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Cruz Campaigns in Wisconsin; Trump Responds to John Kerry, Talks "American First" Foreign Policy; Did Boko Haram Turn Abducted Girls into Suicide Bombers; Capitol Hill on Lockdown Following Shooting Report. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired March 28, 2016 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:29:55] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Ted Cruz is speaking live in Wisconsin. Let's dip in and listen.

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R), TEXAS & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Conservatives are coming together, Republicans are coming together. And when it comes to civility, there have been other candidates who have demonstrated a willingness to go to the gutter, to make personal attacks, to make sleaze attacks. I think the people -- the American people are sick of that. That has no place in politics. No candidate should be doing what Donald Trump did last week, which is attacking my wife and attacking my family.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

CRUZ: I recognize that the favorite thing for folks in the media to cover is Donald Trump's latest tweet late at night. But let me give an answer for the American people. Who cares? Who cares what Donald is tweeting late at night? We need real solutions for the real problems in this country.

(APPLAUSE)

CRUZ: That's the focus of my campaign, is jobs and economic growth and raising wages and protecting America and keeping us safe from radical Islamic terrorism. I have no interest in going down in the mud with Donald Trump. I'm going to stay focused where the voters and where Americans are focused, which is how we turn our country around and how we bring back jobs and opportunity and security to this country.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What about his --

BALDWIN: Ted Cruz responding to a tweet. Donald Trump talking about potential legal action with regard to delegate numbers out of the Louisiana primary. We'll talk a little bit more about that next hour. But that's what he's talking about. Ted Cruz there in Wisconsin.

Next, America's top diplomat calls Donald Trump's campaign embarrassing to the United States. Trump responds to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, reveals his world view, from nukes to oil. Don't miss this. Christiane Amanpour joins me live. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:36:11] BALDWIN: The world according to Donald Trump, "America First" and everyone else pays. This is a brand-new interview. He lays out his vision of the world stage, should he become president of the United States. He tells "The New York Times" he is not an isolationist but he says, quote, "We will not be ripped off anymore. We're going to be friendly with everybody but we're not going to be taken advantage of by anybody." He went on to say that Europe's not safe for Americans, and then took it one step further.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION (voice-over): I don't think America's a safe place for Americans, if you want to know the truth. I don't think England or -- I don't think that Europe is a safe place. No, I don't. I think there are a lot of problems in Europe that are very, very severe. But neither is the United States a safe place, because we're allowing thousands of people to come in here. Nobody knows where they're from. Nobody knows who they are. And they're coming in here by the thousands. And let me tell you something, we're going to have problems just as big or bigger than they've got.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Just off a plane from Europe is CNN's chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour.

Always lovely to share space with you.

I wanted to have you on to talk about all these different points. To me, one issue that jumped out, he was asked when America peaked: Teddy Roosevelt, many, many, many years ago.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: More than 100 years ago, right?

BALDWIN: Right.

AMANPOUR: Nobody would recognize that vision of America. Certainly, nobody overseas. America is still most richest, powerful economy in the world. We have the biggest economy and the biggest military. So nobody recognizes that "poor me" version of America that Donald Trump with his "Make America great again" uses as his platform. In fact, there have been many editorials in the "Financial Times" and others that say the sky is not falling. America is great. Obviously, every country has its challenges. Obviously, there have economic challenges around the world now. Obviously, there are major security challenges. Bea by all intents and purposes, America is at this precise moment more safe than other nations from this kind of virulent Islamic terrorism. Mostly because, by and large, America's Muslims are much more integrated and part of the society that they've come into than Muslims in Europe.

(CROSSTALK) BALDWIN: Apples and oranges?

AMANPOUR: Of course, you had the San Bernardino --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Yes, ISIS inspired.

AMANPOUR: But that's not from overseas. That was somebody who grew up here. But in general, people believe it's safer here than it is, for instance, in Brussels.

Donald Trump, as is his want, because he's a businessman, speaks entirely in dollars and cents. If you read very closely those transcripts, which he did over the phone -- it's kind of odd doing these big interviews over the phone.

BALDWIN: Over the phone.

AMANPOUR: You've got to get a sense of, you know, the measure of the person, look into their eye, continue to push them, these kind of issues --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: An advantage to interview that way.

AMANPOUR: Yes, many talk about his distracted nature where he goes from one point to another and always comes back to the dollars and cents. America's broke, therefore, America's weak. These are not true, right, so everybody else has to pony up. This is a business man's view of the world, presumably. But it doesn't make sense when he talks about, for instance, NATO. NATO is not obsolete. Yes, NATO was created 60-plus years ago in response to the Soviet threat. Still, NATO is the organizing principle by which American and the Western democracies security is taken care of. NATO is not just about the United States putting money in. It's about all the other countries putting in their 2 percent of GDP as well. They don't all, that's true. America wants them all to put more than they do right now. But a good number, nearly half of the NATO countries, put their 2 percent of GDP in. And the other countries do certain things that America doesn't do. Now, America, because it is the most powerful military in the world, does a lot of the heavier lifting. You know, you have a military operation and America will do the troop lifting, for instance. Or it will do, you know, many of those kinds of things. But many of the other countries, Afghanistan or elsewhere, pick up a huge lot of the burden as well.

BALDWIN: What about his point on nukes. How he says specifically he would be open to allowing Japan and South Korea to build their own nuclear arsenals so they could protect themselves from North Korea and China?

AMANPOUR: Again, that puts on its head decades of the United States and its Pacific allies security relationship. And this is one of the first times we've heard a serious candidate, if not the first time, who will probably be the nominee for the Republican party, put that forward. And it's not a Republican sort of point of view that I've ever heard in previous elections. This "poor me, America's weak" kind of thing is not the way Republicans generally see their view, and Americans' view in the world. One of the reasons why Japan does not have a nuclear arsenal is because of the horror Japan committed during the Second World War. So Japan has been kind of forced to be a pacifist, pretty much, state. It has a military, but it's not an offensive military capability. And so there was a tradeoff. OK, you trade that off, and if there's a problem, we'll come to your rescue, about in the meantime, you'll help us keep the peace in many other ways in that region. So that's one of the reasons why Japan doesn't have nukes. And then, of course, well, when it comes to ISIS and the other things, you need allies to be able to go and help you.

BALDWIN: Just finally, sort of reading -- everybody's been calling for specifics and he sat down with "The New York Times" and phoned "The New York Times," and I wanted to talk to you on Donald Trump's world view. That's just a piece of what he got into.

Christiane, thank you so much.

AMANPOUR: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Next here, they disappeared nearly two years ago, more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by terrorists. Now there are fears that some of them could be used as suicide bombers. We'll talk with one young woman who managed to escape. Her story and what she thinks now, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:46:25] BALDWIN: It's now been nearly two year since nearly 200 Nigerian schoolgirls were kidnapped by terror group, Boko Haram. Now the Nigerian government is trying to figure out if the Islamic group sent three of those girls on a suicide mission to bomb a small village. Officials arrested the girls before they could detonate the bombs. A third girl got away. One of the arrested girls claims to be part of the group abducted by Boko Haram in 2014. The kidnapping sparked international outrage and the campaign #bringbackourgirls began.

Only about 50 girls managed to escape. One of those girls is Saa. Her identity and her family back home, she goes by a pseudonym. She wears sunglasses to cover her face.

But I want to share my conversation with her earlier today. I spoke with Saa; and international human rights attorney, Emmanuel Ogebe. Ogebe helped Saa and 10 other girls after she escaped. She's now in college.

Here's our conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Welcome back to both of you. Saa, I know when we talked last year, now you're in college, you are

pursuing this education that Boko Haram tried to take away from you. Do me a favor and just remind our viewers of how you managed to survive Boko Haram attacked your school, tossed you in the back of that truck. Tell me what happened next.

SAA, SCHOOLGIRL KIDNAPPED BY BOKO HARAM: After the Boko Haram attack, put us in the truck, going with us in the forest. So I decided to jump out of the truck. By the help of God, I was able to survive in the forest and get back home to my family. And now I'm here, continuing with my studies.

BALDWIN: Many other girls did not have your same fate and now we're getting word of what's happened in Cameroon. A couple of girls were arrested. Apparently, perhaps, drugged as well. I'm wondering, to you, does your reaction to the thought that a fellow classmate could have been forced to be a suicide bomber, your reaction to that?

SAA: Actually, it's really sad and, you know, the other girls, we haven't heard nothing from them since the abduction and, you know, everyone is so worried that we really wanted the girls to come back but, you know -- so we have hope that it would still come back and whenever I see myself here studying, continuing with my study, I just pray, always praying for them they will come back. You know, that's all we want, the girls to come back home.

BALDWIN: That's all we all want. You're there in school and it's like a whole other world away what's happening back in Africa. I understand you and some of the other girls, you've been looking online to find out more about who these girls could be?

SAA: Yes, we've been doing that since we came here.

BALDWIN: And are you hopeful in a sense it could be one of the girls, perhaps this could lead to others?

SAA: Sure, it might be one of the girls, because -- probably, we don't know. But, you know, when the abductions happened, I heard that she was 15 years old. I just turned 17, 18, two weeks before the abduction, which might be -- she might be one of the girls. Of course, and, you know, it's going to be interesting if really she's one of my classmates because, you know, that's all we want is the girls. Of course, I'm pretty sure it might be she will be one of the girls. It might be. Not sure.

[14:50:18] BALDWIN: Emmanuel, to you, hearing all of this, hearing the possibility these girls could be used as bombers, you're also the one who's helped so many of these young women. What do you make of all this?

EMMANUEL OGEBE, INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, Brooke, one of the things we noticed is Boko Haram first started using girls as suicide bombers two months after the abductions. So that in itself was not a good sign. Since June of 2014, almost 100 girls have been used as suicide bombers in Nigeria and Cameroon. It's one of the worst things happening to women on the planet today. With regard to the specific situation, it's not clear if this girl meets the demographic of the girls who were taken. Because as Saa pointed out, she was 17. It's been two years. She just turned 20 actually yesterday. So a 15-year-old would technically not be one of the girls, unless she lost a sense of time. Now that happens in captivity. If she was abducted at 15, she's lost her sense of time in the forest. And, secondly, reports say she's malnourished. Again, she would look much smaller than her real age. So the odds really are 50/50 on whether this is one of the girls.

BALDWIN: You're wearing sunglasses, as you did the last time, just to mask your identity and protect your family still living in danger. What do you want the world to know about you? Happy belated birthday, by the way. Here you are in college. What's your message?

SAA: Thank you. Well, you know, I've been wearing sunglasses in order to protect my family and I myself also back in Nigeria because the terrorists are, like, everywhere. You wouldn't know who is the terrorist. You wouldn't know who is the enemy. So I always put sunglasses in order to protect myself and also my family back in Nigeria. Been here. The enemies are not happy with it, you know. So they might plan something to either attack me or something or my family at home. So that's why I'm wearing sunglasses in order to protect my family and I also.

BALDWIN: Can't imagine having to be so fearful like that, day in and day out, especially back in the United States. But what do you want the world to know? What are you studying? What would you like to become?

SAA: I actually wanted to be a doctor. I want to study medicine here in the United States in order to get a good education and go back to Nigeria and help other girls in Nigeria that have been in difficult situation as me. They were scared to go to school because of what's happening. I can be an example and, you know, for the other girls to follow if I actually achieve my goals here in the United States and become something.

BALDWIN: You already have.

Saa, thank you so much. Our best to you.

And, Emmanuel, as always thanks to you as well.

Coming up next here on CNN, we have new video of those three airport bombing suspects from Brussels, one of whom is still on the run. See what clues are being discovered, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGINS IN PROGRESS)

[14:52:43] MANU RAJU, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: This Shelter in Place accord to the Senate alerts is requiring staff and visitors in all buildings of the U.S. capitol complex to immediately Shelter in Place. That means lock all doors, stay away from windows, and the like. Again, we don't know a lot of details. We're still looking into this. We'll bring that to you as soon as we know. But as we know, this is a heavily fortified area. There are a lot of police in that area. And right now, members of Congress are actually on recess, so probably not a whole lot of lawmakers. But as soon as we figure out more information, we'll bring it to you.

BALDWIN: Stay with me, Manu.

Let me follow up with you. Congress is on recess. Yes, this is the end of Easter weekend. The Easter egg roll was at the White House earlier today. Probably, a lot of tourists in Washington. There's a visitors area. You're wandering around the capitol each and every day at your job. Can you tell us how secure metal detectors, layers of security?

RAJU: Incredibly secure, Brooke. Every entrance has two or three police officers. Everybody has to go through a typical metal detector and screen there. The only people who can avoid that kind of screening are members of Congress themselves. Post-9/11, the capitol complex has been heavily, heavily fortified at every single entrance and exit. If any officer sees a threat, they're probably going to act.

You know, we'll see exactly what happened here and if this happened -- actually happened on capitol grounds or happened near capitol grounds. That's one of the things we're looking at right now.

Again, right now, the Senate officials are warning and urging folks to stay indoors because there's a Shelter in Place, because gunshots have been reported in the Capitol Visitors Center of the capitol building complex. So a scary situation. Folks need to be cautious. We're not quite sure what's happening at the moment.

BALDWIN: Of course.

Manu, stay with me.

I just got handed one other note. Not only the Capitol building on lockdown, but also I'm now being told, from the White House, the White House is on lockdown. Secret Service cleared Pennsylvania Avenue, the White House North Lawn after reports of a shooting at the U.S. capitol. Staff and press there are being asked to stay indoors. That's just down the way, Pennsylvania Avenue, at the White House.

From D.C. Metro police spokeswoman, Alice Kim, "We are aware of reports of shots fired and the Shelter in Place. We are working with the Capitol Hill Police Department --