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New Raid Underway in Belgium Neighborhood; Bill Clinton: "I Almost Want to Apologize"; Kerry Makes Surprise Stop in Afghanistan; Inside The Fight For GOP Delegates In Colorado; Hastert Accused Of Paying Hush Money To Accuser; Clinton And Sanders Battle For Wyoming's Delegates; Pope: Be Accepting Of Gays, Lesbians, Divorcees. Aired 11a- 12p ET

Aired April 09, 2016 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00] ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: I see you're down there messing with us.

Spieth made his tee time, so no worries there. Alice's plan didn't work, guys. But another beautiful day out here at the Masters. A little windy, a little chilly, but hopefully it's going to warm up, and we're going to have a great round of golf again today.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: All right, great.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: I don't doubt it.

SAVIDGE: Thank you, Andy, very much.

PAUL: Thanks, Andy, very much. There is so much more news ahead. We're going to turn it over to Fred.

Fred, I want to warn you, political guests have been a little feisty today.

SAVIDGE: Yes.

FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, my goodness.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: You know, anything goes, right. And then maybe there's a lot of tension building, you know, as we get to the halfway point in the primary caucus season. And anything goes at Masters, too.

PAUL: Right, right.

WHITFIELD: Well, it looks like Spieth's doing really good. Anything can happen. It's been very windy, and that's the surprise, you know, and seemingly, the kind of ritual of the Masters, right?

PAUL: Yes, isn't it? Yes, yes, real good point.

WHITFIELD: Commonalities in sports and politics today.

PAUL: And thank you to Martin for sitting in today. SAVIDGE: Sure, yes.

WHITFIELD: Oh, sure. It was great to see you Martin.

PAUL: You'll see him tomorrow.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: All right, a little bit more of Martin Savage tomorrow. OK, Christi. Thank you so much, you guys. Appreciate it. Have a great day.

PAUL: You, too.

WHITFIELD: All right, it is the 11:00 Eastern hour. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. "Newsroom" starts right now.

All right, we begin with breaking news. Police in Belgium have charged Mohamed Abrini with participating in the activities of a terrorist group. They've identified the second person present at the subway attacks in Brussels.

Police also carrying out new raids today in the Brussels neighborhood of Etterbeek. Dozens of police officers moving into the area, as residents are evacuated. This raid comes a day after the arrest of six more suspects in the Brussels and Paris attacks.

We have full coverage. Frederik Pleitgen is at the scene of the raid, and our terror analyst, Michael Weiss, is also standing by.

So Fred, let me begin with you at the scene. What more can you tell us about these charges and these raids?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Yes, we've certainly found out more as about what exactly this raid here in Etterbeek was about. One of the things that the police have told us is that these raids took place on the third and fourth floor of the building that you see right there behind me.

And we've spoken to some residents and they say that many of the doors were beaten down by the police officers, the apartment searched and then padlocks were put on those apartments afterwards. So many people who are actually coming back now can't get into their apartments.

Now, the federal prosecutor of Belgium only a couple of minutes ago has come out with a statement saying the reason for this massive raid that took place here involving some 50 police officers was apparently that they believe that some of these terror suspects who have just been arrested may have used this premises as a safe house. Of course, we know that cells behind both the Paris and the Brussels attacks very much operating out of safe houses as they were plotting the attacks.

Now, you're also absolutely right that one of the people at the subway bombing has also been identified. His name is Osama Krayem. That's also in the information that the federal prosecutor just put out a couple of minutes ago saying he was positively id'd as being on the scene there at that subway bombing and as was positively id'd as being one of the people who bought backpacks that were apparently used in the bombings as well. He's one of the people who was arrested on Friday, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Fredrik Pleitgen. Thank you so much. Appreciate that.

So let's bring in Michael Weiss, a CNN contributor and author of "ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror". Since yesterday, Belgium authorities arrested six more terror suspects, and now police have charged this Mohamed Abrini and another named suspect, as we just heard from Fred Pleitgen.

So what does this tell you about the possible network involved here? When it first -- when it seemed like there were just a handful, maybe two or three people involved, now it's appearing to be maybe with these arrests a network that's a little bit more widespread?

MICHAEL WEISS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, I mean, it always is the case. It's never just the people who perpetrate and attack. They have a logistical hub. They have a support network. They have, you know, gangs of fellow travelers who are giving them -- you know, domiciling them in these safe houses or at least keeping their cover, you know, from law enforcement.

I'll recall, in October, right before the Paris attack, I interviewed an ISIS defector who told me he trained up two French foreign fighters who went back to France. After the Paris attack, I said, any of these guys in this 10-man ring ring a bell, or do you recognize them. He said no. So that meant that two people were running around France trained up by an ISIS operative, and they hadn't been arrested or detained or set anything off yet.

So, you know, this is -- you are seeing now in the cities of Europe, particularly Paris, Brussels, but also probably in London, Berlin, there's a honey comb structure underneath the sort of everyday above ground society of these guys who, if they haven't gone over and been trained, are at least being recruited by those who have and who have returned.

CNN reported yesterday about a dozen known ISIS operatives are now on European wide drag net to be captured. The good news is with the more guys you arrest, the easier it is to find out who their confederates are. I mean, this is the value and importance of human intelligence.

The bad news is when these arrests are announced, it means any attacks that are in the works or in the late stages of being planned will be accelerated, and we saw this with Brussels, right? That was an attack. It was meant to occur on Easter Sunday, but it was sped up by about a week, because Salah Abdeslam had been caught. And I think they felt that the net was closing closing in on them, so they had to get it all out of the way.

WHITFIELD: But so I want to interject on that thought, because, you know, one has to wonder whether these arrests will simply lead to prosecution potentially or whether these arrests could indeed lead to the kind of Q&A interrogation of these suspects that will lead to other arrests and potentially even break up what network might be uncovered as a result of these arrests.

WEISS: Yes, I mean, I have to say, one of the more farcical and kind of absurd moments is this whole news cycle is one of the guys they've just detained was arrested in 2015, was one of the most notorious Jihadis in Belgium, sentenced to five years but was let out within a year. And all of a sudden, he's back in action, you know, running rings and, you know, coordinating ISIS attacks or being suspected of coordinating them.

I mean, this is -- this gets to the heart of the problem, I think, in Europe and what the security services and also the European political classes have not really wrapped their heads around. This goes back decades even before 9/11.

They have in their midst a sort of shadow class of individuals who do not belong to European society, do not want to belong to European society and are using capital cities as essentially as outposts of, you know, Jihadi, you know, ideology and Jihadi, you know, nation building.

WHITFIELD: I think I heard you earlier even describe it like, you know, little colonies.

WEISS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: And that, in large part, explains why some of these suspects would stay close to home --

WEISS: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: -- stay there and continue to operate without really going noticed until another yet another tragedy unfolds like this.

WEISS: Exactly. And I just want to add, I mean, it's not the -- all of these communities -- I'm mean, I'm not saying you have, you know, hundreds of thousands and millions of people who are sympathetic to this world historic messianic Jihadi world view. It's not the case.

Much like in Syria and Iraq, what happens is these guys go around like thugs, like a mafia, wielding intimidation, you know, brutal tactics of scaring up local populations into doing their bidding and to keeping their mouth shut. I mean, after Abdeslam was captured, text messages were going Molenbeek saying do not cooperate with the Kufr. Do not cooperate with the infidel police. This is not, you know, your business.

If you live in these communities, you are going to keep your mouth shut, because, you know, why bring your head above the parapet and risk getting attacked or killed by the very people who are living in your midst? This is the problem.

WHITFIELD: Now, if we could switch gears, though, quickly to Secretary of State John Kerry making surprise visits in Iraq as well as Afghanistan. Is -- are these visits in any way a signal to extremism, the ongoing global fight against terrorism or even a direct message to, say, ISIS?

WEISS: I read it a little bit differently. The Iraqi government is right now facing a crisis, actually several crises, as is the nature of the Iraqi government.

One of them is a budgetary crisis or an economic crisis. In Iraqi Kurdistan, the greatest threat to the Peshmerga, which is one our most stalwart allies in the fight against ISIS, is that they're going to run out of money. The Kurdish officials in Erbil are very, very candid about this. I think one of them referred to a tsunami, an economic tsunami that could completely wipe out all of the gains on the battlefield made against ISIS.

In Baghdad, what you're seeing now emerge -- and I've said that, you know, the fight against ISIS is only the beginning. You know, in a sense, the cure could be worse than the disease. There's a civil war taking place. You have a pro-Iranian block of Iraqi political actors that are responsible for a lot of Shi'a militia groups, which are leading the fight in some parts of the country against ISIS. Range now against Iraqi nationalists.

Haider al-Abadi, the Iraqi prime minister, is in the latter camp, Ayatollah al-Sistani, who is the sort of leading shi'a cleric in the country, as is Muqtada al-Sadr, one of the most, you know, notorious foes of the U.S. occupation, believe it or not, has come out of the closet as an Iraqi nationalist and not pro-Iranian proxy or asset.

And I think Kerry is very worried. I mean Haider al-Abadi announced this week a reshuffling of his cabinet, and he wanted to appoint technocrats. And of course, you know, like in Iraqi politics, there's always horse trading. A lot of people who are very capable and very qualified to be in the government were attacked, because they're vested interests that do not want them to wipe out corruption and to take away powers of the hegemonic powers of the old political guard, including that of Nouri al-Malaki, the former prime minister.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll leave it right there. Michael Weiss, it's always a pleasure. Thank you so much.

WEISS: Sure, thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, let's talk the race to the White House. While Sanders and Clinton fight over who's more New York than the other, the fight for delegates moves to Wyoming. We'll take you there live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, two landmark events in the race for president. Out West today, Democratic caucuses in Wyoming are set to start in just a couple of hours. Live pictures right now of people ling up there in Cheyenne.

And on the Republican side, well, it's day two of the Colorado state Republican convention in Colorado Springs. Senator Ted Cruz will be delivering remarks there. So far, he has won the delegates that have been up for grabs up to this point. But today, 13 delegates are up for grabs.

And most of the other candidates, well, they're looking ahead to New York. Live pictures of our own people right there. Our Paul Vercammen, who's at the ready. And now you're seeing live pictures in Rochester, New York of all the media folks, photographer, reporters at the ready for an appearance of candidates there.

And also you saw our Chris Frates also in that box shot with our -- there you go, Paul Vercammen. OK, gang's all here. We're all together now. Hello, everyone.

All right, so Chris. Oh, I'm sorry, Paul, we're going to begin with you. So the caucus locations, tell me about what you're seeing there in Wyoming. What kind of turnout is expected, and what is at stake?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN REPORTER: At stake, 14 delegates, Fredricka. Record turnout expected, weather cooperating. No late spring blizzard here in Wyoming. They were worried about that at one point.

If you look in this room, people starting to lineup right now as they get read. They think about 1,200 people will come here to Central High School in Cheyenne, possibly more. And we're literally going to give you a peek behind the curtain. Look over here, Fredricka.

This is where the caucusing will take place. A lot of energy in the room right now. In fact, we saw a cluster of people not long ago, one of them with a guitar. They say they're going to have a Bernie Sanders song sing along. The room already dividing up.

Behind me over here you can see this is the Hillary Clinton side, and over there the Bernie Sanders side. It expects to be a record turnout here in Wyoming as they battle for those 14 delegates. Back to you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Wow, very fascinating. It's amazing. People are really getting a chance to see these caucuses unfold in a way that, you know, historically, people have not been able to enjoy.

Paul Vercammen, we'll check back with you. Thanks so much from Cheyenne.

So with expectations for Sanders -- Bernie Sanders to do well in Wyoming, he is campaigning in New York today hoping to prove that he has the home field advantage over Hillary Clinton. He was born there and grew up there.

Also this morning, Sanders doubling down on his attacks against Clinton saying once again that she is quote unquote "not qualified to be president."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: In this back and forth with Secretary Clinton about her qualifications, I know you have said that she is qualified. Bill Clinton today was asked about the comments and said, of course you wouldn't have made the same charges if she were a man. SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Oh, my

goodness.

TAPPER: And he said, I think there are some different standards for women. Some of them are subconscious.

SANDERS: Well, I appreciate Bill Clinton being my psychoanalyst. It's always nice. But the reality is that ever since Wisconsin, when that became the sixth out of seven states that we have won in either caucuses or primaries, I think the Clinton campaign has made it public basically when they told the media that here in New York they're about to become very negative, about to beat us up.

And I just want them to understand that, you know, we have tried to run an issue-oriented campaign but that we are not going to be attacked every single day. Our record is not going to be distorted. We are going to fight back.

And what I said is that a candidate like Secretary Clinton, who voted for the disastrous war in Iraq, who has supported virtually every disastrous trade agreement, which has cost us millions of decent paying jobs, and who receives incredible amounts of money -- we're talking about tens of millions of dollars through her super PAC from every special interest that you can think of from the billionaire class, you know -- I have my doubts about what kind of president she would make.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, let's bring in CNN's Chris Frates. So Chris, how did this kind of devolve? I mean, he said he wanted this to be issue-oriented. But now we have something else on the field. What's going on?

CHRIS FRATES CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred. Well, look, there is a lot on the line for Sanders in New York. It's really a must-win state for the kid from Brooklyn. And we just heard Sanders say he still has doubts about what kind of president Hillary Clinton would make.

And he's been softening his tone a little bit in recent days, and this fight really blew up when Sanders said Clinton wasn't qualified to be president. It was a jab Bill Clinton suggested was a double standard and one that Hillary Clinton said she never ever heard before.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You may have heard Senator Sanders say I'm unqualified to be president. Well, seriously, I've been called a lot of things over the years, but unqualified has not been one of them.

And this morning -- and this morning, he finally acknowledged that, of course, he doesn't really believe that. This is all pretty silly.

(END VIDEOTAPE) FRATES: Now, Clinton's camp saw the critique as helpful, because it

drew attention to an issue that they see as a key strength, her experience. And Sanders defended the criticism arguing that it was Clinton's camp that first questioned his qualifications to be president before walking those comments back a little bit.

But Sanders and his campaign are questioning Clinton's judgment. They're pointing her past support for the Iraq war and a law that prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage.

Of course, Clinton has since called her Iraq war vote a mistake and has come out in support of same-sex marriage. And all this comes as Sanders is playing very hard to the Democratic base.

He's trying to upset Clinton in her adopted home state where she leads in the polls there, because even after winning seven of the last eight contests, Sanders still trails Clinton by about 230 pledged delegates and needs to win 77 percent of the pledged delegates remaining to clinch the nomination. Clinton needs just 36 percent.

So he's hitting the -- Sanders is hitting the stump very hard today. He's already hit his first of four campaign stops in New York City, trading his trademark rallies for smaller retail stops and will make his way to the western part of the state early this week.

Clinton, of course, campaigned outside the city this week and has one event scheduled in Brooklyn today. And Fred, I can tell you, we're all very much looking forward to when both candidates face off for the first time in more than a month on Thursday when they debate right here on CNN.

WHITFIELD: All right, just days away, and then that will be just really on the eve just a few days away from that New York primary --

FRATES: That's right.

WHITFIELD: -- all promising to be, yes, very interesting. We'll leave it like that. All right, Chris Frates. Thank you so much.

Let's talk more about the Democratic race, particularly about the focus on the process leading up to the convention. Because I'm joined by Charles Blow. He is a CNN political commentator and an op-ed columnist for "The New York Times." Good to see you. Also joining us from New York.

So I want to read a bit from an op-ed that you wrote earlier this week called "The UnDemocratic Party." And you say, quote, "For a Democratic Party that prides itself on the grand ideals of inclusion and fairness ,the nominating process is anything but."

So Charles, you mean largely because you think the caucuses and the super delegates, you believe those things are unfair. Why?

CHARLES BLOW, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think that they're not necessarily Democratic, but let's start with this position, which is something most people don't quite process, which is that the campaigns, the parties, do the nominating. It's not really the people. This is not really a Democratic process.

But the Democratic Party prides itself on the ideas of inclusion. They pride themselves on attacking people who attack voting access and rights. And you have kind of apparatuses within the Party, within the nominating process, that do the exact opposite of what the Party itself claims to champion.

So if you look at caucuses, we have a caucus in Wyoming today.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

BLOW: Caucuses are great in the sense that you -- they're very open, you can see what's happening. You can count the votes yourself if you're in the room and you're (inaudible).

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: People are discussing. They're -- you know --

BLOW: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: -- they're negotiating, so to speak almost.

BLOW: But here are the problems, right?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

BLOW: The very same people who are hurt by voter ID laws are hurt by caucus participation. These are people who work off-hour jobs, who cannot take that amount of time off. These are people who can't afford child care. These are senior citizens who can't make it to those places. These are sometimes students who cannot take that time off.

The very same people who are hurt by voter suppression are hurt by the caucuses.

WHITFIELD: And so are you saying -- and really maybe it's not, you know, negotiating, you know, during these caucuses, but really it's arguing, you know, it's issue-oriented trying to make a selection of people. But you're saying -- I mean, or am I hearing you say that these are antiquated now portions of the system, that they should go away, that it's time to reform the way in which votes are counted or the way in which the Democratic Party collects or gathers delegates leading up to?

BLOW: I think you have to -- you have to figure out what is your vision of what democracy looks like in America and then impose that on the nominating process, right?

So the fact that, number one, that the Democrats have far more caucuses than Republicans is already a problem. Because I already feel like the caucuses -- there's a problem with the caucuses.

WHITFIELD: And the Democrats have superdelegates, whereas the Republicans don't. BLOW: Exactly. That's the second shoe.

WHITFIELD: How do you explain, you know, the continuation of this kind of disparity or difference between the two parties and how they go about selecting a nominee?

BLOW: Well, the superdelegates are a relatively new phenomenon.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

BLOW: You know, the rule change happened in the '80s -- early '80s, and that was because the Democratic -- the elite wanted to have more of a say in who got nominated to make sure that they were getting someone who could win and someone who could govern well.

That's an interesting concept, but the problem is that that -- you know, and in fact, they have never actually overturned the popular vote. But the idea that they even exist -- and what my problem with them is, most importantly, is that they are able -- allowed to profess their choice for whoever they would support before a single vote is cast. What that does is in effect put a thumb on the scale that says, this is who the elite think should be elected before you even go in to vote for anyone.

WHITFIELD: OK. All right. Well, Charles Blow, we could talk all day --

BLOW: Yes, of course we could.

WHITFIELD: -- because I know you've got so many strong thoughts, and I like that. That is good.

But right now, it is John Kasich who has stepped to the microphone talking to a lot of people as he continues to stump for support, hoping that New York is going to be a place where maybe he could gain a little momentum. He's at Rochester, New York. Let's listen in.

GOV. JOHH KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We look at the problems, and we have to go and fix them, whatever they are. And sometimes it rubs people the wrong way in my Republican Party. Sometimes it rubs people wrong in the other Party.

But it's not my job. My Republican roots are my vehicle and not my master. And just because somebody contributes money to me means nothing to me. And I have done this all of my career. I'm not like making something up here or giving you a new speech.

My mind's eye -- and this is what I've really got to tell the other group, too -- my mind's eye are the people I grew up with, the people who, you know, play by the rules and often times things didn't work out for them, those are the people that I have to represent. I have to represent the best of what we can be.

And I'm not applying for sainthood or anything else. OK? I'm just going to do the best job that I can to restore integrity to that office and to -- and to shift power back to you, which I'm going to talk about (inaudible).

WHITFIELD: John Kasich there enjoying quite a bit of support and applause there, particularly when he says, you know, being a Republican, it may be in my roots, but it's not necessarily my master there, as he stumps for support in Rochester, New York. Now, what, eight days away from the primary in New York, so it's a big political week, indeed, for CNN.

Tomorrow on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Jake Tapper, Bernie Sanders will join the show along with Hillary Clinton. That's Sunday at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.

And then Tuesday, Donald Trump will be speaking with voters in a CNN Town Hall moderated by Anderson Cooper. Again, that is Tuesday, 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

And then in just five days, CNN hosts the Democratic presidential debate. Don't miss Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders face off live from New York, Thursday night 9:00 Eastern here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:30:33] WHITFIELD: All right, happening right now, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Afghanistan soon to leave, but it was another surprise visit stop for Kerry. He spent the day yesterday in Baghdad, Iraq talking about the fight against ISIS with Iraqi leaders.

CNN's Elise Labott joining me now on the phone from Kabul where she is following the secretary. So give us an idea of what was behind this trip particularly to Afghanistan.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, Fred, the official reason why he is here is to host a U.S.-Afghan bilateral commission, which is an annual meeting to review the country's strategic partnership that they signed in 2012 so it is areas like security, defense, development, good governance.

He did come at a pivotal time to the Afghan government led by what they call the CEO Abdullah (ph), John Kerry negotiated that unity government in 2014 when there was a bitter election battle.

The two leaders did not get along. They are dead locked over key appointments, charges of corruption and a lot of mis-confidence in the government.

So John Kerry is here with a real strong message to get their act together and start working on behalf of the Afghan people. There is a pivotal summit by NATO coming up in Warsaw in July and another key meeting of Afghan donors in October.

Secretary Kerry basically said to the Afghan leaders, if you want NATO support. If you want money from national donors you need to prove that you are up to the task for us.

WHITFIELD: Elise Labott traveling with the secretary, thank you so much from Kabul. All right, now back to the race for the White House. Senator Ted Cruz is hoping to lock up all the delegates in Colorado today. So far he has won 21 of the 34 delegates at stake.

Colorado had a rather unusual method of awarding delegates over a period of days and today, they will award the final 13. The party rules are not going over well with frontrunner, Donald Trump.

Trump sending out this tweet last night saying, quote, "Isn't it a shame that the person who will have by far the most delegates and many millions more votes than anyone else, me, still must fight?

CNN's Ana Cabrera joining me now from Colorado Springs. Ana, that tweet referring to the GOP process overall not just Colorado, but walk us through this very unique process there where you are.

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, we are at the Colorado State GOP Convention. You hear a lot of energy. This event just getting kicked off. Some 6,000 state party insiders and activists have gathered here today.

They will have the responsibility to elect the 13 remaining delegates left to be elected here from Colorado to the RNC. You are right, it is a different process than we see in other states.

There is not a traditional primary or national caucus where these delegates are elected. Instead, they are elected from the state convention and the district conventions. The district conventions have already taken place. Those wrapped up last night.

There are several steps in the process for each delegate candidate to get through just to get to these conventions. It is complicated, but it really is on the campaigns to work strategically in the weeks and months leading up to conventions to get their supporters through each step of the process.

Ted Cruz's camp really seems to have had it figured out. Of the 21 deletes selected they said they will support Ted Cruz and I had a chance to talk to Cruz's Colorado campaign chairman about how they've done it. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Do you feel like the Cruz campaign on the ground in Colorado has out maneuvered the other presidential candidate's campaigns?

REPRESENTATIVE KEN BUCK (R), COLORADO: I think the Cruz campaign has been successful in Colorado because we started earlier. We identified more of the grass roots supporters.

I don't think that the other campaigns took this process seriously early enough and I think that's what the advantage is in what is happening right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CABRERA: Ted Cruz will be addressing this crowd here this afternoon. He is the only presidential candidate coming to Colorado this weekend. Donald Trump was expected in the state on Thursday.

He cancelled his planned rally earlier in the week and as one of his senior campaign advisers tells us if Donald Trump picks up any of the remaining 13 delegates that would be an added bonus -- Fred.

[11:35:11]WHITFIELD: All right, Ana Cabrera, thank you so much in Colorado Springs. Appreciate that. Donald Trump not visiting there. He will be having a visit with CNN. Donald Trump speaking with voters in a CNN town hall moderated by Anderson Cooper, Tuesday 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We are learning new details about sexual abuse allegations against former House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

Authorities say Hastert sexually abused at least four boys when he was a high school wrestling coach in the 60s and 70s. The information comes from documents released by federal prosecutors.

CNN correspondent, Nick Valencia, joining me with more on this. Some of the information in the documents goes into details about Hastert and what he allegedly did and a warning this information is very disturbing and will be to a lot of viewers.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's start with what happened and how we got here, some context for viewers. It was back in October the former House Speaker Dennis Hastert pled guilty to breaking banking laws.

But it was two days ago that his defense laid out the request for sentencing. In response to that, federal prosecutors released late last night court paperwork where they lay out, as Fred was talking about, some of these allegations of sexual misconduct.

While the crime of breaking these banking laws was recent according to federal prosecutors it is rooted in a very dark origin of Hastert's past.

We want to warn you as Fred did that it could be seemingly uncomfortable for some of you to hear some of these details laid out.

But in one of these cases of sexual molestation the defendant, Hastert, told Individual A, who was a minor at that time just 14 years old to lie down on the bed and take off his underwear.

The defendant then began massaging Individual A's groin area. It became clear to Individual A that defendant, Hastert, was not touching him in a therapeutic manner to address a wrestling injury, but was touching him in an inappropriate sexual way.

[11:40:08]These alleged sexual molestation cases took place in the 1960s and '70s while Mr. Hastert was the head coach of a high school wrestling team. There are five young men who say that they were molested by the former speaker.

Now it is important to note that Mr. Hastert never said he was involved in these sexual molestation cases. In fact, he's never mentioned them specifically.

But just a few days ago his defense attorney did release a statement on his behalf. The statement goes on to read, "Mr. Hastert is deeply sorry and apologizes for his misconduct. It occurred decades ago and the resulting harm he caused to others."

It is also very important to note that he is not going to be charged or he's not facing any charges related to this, Fred. The statute of limitations have come and gone, about 30 years ago that this happened. So he is no longer going to face charges for these alleged cases.

WHITFIELD: He won't face charges for those because of the statute of limitations, you mentioned, expiration, but that statement from the attorney, while it's not an admission, it's an apology for these alleged offenses and he is facing sentencing on the banking. All of this is coming together.

VALENCIA: It is all coming together and it is all connected. That is the fed's case to try to figure out sentencing. They are trying to agree right now exactly how long in this court people work.

They don't mention prison time, but they do say zero to six months, but not specifically prison time. When the feds initially approached him about breaking banking laws, Hastert said that he was a victim of extortion.

His attorneys contacted the FBI and IRS when they started recording these conversations between Individual A as he's named in this lawsuit or in this script court paper work, they realized that the tone of Individual A, this alleged victim of sexual molestation was not one of somebody who is extorting.

It realized that Hastert according to the feds was lying about his interactions and was paying hush money for what had happened about 30 years ago, $3.5 million in all.

WHITFIELD: That's what I was going to say, hush money in the amount of $3.5 million. OK, so we will talk more next time we see you because as you mentioned there are other young men at the time who alleged that he had inappropriate experiences with him.

We will talk more about that and then our legal guys will join us next hour to talk about the legal road or the lack thereof or how the cases may potentially come together in another way.

VALENCIA: It is stunning, 26 pages and some details are just so disgusting, Fred, and the allegations against this former house speaker.

WHITFIELD: Very disturbing. All right, thank you so much, Nick Valencia. Appreciate it. We'll see you again.

Also straight ahead, there are four super delegates in Wyoming. So far they are all leaning towards this woman right here, Hillary Clinton. How important are the states other 14 delegates to the Clinton camp? We will ask a Hillary supporter from Wyoming coming up next.

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[11:46:24]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. In just a couple of hours, voters will begin caucusing in Wyoming, 14 delegates are up for grabs for either Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton.

Joining me now is Kathy Karpan. She is the former Wyoming secretary of state and a life-long Wyoming Democrat joining us from the caucus site where there are a lot of people filling the room before they caucus.

So good to see you. You wrote an opinion piece in support of Hillary Clinton. I would love to read a bit from your column. You write this, quote, "Given the state of the nominating race it likely will be one of the most meaningful and impactful votes a Wyoming Democrat will cast in years."

Why do you believe that and what explains what is expected to be a very high turnout today?

KATHY KARPAN, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: Wyoming is probably the reddest of the red states in the United States of America. We have not voted for a Democrat for president since 1964. So the general election our small Democratic vote loses.

But in the caucus we have an opportunity to let the voice be heard in the selection of a candidate. When there isn't a real race such as when President Obama ran for reelection, the caucus turnout declines.

But when we have a (inaudible) primary as we do now, as we did in 2008, then we do have a higher turnout and we are delighted to have everyone here today.

WHITFIELD: And that includes four super delegates who apparently have already pledged their support to Hillary Clinton. We had a guest on earlier who is a columnist for the "New York Times," Charles Blow, who said he thought the notion of super delegates is unfair.

That super delegates in large part may have already made up their minds well before a caucus or a primary. What is your view on the power of a super delegate and whether that's antiquated, necessary or what?

KARPAN: Well, you know, if I say it is traditional that may apply it is antiquated. I personally favor a primary where the winner would take all. I think it is simpler and easier for voters to understand. But everyone learns to play by the rules. I have been a super delegate when I was in statewide elected office. I always bid on my conscience. I think our super delegates do.

The reason we have super delegates I think is two folds, one to the honor the people who contributed to the party and two, there's the feeling that the political leaders of a state have a better feel for down ticket impact of candidates.

So while we have the system, I think it's acceptable, but I would prefer something that was simpler and more direct.

WHITFIELD: So explain the scene, if you will, what do you suppose the tone might be there in Wyoming when this caucusing gets underway? You know, how will people who are supporting their candidate of choice try to convey the message to see if at all they can help their candidate win those 14 delegates?

KARPAN: Well, first of all, I wouldn't dream of predicting what is going to happen here. I have seen how wrong the pollsters have been. The polls said Hillary would win by 20 points in Michigan. So I won't predict.

I will say I think it's going to be competitive. We fit the Bernie Sanders profile. We are a rocky mountain state, Utah, Idaho, Colorado went for Bernie.

[11:50:06]We have low minority population. But Hillary Clinton ran strongly in 2008. I will give the nominating speech. There will be a seconding speech.

I am going to focus on her foreign policy credentials because I think there's not much difference really at heart on the domestic issues between the two candidates of the Democrats. There's no question at all that Hillary Clinton is the best qualified person running in either party on foreign policy.

WHITFIELD: All right, former Wyoming secretary of state, Kathy Karpan. Thanks so much for your time. Happy caucusing today.

KARPAN: Thank you for the coverage, CNN.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much. All right, a major shift from Pope Francis cracking open the door, open for more tolerance of divorced Catholics, and gays and lesbians. Huge impact this could have on the church next.

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WHITFIELD: All right, Pope Francis is calling on his church to be more tolerant of nontraditional families including same sex couples and divorced Catholics. This week, he put out a paper called on love in the family.

He writes, quote, "A pastor cannot feel that it is enough simply to apply moral laws as if they were stones to throw at people's lives." [11:55:05]Just a month ago, Pope Francis commented on the U.S. presidential race, and took a not so subtle dig at Donald Trump.

Joining me right now to talk about what this means for the church and its 1.2 billion Catholics around the world is CNN religion commentator, Father Edward Beck. Good to see you.

OK, lots to talk about today. So this 265-page paper.

FATHER EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGION COMMENTATOR: By the way, here it is. Look at that.

WHITFIELD: There it is there. A lot to read.

BECK: Good bedtime reading.

WHITFIELD: You say it does not highlight changes, but instead it is calling attention to things that are of great importance to the pope.

BECK: Fred, you know what's so great about it and people are reacting to, it's treating the faithful like adults. Vatican 2 documents talked about formation of one's conscience and that that's the highest moral barometer for making certain decisions within one's life and in the church.

But then after that we didn't talk about it much. What this pope does in this document is to say that you are the arbitrary, you the faithful who are in the midst of difficult situations sometimes need to look at your life, enter a process of discernment, talk to your pastor, talk to other faithful Christians and come to decisions for yourselves.

So what's so great, he's respecting one's dignity and capacity to discern for themselves where they need to be in the midst of these issues.

WHITFIELD: Let's breakdown some of those things. Divorced Catholics, in his view should be allowed to take communion. The pope saying this, quote, "The divorced who have entered a new union should be made to feel part of the church," end quote. Traditionally doesn't, continuing on with his statement, doesn't being part of the church include communion?

BECK: Yes. What he's saying is if you are divorced and you have remarried and haven't been able to get annulment for some reason that maybe for you, you can enter into this process and communion can be possible.

You go to the priest and say look, I can't get annulment for these reasons, my children or ex-spouse isn't cooperative. But yet I really believe in the church, want to be more part of the church.

You can with your conscience, in speaking with your pastor and other faithful say I believe I can go to communion because I want to be one with this community even though I can't reach the ideal now of having a sacramental marriage in the church. So it is really saying everybody has a shot here, but not everybody reaches it perfectly all at once. He talks about John Paul II used to talk about law of gradualness. It means kind of we're on the way. You're not always there right away, but if you're in process, maybe that's good enough.

WHITFIELD: The pope also addressing homosexuality, particularly at a time in this country where so many states are helping to fuel this argument and debate over so-called religious freedom bills.

This is the pope in his words. Quote, "Every person regardless of sexual orientation ought to be respected in his or her dignity and treated with consideration."

He then goes on to say, quote, "At times the way we present our Christian beliefs and treat other people has helped to contribute to today's problematic situation."

So this pope, he is not afraid of injecting himself in global dialogue, in this case, U.S. particularly some national dialogue with this topic as just the latest example. Why does he do this?

BECK: That's right, Fred. He does it because he believes we need to be part of the conversation. So he says discrimination against gays is never acceptable. That may say something to states currently dealing with that issue.

But many gay people said he didn't go far enough because he says in this document same sex unions cannot be equated with traditional marriage between men and women. You say tolerate the gay people.

Gay people say we want more than tolerance, we want equality. The pope is saying we want you to be part of us, want you to be part of our community, but we cannot put your unions on the same status as male, female, men, women, marriage because you can't procreate.

Transmission of life is necessary for marriage. So there is disparity between what gays want, some gays, and what the pope is saying.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much. Father Beck, good to see you. Appreciate it.

BECK: You too, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Stay with us. Next hour of NEWSROOM starts right now.

Hello again, everyone. This is the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. At this hour, two landmark events in the race for president. Out west today, Democratic caucuses in Wyoming are set to start in just one hour. We have live pictures right now of people assembling there in (inaudible).