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ISIS Tries to Lure New Recruits in Afghanistan; Brussels Terror Suspect Revelation of Alleged plot to Attack Major Sporting Event; Trump Unhappy about GOP Delegate Process; Kasich Optimistic on Race; New Threats from North Korea; Transgender During Thailand Military Conscription Period; Teen Creates Hearing Devices. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired April 12, 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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(HEADLINES)

[02:00:34] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Rosemary Church.

ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Errol Barnett. Thanks for joining us. For the next two hours, we're your anchor team on CNN NEWSROOM.

First we are looking at what could be a very violent couple of months ahead in Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban has announced the start of their annual spring offensive.

CHURCH: They are calling it Operation Amari (ph) in honor of their movement's founder. But some members of the Taliban, who actually joined ISIS, have now defected from the terror group, and they are welcoming U.S. air strikes.

CNN's senior international correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh, joins us live from Kabul with more on all of this.

Nick, it's an extraordinary story. Is the message from these two men resonating in any way with other men, young and old, who live in the region?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Very few people we spoke to had anything positive to say about ISIS, described them as mostly Pakistan, a foreign infection, so to speak. But it is interesting that now the Afghan Taliban are claiming the start of their summer offensive. This separate issue, the ISIS problem, the fight against it in the east of the country, which so much of the Afghan government's efforts against have struggled, and we're finding so much of the violence against them now perpetrated solely by American strikes according to people we spoke to. It's the brutality of ISIS that has turned hardened men, fighters from the Taliban, fighting the Americans to actually welcome those U.S. drone strikes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Looking for ISIS. In Afghanistan's east, ISIS' radio broadcast of hate was bombed off air recently by the U.S. But here it's been coming back in the past week.

"It was there three days ago, and it's gone again," says one man. "They were talking nonsense," says another. "They're asking people to pledge allegiance and march on Kabul," he adds.

This is one broadcast they recorded earlier. ISIS is trying to put down roots here. But every day, more Afghans want to tear them up. And that starts here. Two months ago, we wouldn't have sat like this. Then they were commanders in ISIS.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): They just like beheadings. Think they are good to do.

PATON WALSH: ISIS, they say, came from Pakistan, not Iraq, and promised guns and money to their struggling group of Taliban. Their agenda, black flags, killing and looting, which they did go along with at first.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): They knew who was to take their money. The poor, they would arm to fight for them or kill them.

PATON WALSH: It went south fast. And they both remember the moment when.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): I remember when they beheaded seven people in the bazaar, including government workers and Taliban. I saw the long strip of wood they did it on covered in blood. They just threw the bodies away and buried. It was very Islamic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): The worst memory is if you were killed fighting for them they wouldn't hand your wife and children to a relative but put them in a camp.

PATON WALSH: ISIS recruit children here. Their own videos show another reason the two men work with Afghan intelligence who set up our interview, to get other locals to join an uprising program against ISIS. But they say they've lacked government protection and money and that's put potential defectors off. The fight is now left just to American drones, they say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Drones are doing a good job killing is. They target them as soon as they leave their houses.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): The government hasn't made any progress in those areas. It's only the bombing that's effective.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): You were in the Taliban, then in ISIS and now the American drones are bombing your own village but you're pleased about this because it's killing ISIS. Is that a strange feeling for you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): It makes us happy. We want them wiped out.

PATON WALSH: They are killers themselves who know what they're talking about. He holds up his cloak. Holes from an American helicopter attack not long ago when he was Taliban.

ISIS has shattered ordinary lives, too. Across town and in a luxury village built for rich people who never came, are hundreds of families who fled ISIS.

[02:05:10] (on camera): Afghanistan, like many nations, basically has to battle an idea that appeals to minds warped after decades of war. They don't see the Taliban as radical enough. An idea that no matter how hard you battle or bomb it, it's difficult to completely extinguish.

(voice-over): Many of their homes are still occupied and much damage is irreversible.

They killed this man's brother and then shot him in the waist as he helped his family escape. He's left unable to provide for them. And ISIS still live in their home.

ISIS savagery was first glimpsed in Afghanistan in this video where they lined up opponents and detonated a bomb below them. The man who speaks is survived by his brother.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): My brother called my father to tell him the death was on Facebook. We couldn't bury him if we didn't have a body. Its pieces are probably still lying where it was blown up.

PATON WALSH: Decade of trauma here, yet somehow it gets worse.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Jalalabad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PATON WALSH: That U.S. drone campaign responsible for lots of ire among civilian populations here and in Pakistan and across the border is drawing plaudits from former Taliban who left is. ISIS here an ideology that many say crept in during infighting between Taliban factions from Pakistan and tried to exploit a weariness and how long they've been waging their insurgency, and also an attractiveness for the warped ideology you've seen in that report.

But it is perhaps encouraging that ISIS have been rejected to some degree but the sad part of the message is regardless of Afghan official statements about how well the fight against them is doing, you heard radio is still heard occasionally as well. As the Taliban go on the offensive, the further chaos caused by that could allow ISIS further breathing room to maintain or expand in presence here.

CHURCH: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh with that live report from Kabul. An incredible insight into the brutality of ISIS.

Many thanks to you, Nick. We'll talk again next hour.

BARNETT: Now we want to get to what's a startling revelation from one of those Brussels terror suspects, an alleged plot to attack a major sporting event.

Authorities are trying to verify the claim.

Jim Sciutto has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mohamed Abrini arrested Friday on a Brussels street corner now telling investigators his terrorist cell was planning an attack at one of the biggest sporting events in the world --

(CHEERING)

SCIUTTO: -- the Euro 2016 soccer championships in France. This, as Abrini confesses to Belgian prosecutors that he's the so-called man in the hat caught on surveillance video in the Brussels airport moments before the attack.

(SHOUTING)

SCIUTTO: An attack which investigators say was not the cell's original plan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): The investigation established the group that hit Belgium had originally intended to strike France again. It's further evidence of the high threat to all of Europe.

SCIUTTO: Investigators believe the terrorists scrapped plans to attack Paris a second time after the arrest of Salah Abdeslam --

(EXPLOSION)

SCIUTTO: -- alerted them that police were getting closer. They then set their sights nearer to home and the devastating attacks at the Brussels airport and metro station followed just four days later.

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: When you arrest this guy it's not about what does he know about Paris and Brussels. It's what's does he know about the next attack?

SCIUTTO: There's growing evidence the Brussels cell was directed by ISIS in Syria. A computer found in a garbage bin last month belonging to two of the Brussels attackers contained an audio file of a conversation between Najim Lauchry, the bomb maker, and a senior operative in Syria. They two brainstorming additional potential attacks in Belgium and France. They also found a file indicating the cell considered targeting the La Defense Shopping Center in Paris and a Catholic Association. Investigators piecing together the entire network of the ISIS cell have now identified five members who played a direct role in both the Paris and Brussels terror attacks.

BERGEN: It's great this guy has been arrested. The network as we've come to realize, includes dozens of people. And we may not be at the end. SCIUTTO: Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is one step closer to possible impeachment.

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(CHANTING)

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BARNETT: This was the scene as a congressional committee voted in favor of that Monday. It prompted shouts of protests and support.

[02:10:08] CHURCH: At a rally in Rio de Janeiro, Rousseff's predecessor said they were pressuring lawmakers to remove the president. Rousseff is accused of hiding a budget shortfall to help win re-election back in 2014. She denies the charges but lower House of Congress will now debate her impeachment. A final vote is expected this Sunday.

BARNETT: The latest in the race for the White House is just ahead, including new allegations from Donald Trump that the system, he says, is rigged.

CHURCH: Plus, why top U.S. health officials are warning the Zika Virus is even scarier than they first thought.

We're back with that and more in a moment.

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BARNETT: Want to get you new information just coming in to CNN. We're following a developing story in Mumbai, a fire in a four-story building. This began on the first floor which we understand is for commercial use.

CHURCH: The second and third floors are residential and more than 50 people had to climb to a terrace to escape. They're now coming down one by one. No deaths have been reported at this point.

[02:15:14] BARNETT: We're certainly keep watching that closely for you.

U.S. health officials are sounding the alarm about the threat posed by the Zika Virus.

CHURCH: At a White House briefing Monday, they said the virus linked to microcephaly, may be linked to premature births, eye problems and other issues. The babies born to women infected with Zika. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED PHYSICIAN: Everything we look at with this virus seems to be a bit scarier than we initially thought. While we hope we don't see widespread local transmission in the continental U.S., we need the states to be ready for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: The mosquito-borne virus is in 30 U.S. states. They are urging Congress to approve $1.9 billion in emergency funding. And this is for Zika preparedness.

CHURCH: Donald Trump says he is leading the race for the Republican presidential nomination by millions of votes.

BARNETT: But he is not happy about the way the delegates are being awarded.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: It's a crooked system, folks. It's a crooked system.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Outraged over being outmaneuvered, tonight Donald Trump is going on the offensive.

TRUMP: We've got a corrupt system. It's not right. We're supposed to be a democracy. We're supposed to be -- we're supposed to be, you vote and the vote means something.

SERFATY: As Trump voices complaints with the GOP delegate selection process, Ted Cruz's campaign is demonstrating its organizational strength.

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R), TEXAS & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And the latest thing he seized upon is when people vote against him, they are stealing the election.

SERFATY: Cruz's campaign winning a clean sweep in Colorado, picking up all 34 of the delegates at stake in the state. But Trump is crying foul on the Cruz campaign's tactics.

TRUMP: What they're trying to do is subvert the movement with crooked shenanigans. We're not going to let it happen.

SERFATY: His new convention manager taking it one step farther.

PAUL MANAFORT, TRUMP CAMPAIGN CONVENTION MANAGER: You go into these county conventions and see the Gestapo tactics and the --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Gestapo tactics? That's a strong word.

MANAFORT: Well, you look at -- we'll be filing several protests because reality is they are not playing by the rules.

SERFATY: But the Trump camp gave no specifics or evidence about what those tactics might be. And the Cruz campaign is firing back, rejecting those charges as just sour grapes, adding, "We're winning because we put in the hard work to build a superior organization."

This, as the Texas Senator is no longer downplaying the chances that the race will be settled at the convention this July.

CRUZ: The odds of going to a contested convention in Cleveland have become much, much higher.

SERFATY: Cruz admitting a contested convention could be his best shot at winning the nomination.

CRUZ: In that scenario, I think we will go in with an overwhelming advantage. I believe the first ballot will be the highest vote total Donald Trump receives. And on a subsequent ballot, we're going to win the nomination and earn a majority.

(APPLAUSE)

SERFATY: "The Boston Globe" launching an attack on the front-runner, publishing a satirical front page in the opinion section of its Sunday edition warning readers about the deeply troubling risks of a Trump presidency.

TRUMP: I couldn't care less.

SERFATY: Trump brushing it off and blasting the newspaper.

TRUMP: They made up -- the whole front page is a make-believe story, which is no different than the whole paper for the whole thing. I mean the whole thing is made up.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: Larry Sabato is the director for the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

Larry, always great to see you. Thanks for your time today.

This contested Republican convention looks like a more solidified reality now. Out of Trump, Cruz and Kasich, which candidate is best poised to get the nomination after all the delegate wrangling is done, in your opinion?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: I would still give an edge to Donald Trump, at least for the plurality of delegates. He'll come close to 1,237. I don't think anybody believes he'll thereby as of the final primary day June 7th when California and some other states vote. But, Errol, he has six weeks to negotiate with all of the unpledged delegates and to do some of the things Ted Cruz has been doing on all along. I don't think we can rule Donald Trump out. I do think we can say this with certainty. If Donald Trump does not get a majority of the delegates on the first ballot, he will not be the nominee.

[02:20:06] BARNETT: Just so our viewers are clear, delegates are only pegged to a candidate for that first ballot. If Donald Trump doesn't become the nominee after that first round, what happens then? I understand the field becomes wide open and you also have this commercial released for speaker Paul Ryan recently. Observers saying it looked like something a person running for president might put out. Does that put him in the mix? Explain how that would work?

SABATO: First, there are a couple of states that require a pledged candidate for two ballots. So they don't all disappear after the first ballot but it's clear now that Ted Cruz has been organizing very capably for months. And probably has inserted, I would estimate, 300 or so anti-Trump delegates into Trump's delegate pile. That is, they will fulfill their obligation and vote for Trump on the first ballot and then vote for someone else on the second ballot. But who is that someone else? It's much more likely to be Ted Cruz than anyone else. Now will Cruz be able to get the majority on the second ballot? Only if he does a deal with John Kasich. And that's going to be something we're watching for in those six weeks between the end of the primaries and the gaveling of the convention July 18th.

Now on your question --

(CROSSTALK)

BARNETT: So fascinating. Go ahead.

SABATO: On your question on Paul Ryan, he has issued what can only be described as a presidential campaign ad. And he is playing the same game he played when he ran for speaker, while pretending not to run for speaker of the U.S. House of representatives. He's saying he'll never take it, he doesn't want it, but oh, my goodness gracious, he may be asked to take it and he'll just have to do it. So he'd love to be the nominee. No matter what he says and what his people say.

BARNETT: What about for the Democrats? Hillary Clinton has a double- digit lead over Senator Sanders in New York, according to a new CNN poll. Why is Sanders still in this? Could he still be a spoiler?

SABATO: I would say Sanders has a chance of an upset but I would expect Hillary Clinton to win by at least four or five points, maybe more than that. All she needs to do from this point forward is to tie overall. She has the delegates she needs, as you project forward, to be nominated. I don't think it will be particularly close in the end.

BARNETT: Larry Sabato, joining us from the University of Virginia. Always good to get your insight. Thank you for your time, Larry.

SABATO: Thank you, Errol.

CHURCH: And New York voters are getting a chance to know John Kasich a little better. He and his family took part in a town hall with CNN's Anderson Cooper Monday night. BARNETT: Despite trailing badly in the delegate count, Kasich is

optimistic about his chances. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, A.C. 360: Do you need to up your game in terms of reaching out to delegates?

JOHN KASICH, (R), OHIO GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're reaching out all over. And it's a bizarre process. I'm not really in the middle of it because I have to prepare for people like you and I get out and do town halls and all the things that I do. Yes, we have --

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Do you need to focus more? It seems like Cruz is --

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Why would a delegate pick you if the only state you've won is Ohio?

KASICH: Let's see how many delegates we accumulate. Why would you pick somebody that doesn't win in the fall? I believe if you pick these other guys you aren't only going to lose the White House, you'll lose the court. You will lose the United States Senate and you'll lose a lot of seats --

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Why can't Ted Cruz win?

KASICH: They are too divisive and negative.

COOPER: One of Cruz's Michigan delegates is suggesting you are auditioning to be Trump's vice president. Trump in an interview in "USA Today" said he likes you. He likes Marco Rubio and named you in a list of people he might consider for vice president.

KASICH: You asking me if I would be his vice president?

COOPER: Would you?

KASICH: Zero. I'm not going to be anybody's vice president.

(CROSSTALK)

KASICH: I'd be the worst vice president the country ever saw. You know why? I'm not like a vice president. I'm a president. Our goal as a party is to beat Hillary. I think.

COOPER: That would seem to be the goal.

KASICH: So wouldn't you pick somebody that can beat Hillary instead of loses to her all the time. And wouldn't you want to pick someone that has the record and experience to be president. That's not a radical idea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: You can see the entire town hall with John Kasich and his family coming up in just a few hours. That's at noon for those of you in London. You can watch Donald Trump at noon on Wednesday and Ted Cruz Thursday at noon.

CHURCH: Democrats, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, will face off in a CNN debate live Friday, at 2:00 a.m., in London, if you're up.

BARNETT: Now investigators say they're trying to figure out who a U.S. Navy officer charged with espionage may have been spying for. Defense officials identify him as Lieutenant Commander Edward Lin. He was arrested about eight months ago but details of his case just came out this past Friday. CNN has not been able to reach Lin or his family for comment.

[02:25:16] CHURCH: One defense official says Lin may have spied for China or Taiwan. The Taiwanese defense ministry says it knows nothing about the case and would not comment.

South Korea is questioning a high-level military official they say defected from North Korea. And Pyongyang has a harsh warning for others wanting to do the same.

BARNETT: Plus -- this is so cool -- a 16-year-old has invented a device he hopes will help those with hearing issues. Hear the personal inspiration behind his creation next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: A warm welcome back to everyone. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: I'm Errol Barnett.

We're half an hour in so let's update you on your top stories right now.

(HEADLINES)

[02:30:09] BARNETT: There are new threats from Pyongyang after a senior intelligence official defected to South Korea.

CHURCH: A North Korean propaganda site is warning the army will launch a preemptive strike against defectors calling them "despicable traitors."

BARNETT: CNN's Paula Hancocks in Seoul, South Korea, joins us with more.

Paula, it was roughly this time yesterday we got the first detail this even happened. We know the specifics are still scarce but what do we know about where this defector is reportedly from? PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Errol, it's a rare

confirmation that we even know about this defector. What we know from authorities, one government source telling us this defector is the most senior military official known to have defected from North Korea. So that would suggest why we are seeing that reaction from state-run media threatening defectors and threatening to attack defectors. South Korean intelligence is hoping this defector will be able to tell them an awful lot. The person is from the Reconnaissance General Bureau we're told and was working on espionage against the south. Now this bureau is under the umbrella of the military, involved in intelligence gathering in cyber warfare and also in espionage against the south and also against other countries. So certainly there could be some very interesting intelligence gleaned from this particular defector. Of course, most defectors are kept for questioning to make sure that they are not a spy, for example. Then they go to re- education for about three months. This will be a very different situation. If this is such a senior military official within North Korea it will be some time before we hear anything from them -- Errol?

BARNETT: And we keep saying if because we're just not sure yet of all the details. But recent defections just last week suggest this could be legit but there are elections there per others are doubtful because of that. What should we make of the timing of this?

HANCOCKS: One day away from legislative elections here in South Korea. The opposition party is certainly questioning whether the timing of these announcements, as I say, it was a fairly rare combination of such a senior official to be defecting. They are questioning whether or not this is just trying to be a boost for the ruling party. The conservative party that President Park Geun-hye is part of. But the government itself has denied that. Now we know that this was announced on Monday. There was also an announcement that's a diplomat has deflected. We have no more information about that. That's just from a government source and 13 restaurant workers last Friday were confirmed to have defected en masse. Very unusual that so many should defect in one go -- Errol?

BARNETT: Fascinating time.

Paula Hancocks live in Seoul for us. Just past 3:30 in the afternoon there. Paula, thanks.

CHURCH: A gut-wrenching display that tugs at all your sensibilities. That is how U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry described his visit to the Hiroshima victims memorial. On Monday, Kerry and several other diplomats laid wreaths to honor those who died there. Kerry is the highest ranking American official to visit the site in the city where the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb that killed tens of thousands of people leading to the end of World War II.

BARNETT: It is military conscription season in Thailand. And the process gives the transgender community some unique challenges. Coming up.

CHURCH: Plus, a severe hail storm pounds north Texas crashing through windows and causing a big mess. That story and more still to come. Do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:37:22] CHURCH: Many public figures are speaking out against new laws in the U.S. states of Mississippi and North Carolina, which critics say promote discrimination against the LGBT community.

BARNETT: Some of the loudest statements have not been from new, young pop stars. They've been prom rock stars. Prominent musicians are canceling concerts in both of those states.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Singer/songwriter, Bryan Adams. is the latest to weigh in. He canceled a show in Mississippi to protest its new religious freedom law.

BARNETT: Before Adams, it was Bruce Springsteen canceling his show in North Carolina. The new law in that state requires people to use bathrooms that correspond to their gender on their birth certificates.

CHURCH: He apologized to fans but said, "Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry, which is happening as I write, is one of them."

The military conscription period is nearly over in Thailand. Thousands of young people are drafted into the military over the course of a few weeks.

BARNETT: But the process raises some unique challenges for the transgender community. Thailand's traditional views on gender and sexuality often fail to consider men who now identify as women.

Our Saima Mohsin reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's conscription day. If there aren't enough volunteers to join the military, there's a compulsory lottery. Family members wait as nervous as their sons, some jeering, hoping someone else's son is picked.

(SHOUTING)

MOHSIN: Not everyone wants to join the military.

Others say they don't even belong here. They now identify as women.

(on camera): All men over the age of 21 have to go through this compulsory conscription process. Women can apply to be in the military by taking an exam, leaving transgender people in limbo.

(voice-over): Conscription law applies to a person's gender at birth, not their personal gender identity.

23-year-old Kasika (ph) has been taking hormones to become a woman for four years.

UNIDENTIFIED TRANSGENDER: People look at me, like stare at me, but I just get used to it.

MOHSIN: In this sea of faces, a few stand out. Kasika (ph) is not alone.

UNIDENTIFIED TRANSGENDER: (through translation): I was going to run away and leave the country, but my father said I have to face up to my responsibility.

UNIDENTIFIED TRANSGENDER: There's some violence that happened and make me a little scared.

[02:40:21] MOHSIN: Those born men that became women used to be conscripted regardless, facing abuse in the army. Transgender women used to be labeled severely and permanently insane or psychos by the military, but are now considered to have gender identity disorder.

UNIDENTIFIED TRANSGENDER: (through translation): Transgender people used to be forced to take off their shirts, even if they had breast implants. We've been working with the military to create understanding about how to treat us with dignity.

MOHSIN: Transgender women don't have to serve in the military anymore but they still have to go through this process.

(MUSIC)

MOHSIN: The Thai Transgender Alliance has released a video describing the process for the trans community to make it easier. They've also been working closely with the military.

The military wasn't available for an interview, but it has developed guidelines for soldiers to become more sensitive towards transgender people and treatment has improved.

UNIDENTIFIED TRANSGENDER: The soldier that treat me well, give me information. Two years ago they didn't offer me a chair but this year they did.

MOHSIN: But --

UNIDENTIFIED TRANSGENDER: I'm a woman. I shouldn't be here.

MOHSIN: Saima Mohsin, CNN, Thailand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Let's turn to the weather now. Severe storms with huge hail stones have rocked parts of the U.S. in the past hour.

We turn to Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. Huge, we're talking about baseball-size.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Baseball-sized, grapefruit-sized. These are life threatening in nature. $1 billion on average are lost in crop and property damage. And this particular one happened just a few hours ago in northern Texas near Dallas. We'll show you the video. Look at the perspective as far as what it looked like. Incredible sight out of this region. The video shows you what we'll show you. The blinds on this person's property being ripped apart as the hail stones that were baseball sized in diameter, golf ball size. We're talking 10 centimeters in diameter causing significant damage across much of the Dallas area. This is in Wyllie, Texas, just north of the metro. All the schools have been closed because it's an unsafe learning environment across that campus. The area with 70 reports of severe weather over the past 24 hours. Zero tornado reports. That's important to note. This happened just a few weeks back as well and cost some $300 million in vehicle damage repairs. That was late March. The video you saw from a few hours ago. Talk about grape fruits, 4 inches or 10 centimeters in diameter. You have to have major, major updrafts in the winds. Winds as high as 150 to 160 kilometers to get your hail stones to grow to this size. An unprecedented event.

Another event across parts of Thailand, a major drought in place. Among the driest weather in the country in about two decades time. 27 of the 77 provinces are reporting a drought in place. The reason this is important. The Thai New Year begins on Wednesday. A three-year event. They sprinkle and spray water on family members and relatives. With this drought in place, the concern is, of course, are people going to be doing this? It's evolves from sprinkling spring water to having buckets of water and hose open and officials say it's a big business. A lot of people come to Thailand for these festivities so they aren't planning on reducing the water usage. But Thai New Year around the corner.

BARNETT: Maybe a new tradition of tossing a pillow.

JAVAHERI: Something a little dryer.

BARNETT: Something more resourceful.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

JAVAHERI: Not likely to catch on.

BARNETT: Thanks, Pedram. See you next hour.

CHURCH: Thanks, Pedram.

BARNETT: Still to come, a 16-year-old is making waves in the hearing aid industry with a double duty device. This is fascinating. And someone in India is all it took to inspire him. Hear it all next on CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:48:42] BARNETT: Most teenagers are pretty good with electronics from Smartphones to video games. You won't find many teens handy with hearing aids.

CHURCH: We met one who designs them.

Casey Cunningham from CNN affiliate, WAVE, in Louisville, Kentucky, has his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY CUNNINGHAM, REPORTER, WAVE, LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY (voice-over): For two years, Mukund Venkatakrishnan spent hours fiddling with frequencies and tinkering with tones. And two years is a long time, especially --

MUKUND VENKATAKRISHNAN, TEEN CREATES HEARING AIDS: I'm only 16. Two years is a long time for me to spend on something.

CUNNINGHAM: This 16-year-old created a hearing test and aid.

VENKATAKRISHNAN: It eliminates the need for a doctor altogether.

CUNNINGHAM: First the tests. Different sounds at different frequencies.

VENKATAKRISHNAN: You plug in headphones. You hear the sound you click the green button. After the hearing test is completed, the device programs itself to be a hearing aid.

CUNNINGHAM: A double-duty device, something even he wasn't sure he could create.

VENKATAKRISHNAN: I'm just surprised it turned out OK. It's hard to like see something like this working. I wanted to quit a lot of times in the middle.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Mukund Venkatakrishnan joins me now from Kentucky to talk more about his invention.

Thank you for being with us.

VENKATAKRISHNAN: Thank you.

CHURCH: And what's so striking is your age. Just 16 years old. And you have come up with an invention that helps those with deteriorating hearing. What inspired you to spend two long years on this project?

[02:50:16] VENKATAKRISHNAN: So summer after my freshman year, I was in India. I was with my grandfather. He had hearing loss. So we had to set up the appointments, get him tested and all that. First of all, the appointments took forever to find. Audiologists are difficult to find. Once we got there, we were ripped off. The entire experience prompted me to research the topic.

CHURCH: You know, I think any of us with elderly parents or grandparents understand and have experienced this ourselves. This is a cheaper, more accessible hearing aid. Explain to us how it works exactly.

VENKATAKRISHNAN: So I actually have the device right here with me. So this is the green board you see here is called the TNC 3.1. It's a special circuit board. So it has the capacity to do a lot of complex signal processing. There's the back side as well that has a headphone jack here. Normal 3.5 millimeter. The same you'd see on your phone. The user plugs in their headphones into the headphone jack here and the device starts calculating itself. When you hear a noise -- real hearing tests are done in a sound-proof booth. The device calibrates itself to ambient noise. After that's complete, sounds play in the user's ear, and if the user hears the sound they click the green button. If they don't hear the sound they click the yellow button. The user doesn't do anything. The device programs itself and begins treating the hearing loss.

CHURCH: Let's talk about price range. Any of us have had experience here. We're talking about thousands of dollars. That's not the case with your device. How much is it? When is it going to be available? And how do you plan to make this available to the wider market?

VENKATAKRISHNAN: So right now everything you see here is $60. Of course, when you mass produce things they drop in price. Hopefully, plan on making my own circuit board and making it open source. That will decrease prices a lot. This is all $60 right here. As for when it's going to be available, you know, this is obviously not a complete product. It's kind of a skeleton and prototype. It's a working prototype, but I'm hoping to get something, you know, workable and well designed in the next year, hopefully in a year I'll have it completely done and ready to go. In terms of getting it to people, I'm trying to work with some nongovernmental organizations and charity foundations that have distribution networks, manufacturing capacity and stuff like that. Things I don't have the ability to do and give them the rights, a working device so they can hit the ground running and get this to people in need.

CHURCH: Make sure you hold on to the rights. And hopefully somebody is out there listening and they'll be able to help you.

We wish you the best in your endeavor. This is an extraordinary invention.

Best of luck to you. Mukund Venkatakrishnan, thank you for joining us.

VENKATAKRISHNAN: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: How inspiring. BARNETT: Fantastic work.

CHURCH: Unbelievable. I hope he finds somebody who will take on this incredible task. And get this out to so many people who need it.

BARNETT: Using his intelligence for good.

Now, police in Washington are trying to catch a real-life hamburgular. They released this footage showing the suspected thief after he snuck into a burger restaurant called Five Guys around 3:00 in the morning.

CHURCH: He wasn't looking for money but he was apparently hungry. He casually cooked up a couple of hamburgers and talking on his cell phone. The video has gone viral. Police are still looking for the crooked cook.

BARNETT: Interesting.

The way to win New York votes in this presidential campaign is through food.

Here's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When it comes to food photo ops, candidates almost have to say cheesecake or hot dogs or spaghetti or matzo.

Bernie Sanders inhaled a couple of Nathan's hot dogs so fast it looked like he was in the Fourth of July hot dog eating contest.

We thought his wife, Jane, was going to have to do the Heimlich.

John Kasich is the one that ate as if it added to his delegate count rather than calorie count.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grandma's recipe.

JOHN KASICH, (R), OHIO GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Beautiful. Great. Mama Mia.

MOOS: He ate two plates of spaghetti, a salami sandwich, ordered pasta fagoli.

KASICH: How about a little cheese on the top of this?

MOOS: And don't try taking anything away.

KASICH: Wait a minute. No, no, no.

MOOS: Eat, drink and be merry when running in a primary.

But Hillary refused to touch her cheesecake.

(on camera): Instead of an actual bite, all we got was a sound bite. HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF

STATE: I learned early on not to eat in front of all of you.

(LAUGHTER)

[02:55:16] MOOS (voice-over): Back at the Iowa State Fair, she nibbled at a pork chop on a stick.

CLINTON: Really good.

MOOS: Now she's resisting the call of the cheesecake.

CLINTON: I'm sitting here just pining, pining for a bite.

MOOS: SNL poked fun at Hillary for not eating.

UNIDENTIFIED COMEDIAN: My favorite dinner, a classic New York City street hot dog.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: Personally, I worry more about what I'm eating ratter than how bad I look eating it. A hot dog wrapped in a Twinkie? Drizzled with Cheese Whiz? Dog food made from human grade ingredients.

(on camera): I mean, I can swallow it.

MOOS (voice-over): But what New Yorkers can't swallow is when Kasich or Trump dare to use utensils on pizza.

JON STEWART, FORMER HOST, THE DAILY SHOW: Are you eating it with a fork!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The pizza came scalding hot, OK?

MOOS: Through the years, candidates have learned food can burn you.

Jeanne Moos --

KASICH: The guy's got to eat, right?

MOOS: -- CNN.

STEWART: Watch and learn for god's sakes.

MOOS: -- New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: How to eat a pizza.

BARNETT: Show them how it's done, John.

CHURCH: And remember, you can always follow us on social media any time.

We'll have more CNN NEWSROOM after this short break.

BARNETT: See you in a minute. Live report from India.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)