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Clinton Sanders Campaign Ahead of Wisconsin Primary; Huge Leak Allegedly Reveals Elite's Secret Assets; Police Try to Narrow Paris/Brussels Suspect List; 1st Migrants Deported from Green Arrive in Turkey. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired April 04, 2016 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Senator Bernie Sanders on making a last-minute campaign stop in Wisconsin, speaking today about the Republican governor of Wisconsin.

Sanders just wrapped up a rally in Janesville. He has to go to Green Bay, Milwaukee for events later today. Sanders also looking to take as many of the 86 delegates up for grabs as he can in tomorrow's Wisconsin primary.

With us, in Washington, is Tad Devine, the senior adviser to the Bernie Sanders campaign.

I take it Wisconsin, critically important. You think you will win. If you don't, what happens?

TAD DEVINE, SENIOR ADVISOR, BERNIE SANDERS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: It will be hard if we don't. We are working hard to win there. We need momentum. Hillary won the first half of the process. We said if we are going to win we have to dominate the second half and tomorrow we have a good chance of winning Wisconsin.

BLITZER: What about New York State? You just saw Joel Benenson, from the Hillary Clinton campaign, say they are strong in New York, her adopted home state.

DEVINE: He's right. She is strong in New York, she is well liked, she has a lot going in New York. It's a closed primary so Independents can't vote. She has a lot of things going in New York. However, we have a guy who grew up in Brooklyn, son of an immigrant. We have a great New York story to tell about Bernie and his values and the issues that he cares about.

BLITZER: The week after New York, at the end of April, you have Pennsylvania and a few other states like Maryland, the northeast. He just said, Joel Benenson, that's the goal line, they think they can wrap it up by then.

DEVINE: Well, they said in February it would be over in March and now it is April, so, you know. We will work hard to compete. New York is important. Wisconsin is a pivotal day in the process. We think we can compete with her in Pennsylvania.

BLITZER: But they have a big advantage in the super delegates. How do you wean those away? Right now, she is over 400. You are about 30.

DEVINE: I think the super delegates, there's two groups. One, a couple hundred haven't made a commitment yet and that's who we're talking to and reaching out to right now. The other groups committed to her -- remember, in 2008, 120 super delegates who committed to Hillary Clinton turned around and moved to Barack Obama before the convention. We think we can move the super delegates.

BLITZER: Are you trying to do that now --

DEVINE: Yeah, sure.

BLITZER: Are you talking to these super delegates? You have staff working with them?

DEVINE: We do, Wolf, making contact and letting them know we are here. We are not in a persuasion phrase with that group yet. We'll wait and try to prove it with voters and then reach out to them.

BLITZER: You heard what he just said, Joel Benenson, from the Clinton campaign, that Mayor de Blasio has given you an opportunity to switch an event you have scheduled to another date to accommodate primetime during the week debate in New York City. Are you accepting that?

DEVINE: We have to find out exactly. That was a tweet, so 140 characters.

(CROSSTALK)

DEVINE: Yeah. We have to find out. Listen, we welcome the help and hope we can work it out.

BLITZER: Are you willing to change the date of that event in New York City?

DEVINE: We are willing to debate on four days, the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th. We're willing to debate on any of those days and we'd love to find an accommodation between the campaigns.

BLITZER: What about the 14th?

DEVINE: That is when our event is.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: What if they could move your event from the 14th?

DEVINE: Sure, if we can work it out that is great. I heard what Joel said and I say the same thing. Let's work it out.

BLITZER: The criticism from the Clinton campaign about Bernie Sanders is he is running for the Democratic presidential nomination but he's not a Democrat.

DEVINE: Well --

BLITZER: He's an Independent. For years, he was always elected as an Independent. He's still not a registered Democrat.

DEVINE: If he could register in Vermont, he would. There's no party registration in the state. Bernie made a decision to run as a Democrat for president. It's a good decision. He didn't want to be like Ralph Nader. He understood a campaign like his would almost certainly elect a Republican. He is made a commitment to run as a Democrat. He's caucused with the Democrats for 25 years. If you look at his voting record, he has a better record of voting with the Democratic leadership than Hillary Clinton when they were in Congress together. He's been true to the principles and issues of the Democratic Party. He'll be a great Democrat president.

BLITZER: The argument they are making he is not loyal to the Democrats. Democrats, they are not going to get much support in terms of fundraising, other organizational activities.

DEVINE: That's not true. First of all, the biggest thing that Bernie Sanders can do for the Democratic Party is turn out the electorate he would love turn out. That would be an electorate that will elect him president and elect the Democrats in the House and Senate. We can take them back with a Bernie Sanders electorate. I don't think that Hillary Clinton is capable of doing that.

BLITZER: Why isn't she capable of doing that?

DEVINE: But a she cannot bring Independents to the process. She cannot bring young people in to the process the way that Barack Obama did in 2008 and the way Bernie Sanders is doing this year. She cannot bring a lot of people who otherwise would not vote in the process because they feel left out and behind. The Sanders electorate is the one that Democrats --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: But if she gets the nomination, you will help her right? Get those young people, get people out there to mobilize --

(CROSSTALK)

DEVINE: We will make plans what we'll do in the general election when the primary is over. But Bernie has been clear he will support the nominee of the Democratic Party.

BLITZER: Tad Devine, thank you for coming in.

DEVINE: Thank you, Wolf.

[13:35:46] BLITZER: Up next, the Kremlin and others are on the defensive right now as new details leak about billions of dollars hidden in off-shore accounts. This just in to CNN, the Department of Justice here in Washington is now weighing in, as well. That story and a lot more news after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The U.S. Justice Department here in Washington says it is reviewing reports that claim some of the world's most wealthy and powerful have stashed billions of dollars in secret off-shore accounts, some allegedly linked to the U.S. financial system.

All of this stems from an unprecedented leak of more 11 million documents from a law firm, Mossack Fonseca, in Panama. The information comes from a year-long investigation in the so-called Panama Papers. In that, a total of 12 current and former leaders around the world, from Argentina to Ukraine as well as 128 other politicians and public figures are accused of being involved.

For more, let's bring in our senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance, joining us live from Moscow; and our business correspondent, host of "Quest Means Business," Richard Quest, joining us from New York.

Richard, we all know the rich and powerful use these tax havens to hide their wealth. What is most significant about this revelation? Is any it illegal?

[13:40:25] RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: Proof, Wolf is what it is about. This shows the web of intrigue, and the size, the scale, the depths. Though, most of it probably wasn't illegal. Not all of it is designed for money laundering purposes. A lot of it is designed for these companies and off shore some for avoidance of tax and others will have been to shield assets from divorcing spouses, some will simply have been to protect the privacy of what people were doing with the assets. And, yes, Wolf, there will be a large dose of this that will have been criminal behavior, as the looting of companies or of countries, big off-shore trusts and intermediaries, and you name it. This shows, Wolf, the size, the scale and the depths of this intrigue.

BLITZER: Amazing. You think about 11 million documents.

Matthew, among the documents, several show a network of secret off- shore deals. Loans of $2 billion lent to close friends of Putin. What is the Kremlin saying about this?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's astonishing the scale of this, these enterprises revealed by the latest leak and the deals, as well. We shine a light on the way the financial system, the potentially corrupt financial system works in Russia at its highest level. One deal shows one of Putin's friends was given a bank loan of $800 million. There's no record to show a single dollar, a single cent was paid back. It's those kinds of dodgy deals that have come out in this. Vladimir Putin's name is not on any of the documents. He's not directly implicated, as such. But it all points to a connection with the head of the Russian state. And that is something the Kremlin has been commenting on today, categorically denying that Putin has done anything wrong, saying these reports were lies, saying they were designed to discredit Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader, ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled later this year. The Kremlin has been consistent in denying this.

But of course, it's not the first time that we have seen corruption allegations leveled at the Kremlin, but the detail is very explicit and very accurate.

BLITZER: Richard, it's not just the Kremlin that is now being investigated. I know that, in addition to the U.S. Justice Department, Australia, U.K., Mexico, they are taking a closer look at these documents, as well. What are the implications of what's going on?

QUEST: The implications are that there are a large number of people around the world -- 800 investigated in Australia, the British authority said it has dozens of leads it is following up. In Iceland, the current prime minister is now having walked out of an interview today because it was revealed he had a secret company that had bonds in a bank being bailed out.

Wolf, it is important to say, off-shore companies, as such, are not necessarily illegal. The law firm involved said it has been operating 40 years above reproach and never been charged with any form of criminal activity. So just having an off-shore bank account -- but the problem, Wolf, is as the nexus got tighter post Great Recession, as countries made it more difficult to hide things, what's really behind this now, there will be dozens, hundreds of thousands of people worldwide that will be nervous about what is to about to be revealed about their assets.

BLITZER: Enormous when you think of the ramifications. 11 million documents leaked in this case.

Matthew Chance, Richard Quest, thank you very much.

Unraveling the web of terror in Europe right now. Members of a killer cell of terrorists on the loose linked to the attacks in Brussels. We have the latest on the manhunt. New information coming in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:48:30] BLITZER: President Obama met with the secretary-general of NATO. They discussed joint efforts to fight ISIS. The president praised NATO as a linchpin of security. Here's what he said a little while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We agree that one of most important functions is performing and continue to perform is help in the training and assistance process for troops in Iraq, in Jordan, in many of the areas in the region. And we are continuing to cooperate in an ongoing basis about operations potentially in areas like Libya, where you have the beginnings of a government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The meeting with NATO's secretary-general follows Donald Trump's comment last week that the organization was becoming, quote, "obsolete."

The hunt is now on to find a number of radical Islamists connected to the Paris and Brussels attacks who are still on the loose. As the investigation unfolds, CNN is learning the police have the names of suspects but not much else.

Our international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, is joining us from London. Our CNN terrorism analyst, Paul Cruickshank, is in New York.

Nic, what can you tell us about the investigation so far?

[13:49:45] NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Wolf, we know from the picture that the police released of the man in the white coat at the airport with the large bag that was a bomb that didn't go off, he is still on the loose, whereabouts unknown. The day of the attack among European intelligence agencies, security agencies, a document was released that contained eight names of people who were wanted in connection with the attack.

One of them traveled with Abaaoud, the ringleader of the Paris attack. He traveled to Syria with him early 2014. Now, he may be dead, so maybe there's one name on that list of eight that doesn't stand up. Another name on that list of eight refers to an Iraqi living in Sweden. He was arrested and released because apparently he was wrongly named. So, on that document alone, we have to look at the names carefully.

Looking at the numbers more broadly, authorities are looking at people who were associated with a radical ISIS recruiter in Brussels. They were tried in absentia. You have a tighter circle of perhaps a handful of people and then perhaps 20 others more loosely associated with the network involved in the Paris or the Brussels attacks. And right now, authorities don't know where they are. But it's very hard to put a precise number on just the number of people that they're looking for -- Wolf?

BLITZER: It sounds like a big number, if they're looking for 20 loosely connected.

How hard, Paul, is it to track down these suspects?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Wolf, it's very hard indeed. And, in fact, before the Brussels attacks, Belgium authorities were look for the two brothers that carried out the suicide bombing, one at the airport, one at the metro, the Bakraoui brothers. One was wanted for terror activities. The other one wanted for criminal activities. But they were looking for them hard. But they were in Brussels hiding in plain sight, building bombs and about to carry out an attack.

So just because they've identified a number of these individuals and there are eight, we understand, who are on this wanted list in connect with the Paris and Brussels attack. Just because they've identified individuals doesn't mean they know where they are. That is the big concern as we move forward, that the people still at large, and there are a number of them, will strike again. If we understood anything about this cell, is that they're very, very determined. We saw Salah Abdeslam not carry through with a plot in Paris but he was going to be a part of that plot in Brussels they think. So a worry as we move forward -- Wolf? BLITZER: Nic, this sort of explains why not only France and Belgium but other countries in Europe right now, they're on this higher state of alert, right?

ROBERTSON: Absolutely. The British, for one, are concerned, immediately their response to the Brussels attack was to raise the profile of security and, indeed, the level of security itself at transport hubs, airports, the underground network here in London and elsewhere in the U.K. And this is amplified in what we're seeing across the rest of Europe, Wolf. There's concern, these people are out there, they could attack.

BLITZER: Very worrisome information.

Nic Robertson, Paul Cruickshank, guy, thanks.

Up next, the first step in a very controversial refugee plan as hundreds head back to Turkey. We'll take a closer look at how many will be relocated and why?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:52:30] BLITZER: There's fresh controversy in Europe over a very controversial plan for migrants. The first wave included hundreds of people. It's part of a plan worked out between the European Union and Turkey aimed at reducing the influx of illegal migrants in Greece.

CNN's international correspondent, Phil Black, is at the Turkish port where the migrants arrived today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it was a slow process. We watched as each of the three vessels pulled up to a wharf and end this disembarked the migrants. 202 in all. Each one escorted individually by a European official and then handed over to a Turkish official on this side before being taken ashore, being identified, fingerprints taken, going through a process of registration.

202 in all, most from Pakistan, some from Afghanistan. Two Syrians, we are told. Those from Afghanistan and other countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, their future here is less certain. They will be sent to detention centers. Then cases individually assessed. And they could be sent back to their country of origin.

For the Syrian, they will be allowed to stay here. As Turkey says, it's policy when dealing with people fleeing the Syrian conflicts. There are 2.7 million Syrians in this country.

This deal, they say, is necessary because of the backlog created in Greece. As individual European countries shut off their borders to migrants, it's created a backlog in Greek camps where there are now around 50,000 people waiting desperately not really knowing what their next step will be. The hope is that this relocation plan will take away some of that burden from Greece but also send out a very clear message. Don't come. Don't risk your life crossing the sea to try and get to Europe.

This is not a popular plan with human rights activists who say that Greece doesn't have the resources to assess all the refugee claims for asylum among the people that are already there. And they're also not happy with them being sent back to Turkey. Groups like Amnesty International say Turkey is becoming an increasingly intolerant place for Syrian refugees. Turkey insists it will do all it can to help the people seeking refuge within its borders -- Wolf?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Phil Black for us from inside's Turkey port where the migrant arrived today.

That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching. I'll be back at 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room."

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