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Clinton on Hecklers; Army Opens Combat Roles; Apple: "Impossible" to Make Unbreakable Phone; Final Four Teams Battle This Weekend. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired April 01, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00] JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: From the very same people - kinds of people who work for oil and gas companies. And the other thing I think we have to say, Carol, is, Sanders has repeatedly said his success comes from small individual contributions. They had another huge fundraising month in March.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, they sure did. Joe Johns reporting live for us today. Thank you.

About that clash between Clinton and that protestors, it may be a boon to Bernie Sanders, and that's something that frustrates Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: (INAUDIBLE).

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Oh, I know, the Bernie people came to say that. We're very sorry you're leaving. As they're leaving, I want to say, I have earned 9 million votes in this election already. I - I have 1 million more votes than Donald Trump. And I have 2.5 million more votes than Bernie Sanders!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right, with me now is CNN political commentator and Morehouse College professor Marc Lamont Hill, and editor in chief of "The Hill," Bob Cusack.

Welcome to both of you.

BOB CUSACK, EDITOR IN CHIEF, "THE HILL": Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good to be here.

COSTELLO: Nice to have you here.

So, Bob, I'm going to start with you. Maybe Mr. Trump has a point, are Bernie Sanders supporters agitators intent on confrontation, not just at Trump rallies but at Clinton rallies, too?

CUSACK: Well, I think some of them certainly are, and that's their game plan is to get in Hillary Clinton's head and her campaign head. But overall, as Hillary Clinton just said, she's doing quite well. She's gotten a lot of votes. She's looking very good for this nomination. And she just needs to, I think, continue what she's doing. I mean she's won a lot of the African-American vote. That's the key to the nomination. Bernie Sanders has not been able to really cut into her lead in that demographic.

So, overall, I vote - do think Hillary Clinton's going to have to be patient because Bernie Sanders is not going anywhere, as Joe Johns mentioned. He has millions and millions of dollars and he's saying he's going to go all the way to the convention. I'm not so sure he's going to go all the way to the convention, but he's going to be sticking around for a while. And I just think she needs to keep doing what she's doing, winning most states, and she's going to win this thing.

COSTELLO: OK, so going back to these Bernie protesters for just a second, and I want to ask you this, Mark. There was "A Washington Post" article that talked about how racist Sanders supporters can be. I talked with a Clinton supporter as Wellesley yesterday. Actually two days ago. Listen to what she told me about Bernie Sanders' supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Tell me what the Bernie bros do?

HANNAH LINDOW, WELLESLEY COLLEGE STUDENT & CLINTON SUPPORTER: I can't tell you how many times someone has commented on an article I'll posted about Hillary and said, this could be a man or a woman. You're just voting with your vagina. And I find that to be very frustrating for a few different reasons. First of all, to define myself and to define Secretary Clinton by our anatomy I find to be incredibly insulting. Also the idea that it's somehow is self-centered or selfish consideration for women to want to see female representation at our nation's highest office is personally insulting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK, so we demand that Mr. Trump shut down, you know, that kind of fiery rhetoric from his supporters. So why aren't we demanding Sanders do the same?

HILL: Well, because Sanders isn't saying it. The difference is, Donald Trump doesn't have surrogates out there saying inappropriate things. Donald Trump stands on national stages and says things that are wildly inappropriate. You can't blame Bernie Sanders for what one or two random people on the street say. Bernie Sanders doesn't promote that kind of rhetoric. In fact, Bernie Sanders has done the opposite.

I do see at - at moment what -

COSTELLO: But this woman said it's more than some random one or two. She says she's harassed online by Bernie Sanders' supporters. So it's not just one or two.

HILL: Yes. Yes, but those are still online trolls. And, Carol, it still nullifies the argument you made which was that - which is a comparison to Donald Trump, who's saying it himself. Again, I don't think Bernie Sanders is in his mother's basement trolling people. It's apples and oranges.

What I do think is interesting, though, is that Hillary Clinton avoided the - the real fundamental question, which is, what does it mean to have big oil and fossil fuel supporting you? Even if it's not a PAC, but instead it is a - someone who works for the company, in many ways that can be a distinction without a difference. Oh, a big oil company didn't support me, somebody who works for a big oil company. Well, is this the janitor in the basement, or is this a high- ranking executive? I mean those types of questions do matter and I think we have to get to the bottom of it, not just for Hillary but for Bernie too. Bernie Sanders is not without critique or above critique.

COSTELLO: Yes, but, Bob, does it matter that Bernie Sanders is also benefiting from people who work for the oil and gas industry to the tune of $50,000 or because it's $330,000 for Hillary Clinton?

HILL: $50,000.

COSTELLO: It doesn't matter that Bernie Sanders is accepting this money, even if it is only $50,000?

CUSACK: Listen, I think it's the strength of Bernie Sanders is that he's getting very - a lot of small dollar donations. So is Hillary Clinton, but Bernie Sanders is getting more of them. But I do think that Hillary Clinton has a good comeback in that she can say, well, listen, whoever gives to me, whether it's the pharmaceutical industry, or whether it's the fossil fuel industry, my policies are, I'm going to try to lower prescription drug prices, I'm for climate change, I'm for what President Obama is doing on that issue and I think that's got to be her line and her policy line.

[09:35:08] And Bernie Sanders has gone after Hillary Clinton, but he's gone after her on policies, certainly gone after her on big money, but has avoid the touchy topic of the e-mail controversy. And that's why I think the Democrats, they're fighting now, but I think in a few months they'll be united.

COSTELLO: All right, I have to leave it there.

HILL: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: Marc Lamont Hill, Bob Cusack, thanks to both of you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the Pentagon gears up to open combat roles to women. Up next, I sit down with an army recruit about making history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Today, female pioneers will stand side by side with their male counterparts who are training to become U.S. combat soldiers. For the first time in history, women heading into the Army can choose to pursue any position the Army has to offer, with two exceptions, special forces and Army Rangers. Today, more than 200,000 combat roles, previously closed to women, are now open, as long as women can meet new gender-blind standards.

[09:40:23] (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO (voice-over): Army basic combat training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody cover me while I move (ph)!

COSTELLO: Company Delta Dogs, about 30 percent female, is training for war. No big deal. Not here. But with these new recruits, history is in the making. For the first time, women, if they meet standards, can choose to physically fight alongside their male counterparts. Nulee Lee cannot wait to be one of them. She joined the Army to become a combat engineer.

COSTELLO (on camera): How do you feel about being a pioneer?

NULEE LEE, U.S. ARMY RECRUIT, COMBAT ENGINEERING: I feel like it's such a great honor because I can be a part of this, like, group of women that is basically making history.

ASH CARTER, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Our force of the future must continue to benefit from the best people America has to offer. This includes women, because they make up over 50 percent of the American population.

COSTELLO (voice-over): The Department of Defense is wasting no time making the armed services more attractive to that 50 percent. In the last year, it's doubled paid maternity leave, expanded child care options. Mothers rooms will be installed at military facilities. And the military will even cover women wanting to freeze their eggs. President Obama also named General Lori Robinson the new head of U.S. Northern Command, the first woman ever to command a combat unit.

COSTELLO (on camera): What is it in particular about the Army that attracts you?

LEE: I feel like the Army has a lot to offer and there's no down side - I can't see a down side to this. So I just think it's a great and honorable thing to do.

COSTELLO: So when the Defense Department announced that combat roles would be open to women, that all roles within the military would be open to women, did that pique your interest more?

LEE: Yes. I feel like - I'm pro-equality. I think everyone should have the same opportunities. And combat roles are not - I feel like if you're going to join the Army, there's a reason why it's called Army strong. Like, you need to be strong. You're not going to join if you know you can't do all the things that are required of you.

COSTELLO: Would you be willing to serve in a combat role?

LEE: Of course. I - I - my MOS is 12 Bravo, which is combat engineering. So that is under combat. And there's a chance I will go into war. And I'm very willing. COSTELLO (voice-over): Translation, Nulee's MOS, or military

occupational specialty, repairing Army vehicles when they break down on the battlefield. Oh, and defusing bombs and demolishing land mines.

COSTELLO (on camera): Do you realize you could die?

LEE: It's something I was very aware of. And dying for your country is a very honorable way to die. So even though it's frightening, it's still not too frightening, I guess. I don't want to think about it.

COSTELLO (voice-over): Nulee ships to basic combat training June 1st, eager to make history. If basic training is any indication, she'll be indoctrinated into and old boys' club, except this time perhaps by a women. Men and women at Fort Jackson all expected to become Army strong together. They seem, at least here, to embrace the idea that their battlefield team is co-ed. A good sign for the Army, which is betting that a more inclusive, equal military will convince more women to serve.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Now, critics say the idea of women in combat is politically motivated. I asked the Defense Secretary Ash Carter during a visit to West Point if that was true.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASH CARTER, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We're being very careful in the implementation, making sure that everybody has to meet standards. There are no quotas.

COSTELLO: Some critics say this is all being done for politically correct reasons.

CARTER: It's being done for force effectiveness, and that means reaching into the entirety of the American population and looking for talent. And - and there are clearly talented women who will make very good soldiers of all sorts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Just to clarify, soldiers are not forced into combat positions and they can't automatically qualify. First, they must meet new gender neutral standards and, secondly, if they don't want a combat role, there are plenty of other roles in which to serve.

[09:44:50] Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Apple wouldn't do it, so the FBI found another way. The mystery hackers who unlocked the San Bernardino killer's iPhone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We have an idea of who helped the FBI crack an iPhone used by the San Bernardino killer Syed Farook. Sources say the Israeli company Cellebrite is the mysterious outside party U.S. officials cited last week. News comes as Apple engineers say making an unbreakable phone is impossible.

CNN's Jose Pagliery joins me now. So, why do we think it's this Israeli company?

JOSE PAGLIERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Okay, so all signs are pointing to Cellebrite and here's why. We'll start with the fact Cellebrite is known as the go-to phone unlocker for the FBI. Every time the FBI wants to unclock a phone, Cellebrite's usually the company they go to. They've done this now since at least 2009.

How about element number two? Cellebrite has 187 contracts with the FBI dating back seven years. The biggest contract they ever landed with the FBI, $218,000, was signed the very same day that the FBI said that it unlocked this phone.

[09:50:2] And then there's element number three. I have an inside source with direct contact to a team at Cellebrite who says that it was Cellebrite. It was specifically a genius engineer in Seattle that helped pull this off.

COSTELLO: So, why all the secrecy?

PAGLIERY: That's a great question. I mean, Cellebrite is a company that has helped the FBI in the past, helped law enforcement do this. The secrecy, I guess, would be to hide just how much they know, just how successful they can be going forward in breaking into future phones.

COSTELLO: So, what is Apple saying about all of this?

PAGLIERY: Apple wants to know who did it and how it was pulled it off, but the FBI hasn't said they're going to do that. Now again, going back to why there are signs pointing to Cellebrite, we - we did an interview here at CNN 2014 that - that - with a member of Cellebrite and they explained exactly what it is the company does.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

YUVAL BEN MOSHE, FORESNICS TECHNICAL DIR. CELLEBRITE: So, one thing is really the quick access to the data. The other layer is in a longer term investigations we allow law enforcement the very deep and detailed access to a lot of information that is on the mobile device, and then it allows them to deduct who did what when, which is the essence of any investigation when you look at it.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

COSTELLO: Interesting. Very interesting.

PAGLIERY: All signs pointing to Cellebrite.

COSTELLO: I know, it'll be interesting to see if there's anything on that phone that's valuable, right?

PAGLIERY: That's a great question. We'll find out.

COSTELLO: Jose Pagliery, thanks so much for stopping by. I appreciate it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO (voice-over): Checking on some top stories for you at 51 minutes past. A Belgium court has cleared the way for Paris terror attack suspect Salah Abdeslam to be extradited to France. It's not yet known when exactly that will take place. Abdeslam was on the run for four months after the Paris attacks when he was captured last month in a suburb of Brussels.

A sharp spike in gun violence in Chicago has the city on track to post its highest homicide total in 17 years. The "Chicago Tribune" reports the city has already logged 135 deaths for the first three months of this year. That's more than 70 percent higher than last year. The newspaper says if the trend continues, Chicago will rack up 550 homicides by the end of the year, compared with 468 homicides in 2015.

Oh, my. A whale watching adventure comes to a startling end for some tourists in San Diego. Look at that little lady, got out of there just in time. You can hear the horn blaring as the tour boat slams into a pier. People on the landing scattering in the nick of time, including, as I said, that elderly woman. Wow.

No one on the dock was hurt. Three passengers on board, though, complained of pain and were taken to a hospital. It is unclear at this point why the ship failed to stop.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO (on camera): Coming up, two words, final four. Andy Scholes is in Houston where the action is.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Carol. The final four is finally here. Villanova, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Syracuse. We'll preview the big match ups coming up when NEWSROOM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:57:07] COSTELLO: And then there were four. March might be over, but the madness certainly continues. Two big games this Saturday, but all the talk seems to be about one player who grew up practicing on baskets made of milk crate basket, bicycle rims and toilet seats. Andy Scholes is in Houston with more on that. Good morning.

SCHOLES: Good morning, Carol. Yes, we're talking about Oklahoma star Buddy Hield, and if you haven't sat down and watched Buddy Hield play in this tournament this far, you're missing out. He's been the star of the tournament. 29 points a game, and he's the best show we've seen in March madness since Steph Curry was playing for Davidson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES (voice-over): But he has a great story. He grew up in the Bahamas with his three brothers and three sisters. He moved to the United States when he was 12 years old. And if you're wondering why he's called Buddy, it's his nickname, it's pretty funny. His mom, a big fan of the show "Married with Children," and she

actually gave him the nickname Bud when he was a kid. It turned into Buddy, so it's a pretty funny story how that turned out. Now, Buddy could have actually gone to the NBA after last season but he decided to come back for his senior year and its definitely paid off. He's got the Sooners in the final four for the first time since 2002. And his coach, Lon Kruger, says he's one of the best players he's ever coached.

LON KRUGER, OKLAHOMA HEAD COACH: I've been impressed from day one. His passion for the game, his ability to focus from a work ethic standpoint on things he needs to do to get better. You know, after his freshman, sophomore year everyday he'd ask me, coach, you know, how can I get better.

JAY WRIGHT, VILLANOVA HEAD COACH: If you get up on him, he can go by you and still pull up for a three. I don't know if that's part of his plan, but it's genius if it is.

SCHOLES: And Oklahoma will take on Villanova. And the other match up is North Carolina versus Syracuse, and it's no surprise that Roy Williams the Tar Heels are here in Houston, they're a one seed. But Jim Boeheim and Syracuse, well, they've been the surprise of the tournament as a ten seed. They're only the fourth double digit seed to make it to the final four.

But now this is nothing new for Williams and Boeheim, though. Williams, this is his eighth final four, it's number five for boeheim. They will square off in the late game tomorrow night. Oklahoma and Villanova, they're going to get things going at 6:00 Eastern. Both games can be seen on our sister station, TBS.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES (on camera): And be sure to tune in to CNN before the games tomorrow. Fredricka Whitfield and tuner (ph) sports analyst Steve Smith, they'll get you going for all the action. We have an all access feature for the final four. That's going to be at 2:30 Eastern tomorrow right here on CNN.

And Carol, I could not let you go before we talk about the CNN anchor brackets. You know why?

COSTELLO: Why?

SCHOLES Because I'm in first. I'm in first place.

COSTELLO: Whatever.

SCHOLES: So, I had to mention those. You're a little bit further down in the standings, Carol, but, hey, it just wasn't your year.

COSTELLO: A little bit?