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More Than 70 Killed After Firework Display Ignites in Temple; Kerry Heads to Hiroshima After Surprise Visit to Afghanistan; The U.S. Fight Against ISIS; Berlin and the Estate of Hitler's Propaganda Chief; Bernie Sanders Wins Wyoming. Aired 12-12:30a ET

Aired April 10, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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


[00:00:00] ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: A firework display ignites place at a temple in Southern India killing more than 70 people. Plus, a key ignition of the man in the hat, captured terror suspect, Mohammed Abrini said he was the said person seen on surveillance video in the last month's Brussels Airport bombing also ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All right, news bullet, we just won Wyoming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: U.S. presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, knock yet another victory preventing his rival, Hillary Clinton, from focusing solely on the general election.

Hello, everyone, I'm Zain Asher and this is CNN NEWSROOM.

We begin with breaking news. Out of India where more than 70 people are dead after fire rips through a temple. Police say a firework show sparks the flames early Sunday morning. More that 200 people are being treated right now at local hospitals. The fire happened in the Southern costal state of Kerala. Mallika Kapur joins us live now from Mumbai, India with the very latest. So, Mallika, just walk us through what exactly specifically caused the fire.

MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that worshippers were at this temple and the incident took placed at 3:30 in the morning. Now, it's not uncommon for people to be praying at that time. It's actually a very common feature in many temples in South India that people go to temple to worship through the night and they go in for a very early morning dawn rituals so that you had worshippers at this temple at 3:30 in the morning celebrating a local temple festival.

And as part of the celebration, they lit some firecrackers and when some of these firecrackers landed, we are told that they landed on a magazine of other firecrackers. There were other firecrackers that we're stored in the temple and the fire from the firecrackers set this off and within minutes, the entire temple was engulfed in flame leading to numerous deaths. The current death toll, Zain, now, stand at 78 people and we know that more than 200 people have been wounded, they are injured and they are being treated in the hospitals and the medical college close by. So the death toll right now is 78, Zain.

ASHER: Seventy-eight people dead, 200 wounded as you mentioned, do we know if rescue operations are still ongoing?

KAPUR: Yes, rescue operations are still ongoing. We still don't know at the moment whether any other people are still trapped within the temple complex but we know that rescue operations are underway. We've heard from Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last couple of minutes. He's been tweeting about this incident and he said he's making arrangement for helicopters to be deployed to move those who are critically injured to other hospitals in the area where they can be treated better, the hospitals which have better facilities. So rescue operations are still underway with police doing whatever they can to get the right treatment to those who need it.

ASHER: All right, Mallika Kapur, keep us updated on any new information you get. Thank you so much. I appreciate that.

Authorities have identified Mohammed Abrini as the third suspect in the Brussels Airport bombing. Belgian police arrested Abrini on Friday, that was in connection to last November, the attacks of Paris. He is a childhood friend, by the way, of Salah Abdeslam who is, of course, one of the masterminds behind the operation, the terror operation in Paris. And Abrini is believed to have driven the Paris terror suspects to the city days before the Paris attacks. Investigators hope that Abrini can provide further intel on the network of terrorists in Europe. Here's our Fred Pleitgen with more.

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FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, a lot of major developments here in Belgium since the arrest of Mohammed Abrini. The -- a federal prosecutor coming out earlier and telling CNN that it was especially when Mohammed Abrini was confronted with facial recognition results that he then said, yes, it was indeed him who was on that picture, the third person, the so-called Man in the Hat caught on that CCTV video inside the Brussels Airport shortly before those attacks were conducted.

Now apparently, Abrini went even further and he told the investigators the exact route that he took away from the Brussels Airport towards the city center of Brussels after leaving the airport. He said at some point along the way, he dumped his jacket and he said that in the end, a hat that he'd been wearing to conceal his identity that he sold that hat. The other major development that also happened here on Saturday was that the investigators say that they have now positively identified Osama Krayem as being the second person inside the Malbeek metro station when it was blown up by a suicide bomber.

[00:05:04] Now, in spite of the results that the investigators are getting, they say they realized that potentially, this is not the end of it. They fear that there could still be people out there who perhaps provided logistical or other support to this terror network. There was a major raid that took placed in the Etterbeek district of Brussels on Saturday. There, the police say, they didn't discover any sort of weapons or explosives but they do say one of the apartments they raided was potentially used by these terror suspects as a safe house. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Brussels, Belgium.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: As of Tuesday, John Kerry is in Hiroshima, Japan right now for G7 meeting. Kerry and other foreign ministers are going to be discussing Ukraine, North Korea and nuclear weapons. Hiroshima is, of course, the site of the first use of a nuclear bomb in war. U.S. dropped it on the city way back in August of 1925 and that led to the end of World War II. Kerry is set to visit a memorial to honor the people killed in that attack later during this trip.

Now before heading to Japan, Kerry actually made a surprise visit to Afghanistan. There, he met with officials and he discussed political infighting with them. Just after his plane departed, four explosions went off in the capital city. Here's our Nick Paton Walsh with more.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There's four explosions were seem to mostly hit the diplomatic area of Kabul, that's where many embassies are when the key pass the infrastructure. Well, they came, we think, pretty much minutes after John Kerry had departed the country. We had a note prove before traveling with him. He's testing. He was at the airport significantly before we heard those actual explosions. It's unclear exactly where he was, though. But initial report suggest it was rockets and we're not hearing as many major injuries at this stage but it's let at night here, scant information available.

But it really goes to (inaudible) frankly how fragile security is, not just here in Kabul, even at the time of lock down for a key dignitary visit like this but across the country full stop with this very volatile fighting season that's in the warmer seven months expected to start soon.

John Kerry was here. He said quite clearly to try and sure up the national unity government here that he helped create a number of years ago. Now in between, President Ashraf Ghani, the president here now and the man he fought the election against, the man who's now the country of CEO, Abdullah Abdullah, they're not necessarily known to have the best working relationship here. Many has said their administration is hamstrung by that rivalry. Many key posts left not filled and John Kerry was here to make a very explicit demand that the government should work as hard as they could towards the Afghan people and the months that has left before they hit key deadlines for it future (inaudible) to exist frankly. But above all, I think the agenda here has been about security.

The Taliban is on the march in Helmand where they are deeply threatening its main city, Lashkar Gah, at this stage and across the country where U.S. officials now are openly accepting how last year was a terrible year for Afghan's security forces. They lost 5,500 soldiers in that one year alone, way more than NATO have lost in its entire campaign here and, of course, Afghan civilians as well buried in the (inaudible) of the violence, 11,000 of them injured and killed last year, 3500 actually dead.

It is a terrifyingly bleak summer we may have ahead of us here in Afghanistan and I think, frankly, the fact that a lock down put in place for someone like John Kerry, the U.S. Chief Diplomat, coming here being unable to prevent those four explosions really harnessing (ph) quite how fragile Afghanistan is and so much that needs to be done to put the Taliban on their back first when frankly now, they're doing so well in the battlefield, they're refusing all demands to talk peace at the table.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kabul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: And there's more of Nick's report in Afghanistan that we'd like to share with you. You don't hear about them much but there are battles being waged against militants across the country right now where white flags don't necessarily indicate surrender but, instead, to show you just how far the Taliban have advanced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALSH: Hundreds of Americans and Britain died for Helmand. Many in the town of Sangin where these picture show the Afghan army recently in heavy clashes. But now, Afghanistan is quite quickly watching Helmand for.

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ASHER: Nick Paton Walsh brings us a rare look at how Afghan soldiers are defecting to the other side in the middle of the fight to save Helmand province from the Taliban. That'll be on Monday right here on CNN.

The U.S. Air Force has sent B-52 bomber jet (inaudible) to help the air campaign against ISIS in both Iraq and Syria. The fighter jets are replacing B-1 bombers that were pulled from Qatar in January for upgrades. CNN International Correspondent Arwa Damon has more now on current U.S. operations in Iraq in the fight against ISIS.

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[00:10:08] ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT : The aim is to cut ISIS supply and escape routes as the Iraqi army attempts to advance all along the terrain to the frontline, entirely flattened villages from battle past when the Kurdish Peshmerga moved to ISIS onslaught after the Iraqi army fled. The 15th Division retrained and restructured is the first unit back since then, in this operation trying to move on a village just pass the Peshmerga's defensive berm.

The coalition air strikes an artillery pound ISIS targets relentlessly. We're still hearing the fighter jets overhead and a few hours ago, we were in the joined operation center watching the U.S. drone feed. There was a berm very similar to this one. The ISIS militants were lined up against it firing on the Iraqi army as they were attempting to advance. And then there was an air strike. The entire room erupted in cheers and it was such testimony to just how vital coalition air support is when it comes to altering the dynamics of the battlefield.

The Iraqis come up with a plan. The Americans offer advance and integrate their capabilities on which the Iraqis naturally want more.

SCOTT NAUMANN: I think they are seeing success and the success breed success.

DAMON: Colonel Scott Naumann who refers to ISIS by Arabic acronym Da'esh and his unit with 10th Mountain Division are partnered with the Iraqi Nineveh Command.

NAUMANN: And as we put more pressure on the enemy up here, the Da'esh fighters are starting to surge in this area in particular because they feel the pressure towards most of them and they know that particularly in this area, if they loose this, it's only a matter of time because the momentum, really, is on the Iraqi security force's side.

DAMON: That momentum, all be it shaky, is driven and sustained by the power America brings. While not right in the frontlines, the U.S. presence has steadily been growing and invariably putting troops in the line of fire. A marine was already killed on a newly established artillery base which we are not allowed to tell.

America and Iraq states are, too a certain degree, inextricably intertwined on this complex battlefield. But even with the current levels of U.S. support, success is neither quick nor guaranteed. And operations can still end in failure.

Hours after we were told that only remnants of the ISIS fighters remained in this village, the Iraqis partially retreated in a moment of battlefield confusion and are now holding defensive positions until more reinforcements can arrive.

Arwa Damon, CNN, al-Nasr, Iraq.

(END VIDOETAPE)

ASHER: All right, time for quick break here on CNN. Coming up, under pressure of the so-called Panama Papers leak, British Prime Minister David Cameron has now released his personal tax information. That story is coming up after break. Plus, it was a huge day for underdog candidate in the U.S. presidential race. We'll hear from Bernie Sanders on his latest withstanding (ph).

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[00:15:45] ASHER: Welcome back, everybody. In an unprecedented move, British Prime Minister David Cameron has now released his personal tax information going back for the last six years. The disclosure comes after Mr. Cameron admitted -- he admitted that he benefited from an offshore trust that was setup by his late father, Ian Cameron. Now, that fund was reportedly mentioned in the so-called Panama Papers leak. Mr. Cameron said that he has paid all necessary taxes after selling his shares right before becoming a Prime Minister.

In the meantime, Britain's Price William and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, are taking off their week long trip to India. The couple will begin their first visit to the country by paying respect to the victims of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. William and Catherine will also meet with the children's groups, mingle with Bollywood celebrities as you do and even take part in a game of cricket. The visit is expected to strengthen ties between India and the United Kingdom.

OK, some weather, let's talk to you about El Nino has been the catalyst for extreme weather patterns across the world and now its affect are beginning to diminish. (Inaudible) Derek Van Dam is joining me now. So basically, El Nino is turning into El Nina.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right, La Nina.

ASHER: Oh, La Nina. My Spanish grammar (ph).

VAN DAM: La Nina. The conjugation was just not correct. That's OK, we'll forgive you. You're from London, I think, right?

Listen, you know, that was the key word for so long, El Nino. We spoke about it. We frankly blame so many weather patterns on it. But now, it's starting to shift into what is La Nina which is the complete opposite. I should say, a little disclaimer there that forecast indicate that we are heading towards La Nina. And this is all about the ocean temperature in the eastern Pacific, those dry weather patterns across the world. And on El Nino, just to give you an example how it might impact you, warmer weather in Southeast Asia and even higher chances of another drought streaking year in California which is not necessarily good news for the Western U.S.

Here's a look at, well, let's say a complicated graph but I'll try to summarize it and simplify it for you so you know exactly what we're working with. This is called an ensemble mean forecast. It's just fancy meteorological talk, just giving the indication of the various computer models that predict long range forecast like climates in terms of El Nino and La Nina season.

So in the El Nino season in 2015, we really peaked in November. That's when we started to see the front (ph) of the weather pattern shifting across the world. But now, we're starting to drop below that El Nino pattern and moving to a cooler ocean water across the central and eastern Pacific. So these has ramifications across the world including, what I just said, the weather and the warmer Southeast Asia and even the potential for impacts on the Atlantic hurricane season which I'll go to in just one moment.

So currently, we are in the spring season. We're dropping below that El Nino forecast as we head into summer and fall. All of our computers and super computers that look at the climates and predict into the future indicate that we will change into this La Nina pattern.

So what this mean for you at home? Let's try to personalize it for you. Well, if you're in North America, during an El Nino season, what we did in the 2015, when we peaked in November, our jet stream shifts further and further southward and this impacts what is called wind shear. Wind shear is the change of direction and speed with wind in altitude, OK? Now, this is significant for hurricane development because we have what is called an updraft and when you have strong wind shear, that actually blows the top of hurricanes right off and it actually weakens hurricane.

So during an El Nino season, we typically get less hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin. But now that we're shifting into La Nina, we decrease that wind shear and we increase our chances of hurricanes across the Atlantic base. And at least, according to the Tropical Storm Risk that just released its current figures for the 2016 Atlantic hurricane seasons, we could have 12 name storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes and they are predicting that some of these could impact the United States as well.

I'll leave on a good note. Take a look at this video coming from Russia.

[00:20:00] Now these guys certainly aren't thinking about El Nino or La Nina but they are thinking about spring ski conditions ...

ASHER: Isn't it a little cold?

VAN DAM: ... in their bikinis ...

ASHER: Oh my God.

VAN DAM: ... and board shorts.

ASHER: Not me. Thank you very much.

VAN DAM: Look at that guy even downing (ph) the, well, the infamous selfie stick to the GoPro.

ASHER: That's in Sochi, Russia.

VAN DAM: This is Sochi, Russia and, apparently, this is an annual thing but why not?

ASHER: All right. Derek Van Dam, thank you so much. Nice story to end on, thank you.

More than 70 years after the end of World War II, Germany is still coping with the remnants of a horrific part of this history. Our Atika Shubert reports on what Berlin is doing with the country estate that once belongs to Adolf Hitler's propaganda chief.

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ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The villa by Lake Bogensee stands empty, unadorned except for a sculpture, now overgrowing with weeds, prime real estate, but it's gone unsold for decade since its last owner, Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda chief. CHRISTIAN BREITKREUZ, BIM BERLIN PROPERTY: It's a historic artifact and it's a nice building, too, but it just tells like a dark spot. It has a dark spot of history.

SHUBERT: Christian Breitkreuz manages the property for the Berlin city government. He gave us a tour of the now derelict building. The panoramic windows still retract to the ceiling with a push of a button. The original wood floor of the library now buckles with age.

In this Goebbels' family photo, the villa seems a quiet retreat but it was also where Goebbels entertained the starlets of the Nazi UFA movie studios. Now this is prime lake fund property and has gone unsold for years. Now, the Berlin city government has said it is taking it off the market, not because it can't find any buyers, but because it doesn't want it to fall into the wrong hands.

With the rise of the right-wing extremists in Germany, the Berlin city government doesn't want to take any chances of drawing neo-Nazis as potential buyers. But as a historically protected building, it also can't be torn down.

BREITKREUZ: Well, we decided to take it off the market because of the difficult history. If the -- if some Nazis would buy it at the end, you know, people would say, well, it used to belong to Berlin and now, they could have protected it from the Nazis.

SHUBERT: Today, it is used for the occasional historical film set. But (inaudible), after the war, under communist East Germany, it was once a student dorm for communist party youth with a cafeteria, a hair salon, even a kindergarten. Now, there is no water or electricity, just a show of a building that would take millions to restore, a property with a dark spot of history that the Berlin city government hopes will crumble into obscurity.

Atika Shubert, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDOETAPE)

ASHER: Bernie Sanders pinches another win in the U.S. presidential nomination race but both U.S. Democratic candidates have their sight set on a bigger price, New York, the latest in the race for the White House coming up next.

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ASHER: Now, the U.S. race for the White House and another win in the west for Bernie Sanders, the Democratic Presidential candidate picks up the Wyoming caucuses on Saturday. He is now actually one-eight out of the last nine contests. The (inaudible) claimed victory with more 55 percent of the vote bringing a major jolt of momentum in the race against Hillary Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:25:10] SANDERS: I think that it is very fair to say that we were way, way behind it during the first half of this contest but we are having, to say the least, a very strong second half and we are closing very fast. And now that Wyoming is behind us, we are here in New York State.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Sanders may have won Wyoming but the 14 delegates were actually evenly split between he and Clinton. Here is how the delegate total stands now. Take a look here. Hillary Clinton, as you can see that leads that with an estimate of 1790 delegate. Sanders has 1113. The candidates are currently in New York right now campaigning ahead of New York's primary. Clinton said she needs that win in order to become the Democratic nominee sooner and then focus on beating the Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEOL CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you. We are on the path of the nomination but I need to win big here in New York because the sooner I can become the nominee, I can turn and unify the Democratic party like I did with President Obama back in 2008 and the sooner we can go after the Republicans full time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: The New York Democratic primary will be held in about nine days from now, Tuesday, April 19.

Republican candidate, Ted Cruz has won the Colorado Republican state convention winning all 13 delegates at stake on Saturday and a total of 34 delegates in the state. Right now, Donald Trump leads the national Republican delegate with about 746 delegates, Cruz has 538 delegates, John Kasich is trailing with 145. Now, 1237 delegates are needed to win the Republican nomination.

In the meantime, a funny story for you, the Boston Globe is actually publishing a hysterical (ph) front page in Sunday's paper warning readers what Donald Trump presidency would actually look like. The top healing on the fake front page says, Deportations to Begin and another headline reads, Market sink as trade war looms. The joke sell of page dated April 9th, 2017, a year from now. It is the newspapers idea section. It was produced by the editorial page of the Globe which is actually separate from the newsroom.

All right, everyone, thank you so much for watching. I'm Zain Asher, Ill be back for your headlines after the break. You are, of course, watching CNN.

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