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Iran Accused of Defying UN Resolution on Missile Launch; EgyptAir Hijacker Has Criminal Record; Myanmar Elects Civilian President; Trump Defends Comments on Japan and South Korea; FBI Aiding Brussels Terror Attacks Investigation; Pakistan Detains Suspected Militants in Reaction to Terror Attack; President Obama Calls for New Approach to Treating Drug Addiction. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired March 30, 2016 - 03:00   ET

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


[03:00:00] ERROL BARNETT, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: -- candidates for the White House abandon their pledge to support the eventual nominee during a CNN town hall.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: Under pressure, a key coalition partner abandons Dilma Rousseff's government, making her impeachment more likely.

BARNETT: And panic in the skies. Passengers aboard a hijacked EgyptAir flight give thanks after their ordeal ends peacefully.

CHURCH: Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. Thanks for joining us for our second hour of CNN Newsroom.

Now one of the most pivotal presidential primaries for both U.S. political parties is a week away, the battle for Wisconsin, and that's where republicans Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, and John Kasich took questions from the audience at a town hall hosted by CNN.

CHURCH: All topics were fair game, but a lot of the talk focused on Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, faces a battery charge for an incident in Jupiter, Florida, earlier this month. He allegedly grabbed a reporter by the arm and shoved her away. The candidates had plenty to say about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So, I gave the tape, and frankly, if you look at that, people have looked at it. In fact, I just left another area of Wisconsin. We had a whole big meeting with a whole group of people. Big audience, tremendous audience and there (AUDIO GAP - 00:01:25 - 00:04:45).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Incites violence.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think that every candidate has to be responsible for what happens in their campaign, and as I've said repeatedly, what Donald Trump has been doing over these last months is inciting violent behavior.

[03:05:07] BERNIE SANDERS, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, let's see what happens in the legal process. He has been charged, and we don't find people guilty until you go through a process. But my campaign manager does not assault female journalists. Let me just say that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Now, the republican candidates were asked to justify their comments, calling for surveillance of Muslim communities in the U.S. Each had their own take about this controversial issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED CRUZ, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What it means is that we target the enemy. Now, there is a difference between Islam and Islamism. Islamism is a political and theocratic philosophy that commands its adherents to wage violent Jihad, to murder or forcibly convert all infidels, and by infidels I mean every one of the rest of us.

TRUMP: Do I what?

ANDERSON COOPER, AC360 CHOW HOST: Trust Muslims in America?

TRUMP: Many of them I do, many of them I do, and some I guess we don't. Some I guess we don't. We have a problem.

JOHN KASICH, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, the fact is that we want the Muslims who are -- they feel as strongly as we do about these murders out there. These Muslims, they're the ones that have to police their own neighborhood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And Anderson Cooper asked the candidates about the pledge they made weeks ago to support the eventual republican nominee. It turns out times have changed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUZ: I'm not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and attacks my family. I think that is going beyond the line. I think our wives, I think our kids should be off limits.

COOPER: I mean, I got to ask, I will assume by you not saying that you would support him that the answer is you would not support him.

CRUZ: I gave you my answer. Listen, I think nominating Donald Trump would be an absolute train wreck. I think it would hand the general election to Hillary Clinton.

TRUMP: I'm not asking for his support. (CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Would you pledge...

TRUMP: I want the people's support.

(APPLAUSE)

COOPER: Do you pledge to support whoever the republican nominee is?

TRUMP: No, I don't anymore. And look.

COOPER: You don't?

TRUMP: No. We'll see who it is.

COOPER: You won't promise to support the republican nominee.

TRUMP: And he was essentially saying the same thing. Let me just tell you, he doesn't have to support me. I don't need their support. Now, maybe it will be a negative. Maybe it won't.

COOPER: So, the pledge you took is null and void?

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: I have been treated -- I've been treated...

COOPER: The idea of supporting whoever the republican nominee is, you say you will no guarantee that you will support the republican nominee?

TRUMP: I have been treated very unfairly.

KASICH: I got to see what happens. If the nominee is somebody that I think is really hurting the country and dividing the country, I can't stand behind them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Now Anderson Cooper also asked Donald Trump about the fight he's in with Ted Cruz over their wives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: After saying that you were going to spill the beans about Heidi Cruz, you re-tweeted an unflattering picture of her next to a picture of your wife.

TRUMP: I thought it was a nice picture of Heidi. I thought it was fine.

COOPER: Come on.

TRUMP: I thought it was fine. She's a pretty woman.

COOPER: You're running for president of the United States.

TRUMP: Excuse me. I didn't start it. I didn't start it.

COOPER: Sir, with all due respect, that's the argument of a 5-year- old.

TRUMP: I didn't start it. No, it's not.

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: The argument of a 5-year-old is he started it.

TRUMP: Excuse me. You would say that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Let's talk more now about what came out of CNN's republican presidential town hall. And joining me now in the studio is Charlie Harper, publisher of GeorgiaPol.com, and joining us from our New York studio is Boris Epshteyn, a republican strategist and a Donald Trump supporter. Thanks to both of you for being with us.

BORIS EPSHTEYN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Good evening.

CHURCH: Let's start with the clear tension between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. And we heard Cruz say that he keeps his focus on issues and substance unlike Trump.

Boris Epshteyn, is that the case given the war of the wives that we've been seeing playing out here?

EPSHTEYN: Trump is trying to say that's the case, but it's clearly not. And you heard him when he was answering Anderson's question about whether he knows for sure that the Trump camp somehow planted that National Enquirer story. Cruz went into all sorts of innuendo that he had absolutely no bearing on.

So, you know, Cruz is not focusing on the issues, and I do wish that all the candidates were and that we were not having this war of the wives or any of these other sort of side issues going on that are a complete distraction to really what's happening, which is the country and the republican -- and the republican voters coalescing around Donald Trump. That's what we should be focusing on as a party.

CHURCH: And Charlie Harper, we are seeing this situation where there is very little focus on substance here. Do you ever worry that the more discerning republican voter out there is going, what am I going to do? I can't relate to either Ted Cruz or Donald Trump?

CHARLIE HARPER, GEORGIAPOL.COM PUBLISHER: Yes. That's really where I am frankly. I mean, I think at this point between the two, I'll take Ted Cruz because he at least is part of the process. Even if he's an anti-establishment, if you will, republican.

I don't know where Donald Trump is coming from. Even in the same sentences he contradicts himself at times. And there's no -- none of his history before he got into this that says he's a conservative much less a republican.

CHURCH: And, Boris Epshteyn, neither Trump nor Cruz appears ready to support the other one if they're nominated; leaving the pledge they both took null and void here.

[03:10:00] What impact might this have on the nomination process, and what are you expecting will likely happen at the convention in July?

EPSHTEYN: And Kasich didn't back up the pledge either, which was surprising. He's likely angling for a V.P. pick here somewhere with Donald Trump as the presidential pick.

Now as to what Charlie said, I think if you actually listen to what's been happening with Donald Trump since right before Super Tuesday, to the facts he's given on Israel, on foreign policy, on health care, there's been a lot there that is substantive.

Unfortunately, the media focuses on a lot of the sidetrack, a lot of side show that's going on, and this is and you can't help it. It is news worthy, right? But there is a lot of substance there.

Now, as far as changing their mind, Ted Cruz was for amnesty, then against amnesty. He's really flip-flopped on all the issues. Look at national security, something that is so key (ph) right now.

And Ted Cruz was somebody who was the least productive on national security out of any republican. That's why he's pretty much despised in the Senate. And everybody in the Senate who is supporting him like Lindsey Graham are doing that while holding their noses.

CHURCH: It's interesting you talk about these side shows. I mean, it is difficult to ignore some of what's going on. Of course we saw the big story Tuesday was Trump's manager, his campaign manager...

EPSHTEYN: Right.

CHURCH: ... Corey Lewandowski, being charged with simple battery. I mean, you can't ignore that sort of story.

HARPER: This is no campaign we have ever seen before where the campaign manager of the leading candidate, the one closest to the delegate count for the nomination, is arrested for assaulting a reporter that he first claimed he didn't know. It turns out she's actually with Breitbart, which is a very friendly organization to the Trump campaign.

We're not covering anything that republicans want to do, anything that what conservatives even stand for anymore. Everything is about what we're against. And the problem is when your party gets to a point where it's only against things; it's much harder and harder to get people to coalesce around what they're for.

EPSHTEYN: I would disagree. Donald Trump is bringing out people because he is positive. He's saying, well, let's make America great again. He's saying let's get jobs back to America. He's saying let's get those people who are disenfranchised and who are upset in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, upstate New York, Wisconsin, let's get them jobs. Let's get them energized. And that's why he's getting support. It's not negative support. It's positive support. Of course there are...

(CROSSTALK)

HARPER: I'm sorry. You're saying America doesn't win?

EPSHTEYN: Hold on, Charlie. Let me finish. Is there some negativity out there? Of course, there is.

HARPER: You have. If you're saying America doesn't win, which is what this candidate is saying on a baseball gap and giving platitudes and non-answers, you're saying America is a failure. That's not a positive message.

EPSHTEYN: Nobody is saying that.

HARPER: Building a wall that gives people...

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: Nobody is saying that America is a failure.

HARPER: You try to spin a negative into a positive. Your candidate and frankly, right now, this party.

CHURCH: All right.

EPSHTEYN: Well, tell me, who's your candidate?

HARPER: My candidate, I ended up voting for Marco Rubio. It wasn't the tough one. Guess what? We're prepared to lose because we're running a divisive campaign with a closest democrat that...

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: Well, in your state Marco Rubio got absolutely can trust.

HARPER: ... never supported conservative positions, won't answer questions. It's been a great side show. P.T. Barnum would be proud.

EPSHTEYN: Charlie, it's exactly republicans like you who are going to lose this election for us.

CHURCH: All right. It's really...

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: You're not listening to the voters. The voters want Donald Trump. Listen to the voters. Coalesce around the leader. Marco Rubio is long gone.

CHURCH: There is -- there is a lot to discuss for sure and many more months to do it, but we will have to end it there. Thank you so much, Boris Epshteyn joining us there from New York, and Charlie Harper here in the studio.

HARPER: My pleasure.

EPSHTEYN: Thanks so much.

CHURCH: Many thanks to both of you.

And if you missed CNN's republican town hall, we are putting together a special highlight show. Tune in for that at 12 noon Monday or Wednesday, I should say, in London, 7 o'clock in Hong Kong right here on CNN.

BARNETT: Good job at keeping the peace there between your two guests.

CHURCH: I guess I try.

BARNETT: Well done.

Now and meanwhile, the first civilian president elected since the 1960s was sworn into office a short while ago. Htin Kyaw from the National League for Democracy replaces the outgoing president.

The change in leadership brings an end to decades of military rule. It's widely expected the new president will act as a proxy for the party's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is constitutionally barred from holding the office.

CHURCH: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's chief of staff says she will seek to form a new government by the end of the week.

BARNETT: And this follows a political blow from the country's biggest party.

CNN's Paula Newton has more.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dilma Rousseff is looking like a woman increasingly isolated and running out of options. Brazil's largest political party decided to back out of a coalition government with her, and that leaves her incredibly hobbled and perhaps ill equipped to face the vote that is coming. That vote about whether or not she should be impeached.

Now, this is going to be a very complicated process that will endure with protests and as background noise for the coming weeks and months. But it means there is a very good likelihood now that a caretaker government will be in place in the coming weeks in order for Dilma Rousseff to fight that kind of impeachment, she has been saying that she has no intention of voluntarily resigning and that she will fight any move to impeach her.

[03:15:05] But, you know, the climate here in Brazil while all this is going on is incredible. We are just a few months away from welcoming the world here to Brazil for the Olympics here in Rio de Janeiro.

Beyond that, we have one of the worst recessions in a generation. Also the Zika virus was continues to be a disease that continues to

stalk this country. On top of all that, it seems that business sentiment is also turning against Dilma Rousseff. The market continues to go up as it becomes more and more likely that she will be impeached.

Paula Newton, CNN, Rio.

BARNETT: Now if you were with us at this time yesterday, you know that what was supposed to be a one-hour flight turned into a five-hour nightmare for some EgyptAir passengers.

Next, you'll hear their stories and get a look into the hijacker's criminal past. Stay with us.

CHURCH: Plus, a newly married couple among the casualties in the Lahore bombings. Later this hour, hear from their grieving families.

BARNETT: And Donald Trump defends his comments that Japan and South Korea might need to develop nuclear weapons and not expect the U.S. to help defend them. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Tuesday saw a total of 57 international matches being played around the world. That is huge in terms of fan safety and security as well as goals and results in the frenzy between Belgium and Portugal went ahead despite the terror attacks in Brussels last week.

When Portugal FA said they would host the game instead of it being held in the Belgian capital. There was a moment of silence to remember the 32 people who died and hundreds who were wounded. For the record, Portugal won the match 2-1.

Well, football will return to the Stade de France for the first time since last year's Paris attacks in Paris. They were back in November. And so therefore, this was a hugely poignant night for the French as they hosted Russia regardless of the result.

The authorities there keen to make fans feel as safe as possible. Four hundred police officers were deployed around the ground. The night belong to the Europe 2016 host. He won four team. And away from all the football matches being played.

The English Premier League strugglers Aston Villa have parted ways with their manager Remi Garde. The Frenchman left by mutual consent after just four months that the Premier League bottom club. His last game in charge was a defeat to Swansea City, a result that leaves Villa 12 points from safety with seven games remaining. Villa only won two of their 20 League games under Garde's reign.

And that's a look at all your sports headlines. I'm Kate Riley. [03:20:07] CHURCH: The United States, the United Kingdom, France, and

Germany accuse Iran of defying a U.N. resolution with a recent missile launch.

A letter to the Security Council says the missiles were inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The U.N. resolution called on Iran to refrain from ballistic missile development and technology capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

BARNETT: The U.S. military is ordering family members to evacuate southern Turkey, primarily from the Incirlik Air Base. That base has been at its highest security level for weeks now because of ongoing threats of possible ISIS attacks.

The Pentagon says the decision was made in consultation with the Turkish government. Five terrorist attacks have killed nearly 100 people in Turkey since the beginning of this year.

Egyptian authorities say the man who hijacked an EgyptAir flight Tuesday has a criminal record, including forgery, burglary, and drug- dealing.

Officials described Seif Eldin Mustafa as unstable, saying he held passengers and crew hostage with a fake explosive belt. He apparently took over the plane because of issues involving his ex-wife.

Cypriot authorities are questioning Mustafa. The incident ended peacefully when all the passengers and crew were safely evacuated and Mustafa surrendered to police.

CNN's Ian Lee has details from Cairo.

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For more than five hours, all eyes were on this plane on the tarmac at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus. EgyptAir flight MS181 was forced to land here early Tuesday morning after taking off from Bourj Al Arab Airport in Alexandria.

It had been bound for Cairo until it was hijacked mid-flight. One passenger recounted the horror on that flight.

FARRAH EL-DIBANY, EGYPTAIR PASSENGER: One of the cabin crew also told us that we are hijacked. We are being hijacked. So, yes, and that was it. And then there was a lot of panic on the plane, and yes, we didn't know. They didn't tell us anything more. They didn't say what he wants or where we're heading, nothing. We were just kidnapped. That's it.

LEE: A man now identified as 58-year-old, Seif Eldin Mustafa, seen here being checked by security at Alexandria, later demanding the plane divert to Istanbul.

AHMED ADEL, EGYPTAIR VICE CHAIRMAN: We got a call into our operations room from the captain that he has information about one person who is claiming to have an explosive belt and asked to divert the airplane to Istanbul or anywhere else in Europe. The captain told him that there's not enough fuel to land in Istanbul so he diverted to Larnaca Airport. LEE: Most of the 69 people onboard were allowed off the plane shortly

after it landed in Cyprus, but seven passengers and crew were held hostage for several hours as negotiators worked for a peaceful resolution.

They soon established this was not a terror attack. But Seif Eldin Mustafa's motives remained unclear. Initial reports indicated he wanted to be reunited with his ex-wife, prompting this response from the Cypriot's president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Always there is a woman involved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: But the Egyptian prime minister said he kept changing his demands.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIF ISMAIL, EGYPTIAN PRIME MINISTER (TRANSLATED): At some moments, he asked to meet with a representative of the European Union, and at other points, he asked to go to another airport, but there was nothing specific.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: Then at 2.30, local time, this. More people emerged from the plane. Some run. This man casually walks down the aircraft stairs, even taking time to fumble around with his bag. Then another climbs out of the EgyptAir cockpit window to make his escape.

They are met by Special Forces and checked for explosives. Finally, the hijacker himself surrenders to police. He's searched on the ground. The bomb, it's found, is a fake.

BARNETT: For the latest we turn now to CNN's Ian Lee live in Cairo, Egypt. Ian, at this time yesterday we were both trying to make sense of it all. And even 24 hours later, it's still difficult to do.

I mean to hijack a plane, scare the passengers and the world really all over his own relationship issues? That is stunning. What do we know about this man's mental state?

LEE: Well, that's right, Errol. It was very confusing to really figure out the motive for this. And even right now, authorities are saying that this is a very disturbed man. He had a range of demands when -- a range of demands when he was talking to negotiators. He's now in custody. They're trying to figure out exactly what he wants, and his mental state as well.

[03:25:01] Is this is someone who needs psychiatric help. Now, the Egyptian foreign ministry even came out and said that this man was an idiot, quote, "an idiot, not a terrorist."

And I think everyone is happy that it was the former and breathing a sigh of relief that this didn't end tragically.

BARNETT: Certainly very true. Ian Lee, live for us in Cairo this morning. Thank you.

CHURCH: We'll take a short break here. But still to come, Donald Trump says it is time for some allies to pay for their own defense. Reaction to his suggestions.

BARNETT: U.S. President Barack Obama outlines his plans to tackle the deadly epidemic of addiction. The new approach he's taking, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: A warm welcome back to our viewers all around the globe. I'm Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. It's our last half hour with you today. So, let's update you on our top stories right now.

The FBI is analyzing the data on phones and computers in connection with the Brussels terror investigation. The items were seized in raids and shipped to the U.S.

Belgian officials have revised the death toll in last week's attacks to 32 people. More than 300 were wounded.

CHURCH: Brazil's largest party has decided to leave President Dilma Rousseff's coalition government. The Brazilian democratic movement party made the unanimous decision Tuesday. This last leaves Ms. Rousseff more isolated as Congress begins impeachment proceedings against her for allegedly breaking budget laws.

BARNETT: Donald Trump is standing by his campaign manager, who is now charged with assaulting a reporter.

[03:30:01] During Tuesday's CNN republican town hall, the presidential candidate said he's fired a lot of people, but Corey Lewandowski won't be one of them.

Meanwhile, Trump says he was actually grabbed by the reporter.

CHURCH: Well, Trump also defended his foreign policy plans during the town hall, specifically his suggestion that Japan and South Korea develop their own nuclear arsenal so America can stop paying for their defense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: At some point we have to say, you know what, we're better off if Japan protects itself against this maniac in North Korea. We're better off frankly if South Korea is going to start to protect itself. We have to...

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Saudi Arabia with nuclear weapons? TRUMP: Saudi Arabia, absolutely.

COOPER: You'd be fine with them having nuclear weapons?

TRUMP: Not nuclear weapons, but they have to protect themselves, or they have to pay us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now from Seoul with reaction. And, Paula, Donald Trump still has a long way to go before he becomes the GOP nominee. But his comments on the United States current relationship with Japan and with South Korea are getting a lot of reaction. What is being said there?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Rosemary. It's really quite remarkable lead, the level of high-profile remarks and reaction we're seeing in Northeast Asia and also from the State Department having to react to this.

There's basically concern and also confusion in Japan and in South Korea at the suggestion that either U.S. troops could be pulled out of both of those countries or the suggestion that either country should acquire nuclear weapons of their own to deal with North Korea.

Now, of course everybody is talking about the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. And so, this comes at a very surprising time there. We have the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, so right from the top they decided they had to react to this, defending the alliance between the U.S. and Japan, saying that it's a cornerstone of Japan's diplomacy.

Here in South Korea, the 70-year-old alliance, you heard the foreign ministry saying that they are contributing to this alliance. They're contributing to the cost, another thing that Donald Trump has said, that South Korea is paying peanuts for the U.S. protection and saying that in fact, the U.S. government, Congress, and people were happy with the South Korean contribution to this.

So, there is a fair amount of puzzlement in the region as well that this has been brought out. But the very fact that these very high- level people are reacting to this shows that there is some concern about what has been said. Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes, and I want to follow on that. I mean, how worried are leaders across the region of the possibility of a Trump presidency?

HANCOCKS: Well, Japan's prime minister said no matter who is the next president of the United States, this alliance, which is around about 60 years in the making between U.S. and Japan, is the cornerstone of Japan's diplomacy. So, he was very clear that no matter who is in the top job in America, this alliance will continue.

And this is really what we've heard from many officials across the board, that no matter who the president was, no matter which administration was in power, whether republican or democrat, these alliances did last.

And we heard from the former U.S. ambassador to South Korea, Christopher Hill, saying that this is in the interest of the U.S. as well, saying that Donald Trump simple doesn't know what he's talking about.

There have been a number of editorials as well, one in the South Korean newspaper, JoongAng-Ilbo saying that these comments from Trump are shocking and also saying will this actually affect the relationship between the U.S. and South Korea?

So, certainly there is a high level of concern, which considering Donald Trump is just one candidate, he's not even the republican nominee at this point, is quite remarkable. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Absolutely. Engaging reaction there from across the region. Our Paula Hancocks, live in Seoul, South Korea. Many thanks to you.

BARNETT: Authorities in Pakistan have rounded up suspected militants in a series of raids in Punjab province after the deadly Easter Sunday bombing in Lahore.

CHURCH: They detained more than 5,000 people but later released many of them. Several hundred people are still under investigation. The Pakistani Taliban splinter group claimed responsibility for that attack.

BARNETT: Seventy people died in the suspected suicide bombing. Hundreds more were wounded.

CHURCH: A young newlywed couple was among the casualties. Our Saima Mohsin spoke to their grieving families.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Naveed and Shawana Ashraf were married just four months ago. They both died in the bombing. Both just 21 years old. Shawana usually wore the veil. Her family asked that we respect her privacy even though she's gone.

[03:35:00] (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MOHSIN: Just moments before the attack, this is now the last video taken by the Ashraf family on a day out at the amusement park. Laughter, happiness, then this.

Shawana had never been to the park. They had taken Naveed's sisters with them. They were sitting and having snacks close to this stand when the bomber struck. The family searched for them at the park and then found them at the hospital.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MOHSIN: It's too much for his sister to listen to. Her leg was injured in the bombing. Their mother, delirious. Father, resigned and unable to speak. (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MOHSIN: Naveed and Shawana died of shrapnel wounds to the head and neck.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MOHSIN: They were buried as soon as possible under Muslim law. First thing Monday. Leaving behind a family that says a darkness has befallen them.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

Saima Mohsin, CNN, Lahore, Pakistan.

CHURCH: Now Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is shaken by what he called the great loss of Jean Lapierre. A former Canadian politician killed Tuesday in a plane crash.

BARNETT: The seven dead include his wife, two brothers, his sister, and two crew members. What makes this worse is that the family was heading to the funeral of Lapierre's father when the plane crashed in wintery conditions.

CHURCH: A proud French Canadian, Lapierre was a federal cabinet minister. He also helped found a party that called for Quebec's separatism, a goal he later denied supporting. Lapierre was also a prominent radio host and political analyst.

President Barack Obama is shining the spotlight on addiction. Just ahead, you will hear how this woman's battle with the disease got his attention.

[03:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARNETT: U.S. President Barack Obama is calling for a new approach to solving this country's addiction epidemic.

CHURCH: Mr. Obama spoke to a panel in Atlanta, Georgia, moderated by CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. The appearance follows his new initiative to expand addiction treatment and access and more than $1 billion in federal aid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN'S CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Why this particular topic for you, sir?

BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PRESIDENT: Because it's important, and it's costing lives, and its devastating communities. When you look at the staggering statistics in terms of lives lost, productivity impacted, costs to communities, but most importantly cost to families from this epidemic of opioid abuse, it has to be something that is right up there at the top of our radar screen.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BARNETT: And this is why every 20, every 19 minutes, I should say, in

the U.S., someone dies from an overdose of various legal and illegal drugs called opioids. It's the leading cause of unintentional death for Americans, rising 14 percent from 2013 to 2014.

In 2014, nearly 21,000 deaths in the U.S. involved prescription opioids and more than 10,000 deaths involved heroin.

CHURCH: And one family that came to the president's attention is now speaking out.

Jessica Grubb died from a prescription overdose earlier this month. Now her father, David Grubb, is speaking out about his daughter's battle with addiction.

BARNETT: David Grubb joins us now from Charleston, West Virginia. David, I want to first share my condolences for your loss. I know this is raw. This is still very difficult for you to speak about publicly, but you're doing this because it's important, and I thank you very much for that, for joining us today.

DAVID GRUBB, LAWYER: Thank you for having me.

BARNETT: I do want to start by speaking about your daughter, Jessica. She was a top student, socially active before she became addicted. Tell us more about her and also what that means as far as who's at risk for this sort of thing.

GRUBB: Jessica was, you know, a straight-a student, involved in all kinds of activities, theater. She was a great artist, very good writer. She was just kind of a born leader and a good soul. She was one of our best friends, and the tragedy of it is that, you know, for her, she suffered a personal tragedy when she went away to college. It was a very difficult situation.

Her first semester in college, she was raped. That's something we haven't talked about until very recently. In fact, my wife and I didn't even know about it until very, very recently. It was at that time that a friend, who was a nice guy, you know, somebody that we knew, introduced her to heroin.

And for her, the first time she used it, she later told us, it was something that made all those feelings go away. She just didn't care anymore, and she felt at peace in a way.

For seven years, it was a roller coaster ride. She was in rehab four times. She had periods of two years where she was completely sober, but during her addict time, she was a different person. This disease, this problem, this addiction changes the person. The person is still there, but their behavior becomes so different.

BARNETT: That's a very interesting point that you make there. Now, this issue is getting a lot of attention in part because of what President Obama is doing. He and you share some similarities. You both worked as community organizers, were both state senators.

[03:45:00] How did you feel when he started mentioning you and Jessica while speaking about addiction to people across the U.S.?

GRUBB: It was a strange feeling. I'll be honest. I didn't ever anticipate something like this happening in my life. It was a feeling of, on the one hand, you know, he's talking about us. On the other hand, it's, oh, my God, he's talking about us. It's our family.

And I guess I feel good that it moved him and that it affected him in a way that may lead to some positive social change. Jessie was on a great path. She had been sober for six months. You know, she was into, I guess, her second month of sobriety when the Obama town meeting took place in Charleston. And she was sober thereafter.

And she wanted to live. She wanted, you know, to accomplish things. She wanted to be a mom. She had lots of dreams, and unfortunately, you know, because of problems within the health care system, she never got that opportunity.

BARNETT: Some of the problems within the system in the U.S. is funding. And what's interesting is you have Ted Cruz, Senator Ted Cruz, who at the CNN GOP town hall today mentioned that he lost his sister to drug use. You have republican and democratic support for this issue. Why isn't there more bipartisan funding?

GRUBB: Well, I think that's going to come. I think it is. I mean, there are republicans, democrats alike who are affected by this. It's been an issue that part of the problem, I think, is the republican philosophy is, you know, less government.

So, they have to overcome that hurdle, but we need more government funding. We need more government involvement. We need more education of doctors, of health care professionals, of the general public.

Our drug policy, I think, has been flipped upside down. The emphasis on criminal justice as opposed to treating it as a health care problem. All of that is critical to change, and I think Jessie would be the first one to say this is really good. I'm glad we're doing it. For us, it's hard. It's really hard because we miss her so much. And she was an important part of our life.

BARNETT: I'm certain she would be proud of what you're doing right now, and she certainly lives on in the work that you continue to do. Senator David Grubb joining us from Charleston, West Virginia. Thanks for your time today.

CHURCH: It is an impossible story for a parent to have to relay to the world.

BARNETT: Yes, it is.

CHURCH: Heartbreaking.

Well, the Oscar and Emmy Award winning actress, Patty Duke has died at the age of 69 from intestinal complications. Duke appeared on U.S. television in the 1960s comedy show named after her, but it was her signature role in the drama "The Miracle Worker" that won her acclaim and a best supporting actress Oscar. BARNETT: Duke was just 16 when she played Helen Keller, the real-life

activist and author who learned to read and speak although she was deaf and blind. Duke suffered from bipolar disorder and became an advocate for mental health issues.

We'll be right back.

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PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thanks for staying with CNN. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with you. Weather Watch around the Americas.

Look at this storm system that has been literally pitching a tent, camping over the southwestern, the intermountain west of the U.S. there, producing an incredible amount of snow showers over the past couple of days.

And in fact, winter weather advisories, winter storm warnings still in place across portions of the Rockies. And notice the storm does begin to weaken a little bit. Then we have another storm push in farther to the east.

[03:50:03] And this particular one could bring in some severe weather across parts of southern U.S. But indications here of easily two feet of snow possible over the seven days.

So, certainly, winter not done with yet across the intermountain west. But again, we're watching Wednesday afternoon for a major threat from really New Orleans out towards northern portions there of Iowa, where some severe weather is possible.

Temps around Denver warm up to around 7 degrees. Dallas gets in on some afternoon thunderstorms, into the mid and upper 20s in the forecast across northern Texas.

And notice Kingston, Jamaica, a little windy at times there. Guatemala City, some storms generally in the afternoon there, 24 degrees the afternoon high temperature. And to the south, we go thunderstorms abound. It is the wet season beginning to unfold across northern portions of Brazil.

Look at the thunderstorms over the next two days here. Some areas could easily exceed upwards of 200 millimeters of rainfall around three to seven point slightly to the south. And look at this. Autumn in the air to the south. Rio Gallegos, around 17.

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CHURCH: The land of Milk and Honey is getting a taste for whisky. An Israeli distillery has crafted the nation's first single malt.

BARNETT: Sounds intriguing. CNN's Oren Liebermann paid a visit to sample a drop.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the holy land where Palestinian and Israeli vintners are recreating the wine that Jesus drank, where there's a growing beer and microbrew scene, what's missing? Whisky. Milk and Honey, a distillery in Tel Aviv, is setting out to solve that problem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GAL KALKSHTEIN, MILK AND HONEY DISTILLERY OWNER: We can make good whisky in the hot climate. So, we wanted to try it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: It's Israel's first single malt whisky. Worldwide demand for single malt whisky has soared in recent years. High quality single malt is in short supply. The distillery sees an opening for Israeli kosher whiskey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KALKSHTEIN: In Israel there is no and not enough drinker so we want to export, and we want people that love the land and love whisky to buy our whisky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: The first production batch will be one million bottles, most of which will ship overseas. Whisky sales in the U.S. are booming, a potential market for the distillery.

This copper still is at the heart of the Milk and Honey distillery, custom made based on the scotch model of making whisky. It's new, so it's clean on the inside. But over time it will build up a residue from each new batch, so that each new whisky builds on the flavors of the whiskies before it.

Master distiller James Swan pours us a tasting of a test batch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES SWAN, MILK AND HONEY MASTER DISTILLER: It's meant to be light, easy drinks. That's the idea. Most people like fruity whiskies. So, we're aiming at the whole world.

LIEBERMANN: You've had more than a few glasses of whisky.

SWAN: I've had more than a few, yes.

LIEBERMANN: How does this stack up?

SWAN: I think pretty good. I'd be happy to sit and drink that.

LIEBERMANN: The first batch that has aged a full three years is not ready yet?

SWAN: No, no. So, you'll have to come back in another two and a half years or so years to try them. So, it's just...

(CROSSTALK)

LIEBERMANN: We will come back.

SWAN: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: Whisky would be a tiny fraction of Israel's multi-million dollar alcohol industry. The entrepreneur's hope, the market matures with their whisky.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, Tel Aviv.

BARNETT: Oren has covered Israeli wine recently. So, I'm noticing a trend here.

CHURCH: He is having fun.

BARNETT: NASA says Arctic Sea ice coverage is melting faster than ever.

CHURCH: Yes. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now from the International Weather Center with this alarming news. What have you got there?

JAVAHERI: You know, every single year, guys, we touch on how the sea ice levels are really becoming depleted across parts of the Arctic region. I'll show you a satellite imagery depiction here of the year 1991.

I want to show up the ice coverage expansion. And notice, again, how far north is. Here's portions of Alaska, the United States, Canada, work your way on the northern fringe of this, we're talking about Asia.

And as we put the map in motion here for you, take you through the years, you see the coverage gradually become lesser here as we get into the 2000s, and then eventually by 2014 and 2015, we had the most and the lowest extent of Arctic Sea ice.

[03:55:01] And again, notice how far it's dropped off from the beginning of the 1990s alone. Now we know the 2016 data has just come out in the past couple of days. And they're showing of course with the incredible rise in temperatures on our planet, just this year alone, you see where we started.

There's 2016. The temps about 1.1 degrees Celsius above what is considered normal on a global scale, 2015 prior to this was the warmest year on record. It was way down here at about a degree or so Celsius above what is considered normal.

So, that pattern certainly continues to increase. And what NASA has released in the past 24 or so hours, they're talking about how the typical 30-year average of how much ice coverage is found across the northern portion of our planet, and the Arctic Sea is about 15 and a half million square kilometers of ice. It's about roughly the size of the country of Russia. About a million

square kilometers has depleted in 2016 at its maximum point. You do the math, about 1.12 million to be precise. That is the equivalent of the size of the country of France, the country of Spain put together. That is how much ice is now missing across portions of the Arctic for 2016, the lowest ever observed via NASA satellite.

And the reason this is so significant, when you take a look at ice and the sun's energy as it radiates off of ice or any sort of highly reflective object like ice, it actually ascends and emits the energy back up into the upper atmosphere that allows our temperatures to be stabilized.

Of course, when you melt that, it is more absorbed. The temperatures become far warmer across the northern portion of our planet. But you look at the last 10 months. Every single one of them has set records since May 2015, going all the way to February 2016 of the warmest months ever observed.

So, you put all of it together, you see how the ice coverage is really shrinking across really the most important portion of our planet, being the Arctic region at this point, guys.

CHURCH: Wow. Sobering analysis there, Pedram.

BARNETT: Always learn so much during Pedram said.

CHURCH: Yes.

JAVAHERI: Thanks, guys.

CHURCH: Many thanks. Thanks for being with us, everyone, I'm Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: I'm Errol Barnett. That's it for us, but there's more CNN Newsroom after the break.

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