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Police Arrest 140 Demonstrators In Brussels; Greece To Send Migrants Back To Turkey Monday; Debris May Yield Details About Missing Airliner; Sanders And Clinton Debate About A Debate. Aired 2-2:30a ET

Aired April 03, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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

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GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN World Headquarters here in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm George Howell. NEWSROOM starts right now.

Good day. We begin this hour in Brussels with what is being called a sign of hope, following last month's deadly terror attacks in the Belgian capital. That city's main airport will partially reopen to passengers in the coming hours, for the first time since terrorists there blew up bombs there and at a Metro station.

There will be just three outbound flights on Sunday, to Greece, Italy and Portugal, and more flights will be added in the coming days.

As the airport reopens, tensions remain high in the Belgian capital. Protesters took to the streets on Saturday, despite a ban on public demonstrations and at least 140 people were arrested. Our Alexander Field is in Brussels and has this report for us.

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ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police were in full force across the city of Brussels. Officials tell us they made some 140 arrests of people who were refusing to follow orders not to demonstrate and not to protest this weekend.

That order was given by city officials earlier in the week after a right-wing anti-immigrant group announced plans to stage a demonstration in Molenbeek, a community that is heavily immigrant.

That demonstration was ultimately canceled. However, a crowd had gathered in Molenbeek perhaps to counter that planned march. Instead that group started its own march towards the center of Brussels.

They were pushed back by police officers heavily armed in riot gear and even using crowd control vehicles. Those weren't the only arrests of the day. However, we also saw arrests made in the Place Dela Bourse.

That's the square in the middle of Brussels where people have been gathering since the bombing at the Metro and the airport to memorialize and commemorate the victims often leaving flowers and well wishes.

But a big crowd did gather there today. That's what prompted police to come in. They asked members of the crowd to disburse. Those who didn't were taken into custody.

We are told that all the people who were arrested, connected to these demonstrations and marches face administrative charges for failing to follow the orders not to demonstrate. That means they will get a couple hours of detention and a fine. In Brussels, Alexandra Field, CNN.

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HOWELL: Now, on to Greece, which is facing demonstrations over the E.U.'s new refugee deal with Turkey that goes into effect on Monday. Dozens of migrants in Greece stopped traffic to protest the closing of border to Western Europe.

They blocked this highway near the Greek Macedonian border. One Syrian refugee said no one is paying attention to their suffering.

And on Friday, hundreds of migrants marched against the E.U. deal. It calls for migrants who traveled to Greece from Turkey, to be sent back. And in exchange, the E.U. will take in a Syrian refugee.

Thousands of migrants and refugees continue to trek across the mediterranian each week. The International Organization for Migration says more than 169,000 people have made this dangerous journey so far this year, with many arriving in Greece.

The Greek Coast Guard says more than half of the arrivals are from Syria. Journalist, Elinda Labropoulou has more on the E.U. deal and the rising panic among migrants facing deportation.

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ELINDA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST: They thought this would give them the ability to start a better life. Now, they're hearing this may be taken away from them. They're trying to leave the camps on the island of (inaudible), close to Lesbos, another main entry point into the European Union.

There have been clashes between mainly migrants and refugees. Those that are fortunate to stay, and those no longer qualifying to claim asylum in Europe. Migrants there broke the fence. They left one of the camps.

They went to the port of Heos. They've been sleeping there, a second night they're sleeping there. They've been holding banners all morning, saying Turkey, no. Germany, yes. They're calling for freedom.

So they're trying to do all they can to make sure they get on boats, leave the islands and go to Athens. From there, they're hoping that by making their way to the northern border, they will be able to enter Europe.

[02:05:11]Now you have to understand that there's a lot of misinformation and misconceptions that are going around these camps. Some think that the borders are open. The borders are shut so they are left with very little choice.

And the more they realize this, the more they realize that those who do not qualify for asylum may be turned back. That anger and panic simply rises. The Greek authorities say they're not prepared. They're understaffed.

That they have asked for lots of help from the E.U. That the personnel that they've been promised has not arrived yet and on Monday, the returns begin.

Just to show how difficult it will be to persuade these people to go back. From what we are hearing, for every one person that's going to be resettled, they have to be escorted by one E.U. officer. So as we understand, you know, there's so much fear these people will try to do all they can in order to be able to stay.

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HOWELL: Journalist, Elinda Labropoulou reporting there for us in Syria.

Government forces have uncovered a mass brave in Palmyra nearly a week after recapturing that ancient city from ISIS. Syria media reported at least 40 bodies were discovered there. Many were women and children, some showed signs of beheading and torture. The victims are believed to be among hundreds killed by ISIS after it seized Palmyra back in May.

A decades' old dispute over territory between Armenia and Azerbaijan has flared up again. At least 30 people from both countries were killed in clashes by armed forces on Saturday. Both countries claimed the (inaudible) region, that is a land area surrounded by Azerbaijan.

But mainly occupied by forces that are backed by Armenia. Both the United States and Russia are asking both sides to de-escalate and try to reach a diplomatic solution.

Now, to the mystery of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH-370. A piece of debris in the island nation of Mauritius may help explain what happened to that plane. Hotel workers found a piece of wreckage on a beach on Thursday. You'll remember that 239 people were on board that flight when it disappeared back in 2014. Our aviation correspondent, Richard Quest, has more on this.

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RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: From the pictures that we've seen, this one seems pretty clear-cut. It is obviously a part of an internal panel. It's believed to be from the business class section. The pattern of the wall is distinctive. It has a flower pattern. If you compare this piece to pieces that have been known about already, and look at what's on the planes, you see it is similar. It is identical. So, this could suggest that the piece did come from MH370.

And it would tell investigators that the plane did, indeed, break up, either in the air, or when it hit the water, and didn't manage to land or do a gentle ditching in the ocean. How much more it will tell investigators, of course, is somewhat suspect.

It is unlikely going to tell them about where the plane went down. But the more pieces of debris they find, the greater the picture they get of how the aircraft came out of the sky.

By looking at compression, fractures, rips and tears, they will be able to determine the forces the plane went through. They're still a long way from that, but this is one more piece of a very complicated puzzle. Richard Quest, CNN, New York.

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HOWELL: America's Choice 2016 and the Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump made what you might call an uncharacteristic apology. (Inaudible) on Saturday, he told the "New York Times" that his Twitter attack on his rival's wife, Heidi Cruz was a mistake and that he wouldn't do it again.

Trump retweeted an unflattering picture of Cruz last month. It was part of an ugly spat that featured attacks on both Trump and Cruz's spouses.

On the Democratic side, the presidential candidates are focusing on two important primaries coming up, in the states of Wisconsin and New York.

And the attacks between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are heating up. Our Chris Frates reports that the two Democrats are debating now about debating.

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[02:10:02]CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton campaigning hard in Wisconsin in the northern city of O'Claire today. But before either candidate even hit the ground here in Wisconsin, they were throwing mud at each other.

The Clinton campaign, accusing the Bernie Sanders campaign of projecting three different dates to debate in New York and April saying, this, quote, "The Sanders campaign needs to stop using the New York primary as a playground for political gains and negative attacks against Hillary Clinton.

Now the spokesman for the Sanders campaign, Michael Briggs (ph) firing back hard with his statement today. Saying, quote, "Unfortunately, the dates and venues she has proposed didn't make a lot of sense. The idea that they want to debate in New York on a night of the NCAA finals with Syracuse and (inaudible) is ludicrous. We have proposed other dates, which they have rejected. We hope we can reach agreement in the near future."

Now it's important to remember how this all started, after Bernie Sanders had a big weekend sweeping wins in Washington, Alaska and Hawaii, he challenged Hillary Clinton to a debate in her adopted home state of New York.

For about a week, Hillary Clinton was rather non-committal then yesterday he campaign saying that they are trying to work out the dates with the Sanders campaign and then today, the Clinton campaign going after the Sanders campaigns saying that they're playing games with these dates.

The Sanders campaign, of course, denying it and the reason why this New York primary is so important, many people expect that Bernie Sanders would be able to win in Wisconsin, to be able to close the gap in delegates that he has. He is lagging about 240 delegates. He needs to upset her in New York.

There's a huge cash of delegates available in the empire state, about 250. That's second only to California. If Bernie Sanders can pull a win there and upset Hillary Clinton in her adopted home state, he comes very close to closing that gap against Hillary Clinton.

So Sanders and Clinton hashing out when they are going to have this debate is very important. Where and when can have a big impact of that April 19th primary. We're going to continue watch that. Here in Wisconsin, Chris Frates, CNN.

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HOWELL: The debate about debates. Stay with us here on CNN all day for Tuesday coverage, complete analysis of the critical Wisconsin primary, only here on CNN.

We thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell at the CNN Center in Atlanta. "Marketplace Africa" is next. And I'll have your world headlines at the bottom of the hour. This is CNN.

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