: That's the main motivator why Cuban-born, Giselle Broach (ph) is getting her citizenship after 22 years in the U.S.

When we bring up Trump's name, this reaction.

"I can't stand him. He's like a punch to the gut," she says.

Donald Trump's unintended consequence, a pathway to their political power.

(on camera): The Trump campaign says his proposed immigration reforms, the deportation of 11 million undocumented immigrants, a wall, all of this will end up benefitting illegal Latino immigrants. No one we spoke with believes that.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Kyung Lah, thank you so much for that report.

Let's talk more about it with our political commentators, Jeffrey Lord, Ben Ferguson, Marc Lamont Hill, all back with me. Jeffrey, let me begin with you.

When you look at the state of Florida, and you look at the polling out of it after the vote, Trump lost the Latino vote in Florida to Rubio by double. Rubio got 52 percent of the Latino vote. Trump got 26 percent. How do you change that in Arizona?

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, in other words, he got 26 percent of the Latino vote, and as I understand it from a lot of his critics, he's wasn't supposed to get any of the Latino vote.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: But you need more than that. You want to win the Latino vote.

[17:35:03] LORD: Yes. Yes, yes. Poppy, one thing before we get back to this, 46,000 Pennsylvanians, to pick up on Governor Rendell, Pennsylvania Democrats have re-registered as Republicans here, according to the local newspapers, so I just wanted to get that in there.

Yeah, to get back to the Latino vote, and what's so disturbing about that clip that was played, is this is exactly what's wrong with the Democratic Party. This is what they have been doing for their entire history is playing to people because of their race. And this is what they intend to do in perpetuity forever. They don't want what Dr. King talks about, a color-blind America where you're judged on the content of your character. They specifically want a country where everybody is divided by race. This is what they do and this is exactly what they are intending to do right now.

HARLOW: What are you pointing to, Jeffrey?

Marc, I want you to respond.

But Jeffrey, what are you pointing that tells you that?

LORD: Well, I mean, the whole segment -- I'm not blaming this on CNN, I'm saying the whole segment was about people who are coming out to register to vote because of their race. They weren't talking about issues, they weren't talking about the economy, weren't talking about foreign policy. They were clearly saying, because they are Latino, because of their race, this is why they have to register to vote.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: They are also saying they are voting against someone they believe has insulted their race in many ways.

LORD: He was talking about illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants. People you were talking to were legal immigrants. Are they truly saying that they want to be left out of a job because somebody came here illegally? I don't think so.

HARLOW: Marc -- Marc, your response? MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So much here. First,

this is a response to Donald Trump's rhetoric, not the other way around. Donald Trump has been the one who has initiated a conversation about immigrants and illegal immigrants. Under that is a racial subtext. He is not saying people from Latvia. He is talking about Mexicans. So when people respond and say, look, we feel targeted, we feel addressed, we feel like these policies are dangerous, even if we are documented, even if we are documented, people still want to be reunited with our families, we still don't want to be disconnected.

There are a range of policies that affect documented immigrants. All of this is in response to Donald Trump. So for Donald Trump to somehow say, or for Jeffrey to say that the Democrats are somehow starting a race conversation, no, they are responding to a race conversation. The left has always wanted a conversation about race to be wedded to a conversation about justice. In 1963, King didn't just say I want people to be judged by the color of their skin. He also said I came to the nation's capitol to cash a check. He was asking for structural investment, money, resources and policy change. That's the same thing that's happening now. And that's why in a place like Arizona --

(CROSSTALK)

LAMONT HILL: That's why in places like Arizona, where you see such draconian anti-immigrant policy, you see a response that will be equally strong. But because of the tone, Donald Trump will likely win Arizona, probably win by a bunch.

HARLOW: Ben, you support --

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: You support Ted Cruz. You say what to that?

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, this is where you have to look at a general election and look at the ceiling of Donald Trump. Ted Cruz is not going to get the same reaction as Donald Trump or any other Republican candidate who used to be in this field. This is where Donald Trump is going to be incredibly vulnerable in a general election. That is because the things that have polarized this race and have basically given him this ground well of support of angry, frustrated conservatives -- and I know a lot of them and respect a lot of them. Jeffrey I respect a lot. But this is what -- this is a consequence for some of those actions.

When you go out and demonize people the way Donald Trump has, how do you then get them to come back to you in a general election? I'm not talking about pivoting here, even though Donald Trump admitted that. He's going to pivot on these issues on immigration. He is going to become flexible. He even praised Marco Rubio for being flexible with the Gang of Eight. We don't know what he said to "The New York Times" behind closed doors in off-the-record comments about immigration reform. But the damage has already been done. This is what Ted Cruz and what many other conservatives, if you talk

about them consolidating here, they realize that it's going to be virtually impossible for Donald Trump to walk back this rhetoric in a general election. And this is where Hillary Clinton will have a big advantage. You look at the polls in the general match-up right now, Donald Trump gets beat badly by Hillary Clinton. Ted Cruz beats Hillary Clinton.

And it's because there is a difference between this rhetoric and, I would say, compassionate conservatism, which is what Ted Cruz has been talking about, and why people have been endorsing him over the last week that didn't really like him early on.

HARLOW: Ben Ferguson, Marc Lamont Hill, Jeffrey Lord, thank you very much, gentlemen. I appreciate it. We'll keep the conversation going.

Coming up, though, a lot ahead, especially in Syria. An aid worker caught in the line of fire there, and witnesses the sadness and the fury of the people that they are trying to help. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAUQIR SHARIF, BRITISH AID WORKER: You can go and ask the people what do you want, and I don't think the people will settle for anything less, especially after all this bloodshed, the right to self determination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:40:08] HARLOW: With bombs falling from the sky, what is motivating them to stay and help? Clarissa Ward takes us exclusively "Behind Rebel Lines," in Syria. Don't miss this, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Now to a CNN exclusive undercover in rebel-held territory in Syria. In her latest report, CNN senior international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, shows us the dangers faced by aid workers as they try to help desperate citizens in the middle of a brutal war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a Tuesday in Syria. British aid worker, Tauqir Sharif, is making the dangerous drive to Aleppo.

SHARIF: 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 landing on our face.

WARD: He is traveling in to devastated city to deliver an ambulance but it isn't long before he is diverted.

(SIREN)

WARD: Four air strikes have hit. Sharif runs into the wreckage to see what is needed.

SHARIF: This is a house. It's all houses.

[17:44:56] WARD: Remarkably, no one has been injured or killed but the sound of another jet means it's time to leave.

SHARIF: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

Everybody out. Let's go. Let's go.

They are saying there's a plane is in the sky. We can hear it. They are saying attack particular that it uses, when ambulances turn up they will hit the same place again, so we're just going to try to 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 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 me saying it -- it's the people that 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 go and ask the people, what do you want, and I don't think the people will settle for anything else, especially after all 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, it's not too far from here, another maybe 65,000, 70,000 people.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SHARIF: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WARD (voice-over): Sharif's favorite project is this smaller camp that houses roughly 100 widows and their children.

(SHOUTING)

WARD: 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.

SHARIF: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Clarissa Ward's incredible reporting. I want to point you to CNN.com/Syria. You can see her reporting from "Inside Syria, Undercover" this week.

Now to "CNN Heroes." And this week's hero, who had a run in with the law before becoming an elite chef, he is now helping other former inmates try to get back on track.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN HERO: Coming home from prison after someone's done their time, everyone deserves a fair and equal second chance.

So my left hand moves, my right hand follows.

I see that opportunity that someone deserves. I can see it. I can feel it. I've been given the gift to fight to make sure that door does get to open.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: You can see much more of Brandon's story. Go to CNNHeros.com. Also, while there, nominate someone you think should be a 2016 CNN Hero.

We'll be right back.

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[17:52:19] HARLOW: In this week's "American Opportunity," the fight to elevate women in Silicon Valley's top jobs. I sat down with the CEO of one of the biggest tech companies in the world to ask him, how are you going to do it? Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: The number of women and minorities at the top levels of the technology industry, I think everyone agrees, are not where they should be. They're disappointing across the board. When you look at Cisco, 23 percent of employees are women globally, 38 percent are in executive leadership. It's actually higher than a number of other tech companies. What should those numbers be?

CHUCK ROBBINS, CEO, CISCO: What we want to do is build an incredibly divorce workforce that actually provides opportunity for everybody but also gives us the business benefit of what the diversity play is about from a business perspective. It's the right thing to do socially. It's the right thing to do in the world. But there's also a tremendous business benefit of doing it because you bring people in who think about how you solve problems differently. How do you go at different issues based on their experiences? And the diversity comes through ethnic diversity, gender diversity, nationalities, different nationalities working together and thinking about it.

HARLOW: When you took over as CEO, was it a bit surprising to think that there wasn't more diversity, that we're in 2016 and still there's a long way to go in terms -- especially with women in leadership?

ROBBINS: No, it wasn't surprising because I've been actively working on this for the company for the last decade honestly. Through this process I think what we've learned, though, I think we've definitely learned what doesn't work. And what I believe at the end of the day what has to happen is that you have to elevate the right leaders first and foremost. But when I put my leadership team together, my initial leadership team was 10 people. It's now 12.

But of the first 10, we went through each of the jobs and said, who's the right person for that job, who's the right person for that job? We went through that process, and five of the 10 were female. It's fantastic. It has to happen naturally. But that result is also what has to happen because I believe that the way this begins to flow through the organization is you start at the top. You still have to put the right people in the jobs. In the first two quarters ways in the role, since we made these changes, 30 percent of our hires were female. I don't think that's a coincidence.

HARLOW: Mark Binoff (ph) told me he's put quotas in place. You have to have "X" amount of women at executive leadership meetings. You have to have "X" amount of women speaking at these events. Is that what we need, is to make a conscious effort from the top, so they're in the position to get those jobs?

ROBBINS: We've done all the same work on the parity side. We've actually invested in the analysis to make sure that we understand not only for women but all different diverse groups that we have balance and parity in pay. So we're doing the same things. We've released our gender statistics, et cetera, in the valley over the last couple of years, which no one did five years ago.

HARLOW: Right.

ROBBINS: So there's some transparency coming out in the system now.

You know, I personally don't believe that quotas, in and of themselves, are the answer. In fact, I think sometimes they can do a disservice, because what you don't want to do is create a situation where someone perhaps is commenting that woman was placed in that job because someone needed to make a number. Now, what I do believe you have to do is you have to ensure that you have fairness in the process. You have to make sure you have actually -- we look at it from a demand and a supply side. The supply side is where we need to do the work. How do we get more females into the interview process? How do we get more of them into our leadership programs?

[17:55:57] HARLOW: From the beginning.

ROBBINS: From the beginning. And while I think it's important to measure, because you have to know how well you're doing, we've tried the quota thing, I've tried forcing it, and I just think it creates really odd behavior sometimes. It doesn't do either the males or the females justice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: My thanks to Chuck Robbins.

Coming up tonight, Donald Trump speaking again. He'll be live in Tucson, Arizona. You see people gathering for his rally right there. His rallies have seen a huge amount of support and protests. What will we see tonight in Tucson? Much more ahead at 7:00 p.m. eastern right here on that.

But next, "Smerconish."

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