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Building Collapse in Kenya; Race for the White House 2016; Surging Violence in Aleppo; Kenya Hosts Anti-Poaching Summit; Race for the White House 2016; Bamboo for Building Skyscrapers. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired April 30, 2016 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Ahead this hour: rescuers search for survivors after a building collapse in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.
Plus: anger on the U.S. campaign trail as protesters try to prevent Republican front-runner Donald Trump from delivering a campaign speech in the state of California.
And the grim reality in Syria as bombs fall on yet another medical facility just a day after a hospital was hit before that.
Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm George Howell. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
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HOWELL: Good day to you. It is 11:00 am in Kenya. And we begin with a deadly building collapse there that killed at least seven people in the nation's capital. And the desperate search continues this hour, as teams try to rescue people who are feared to have been buried under the seven-story multifamily house.
According to Kenya's Red Cross, dozens of people may still be trapped there. But workers have been able to communicate with several survivors.
And then look at this: among those rescued, two babies and several children. Heavy rains and floods in Nairobi may have played a role in the collapse. CNN is live in Nairobi, Kenya. Robyn Kriel is on the ground, following developments for us this hour.
Robyn, it's good to have you with us. So we've seen these images from that collapse.
What can you tell us about where things stand right now when it comes to finding survivors in all of this rubble?
ROBYN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's still hope for rescue officials, George, that they will be able to recover some more survivors from this horrific building collapse.
We do know, though, that the rain has not abated almost since yesterday afternoon, really, Nairobi time. This occurred around 9:00 pm local time last night. The rain has been pretty intense throughout yesterday and today as well. So that's not going to be helping rescue efforts at all.
And we do know a number of other smaller structures much smaller than this have also collapsed overnight just due to this very heavy rain and the lack of drainage throughout much of the streets of Nairobi as well as some of the neighborhoods itself.
In terms of the rescue efforts themselves, we do know that around 100 people were rescued according to police. The building itself, about two years old. That's according to local media here in Kenya.
So a Nairobi official, a government official, was at the scene earlier, saying that they were going to do a full investigation into just why this would have happened.
But just scenes of bravery and heroism but also tragedy coming from that building collapse in Nairobi. And, of course, the concern is that there are still survivors inside. Red Cross officials have told CNN that they are communicating with some of those survivors. It is a race against time.
HOWELL: So the search for survivors continues. The investigation still underway.
But, Robyn, what can you tell us about the situation for those who did survive and are now without a home?
KRIEL: Well, many of them lived inside that building, so they will obviously have to be housed elsewhere. Many of them are in hospital with injuries, quite severe injuries, from a seven-story building crash.
There are concerns, George, just from the debris that is outside the building. You can see children's backpacks, many pairs of shoes.
No one knows really just how many people were inside the building, which is really a concern. Red Cross has set up disaster management units outside. Men are taking lists of names, people, neighbors, really, who can say I was next door to so-and-so; I don't know if that person got out (INAUDIBLE) just trying to map out exactly who was in the building at the time.
But this is not the first collapse of its kind. Unfortunately, Kenya has seen a number of these sorts of building collapses in the past. We just hope that the death toll does not get any higher. It's (INAUDIBLE) at the moment 128 people injured.
But particularly, during the rainy season and in this particular area, in fact, I myself was covered in the Madari (ph) slum, just very close to where this building collapsed, a landslide in the past once that killed a number of people and also trapped a number of people. But you really do see what would have concerning is that with this rain, with this heavy, heavy rain, traffic is very, very backed up throughout Nairobi so it would take a route that would have really delayed rescue officials from getting to the site as quickly as possible.
You also see crowding. So a number of people, thousands of people trying to help oftentimes but oftentimes just looking as well. They would crowd around the scene.
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KRIEL: And that would also prevent rescue officials from getting there. So what rescue officials are telling us, can you, Red Cross in particular, is see if people can just stay as far away from the site as possible and help in other ways.
The Kenyan defense forces, we understand, George, have also been called in to try and help but they do lack a lot of the equipment that would perhaps exist in other countries, other countries really a lot more -- better equipped to handle these sorts of tragedies, such as those who have earthquakes, perhaps thermal imaging cameras, dogs, things like that.
Kenya doesn't have that but they are trying as hard as possible to get people out alive.
HOWELL: Robyn, on top of this story, certainly -- and as you were talking, we were looking at the images of the rubble and that moment when the rescuers were able to find a baby in the rubble. So obviously we'll stay in touch with you with that.
But, Robyn, I know you are also covering another story there. We see in the background there ivory tusks.
What can you tell us about that story just briefly?
KRIEL: Obviously, you know a huge switch of gear is from the tragedy overnight. Kenya has been preparing to burn 105 tons of its ivory, much of it illegally seized ivory. They are trying to push the ban on the trade of ivory. And that's why they are having this burn.
So 105 tons of ivory and 1.35 tons of rhino horn. The estimated street value on the black market is around $200 million.
The reason Kenyans are burning this and not, say, selling it off and perhaps investing that money into other things, just conservation efforts, $200 million is a huge amount of money, particularly in this part of the world, is that the Kenyans are saying that these animals are not worth anything -- sorry, that this illicit wildlife product is not worth anything if it's not on a live animal.
Kenya obviously relies heavily on its tourism and then animals are life here in Africa to many people, who rely on the tourists coming in to take pictures of them. Their message is this ivory, this rhino horn is worth nothing if it's not on a dead animal -- not on a live animal, George, rather.
HOWELL: Covering the details across two very important stories for us, CNN correspondent Robyn Kriel, thank you so much for your reporting and we will stay in touch with you.
And for our viewers, we will have Robyn's report just a little later in this newscast.
Now as you saw there, it is the season for heavy rains in Nairobi. And our meteorologist, Derek Van Dam, is here to talk to us about it -- Derek.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: George, you heard Robyn say that this is probably not the last time we will be reporting on a building collapse in Nairobi because there are a lot of low income areas on the outskirts of Nairobi, that, well, unfortunately, this high demand for housing in that area, there is a lot of property developers that bypass regulations and codes.
And with that type of susceptible building, you add in flash flooding, you have got problems.
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VAN DAM: Exactly. In fact, a statistic I came around -- if we go to the visuals, 50 percent of the buildings in Nairobi not up to code or living standards, I should say, according to the Architectural Society of Kenya. Unbelievable stuff, considering that people build their structures right on the edges of river banks, which, as you would imagine, are susceptible to flooding and that seems to be the case.
There is strong evidence coming that heavy rain played a major factor. You are starting to see some of the first images as daylight appears in Nairobi, Kenya, of course earlier this morning local time. It's currently just after 11:00 am there.
Let me get to my graphics behind me. What I've done is I've mapped out the climatological data for a 12-month span in Nairobi, Kenya. Look for the spike for April and May, over 200 millimeters of rain for this time of year.
During the month of April at least, so we are right smack dab in the middle of the rainy season for Nairobi, Kenya. We expect the heavy thunderstorms. We expect the downpours and the problems still continue, especially when we see rainfall that accumulates so quickly in such a short amount of time. I'll show you that figure in just one moment.
Let's take our Google Earth imagery and zoom into the northeastern sections of Nairobi. This is an area called the Huruma area. And it's in between two rivers. One, the Nairobi River to the south. And just to the north, the Mathare River. And that is the particular location where we believe that the building collapse took place.
It's difficult to see on this particular map but you can see that bend of buildings. One of those buildings is indeed the building that collapsed. And it is right on a riverbed. So you factor in extremely heavy rainfall and narrow space and we have a potential for rising, rapidly rising water, leading to flash flooding.
This satellite loop over the past three to four days, you can see just the convective activity popping up, one after another after another. So heavy thunderstorms continue to pound this region --
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VAN DAM: -- with deluges of rain. We have had over 180 millimeters reported in the past four days near Nbu (ph), Kenya, and that is a suburb of Nairobi.
Again, their average for the month of April is roughly 220 millimeters. So that amount of rain in such a short period of time, no wonder there is flooding. It's all thanks to the intertropical convergence zone shifting locations, depending on the time of the year. And we have seen it shift northward.
Unfortunately, there is more rain to come.
I'll leave you with some of the graphics, our visuals coming out of this region. You can see the flooding. Robyn alluded to this a moment ago, George, that the delayed rescue efforts, because of the traffic jams, thanks to the flooding.
HOWELL: Derek Van Dam, thank you so much.
Still ahead here on NEWSROOM, hundreds of people came out to disrupt the Donald Trump speech in California. We'll show you what Trump had to do when protesters blocked his motorcade.
Plus: hundreds dead in Aleppo after surging violence and airstrikes. We'll have more on that story as NEWSROOM continues.
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HOWELL: Following America's Choice 2016 and we welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell.
For the second straight day, protests have turned violent at Donald Trump events.
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HOWELL (voice-over): There is the scene there. The presidential candidate was set to speak at the California Republican convention. That's when hundreds of protesters turned out. They clashed with police and even rushed barriers. Some even blocked Trump's limo, forcing him to walk to the venue's back entrance.
Later Donald Trump had this to say about his lead in the delegate race.
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to hopefully close this thing out fairly soon. I think that now that we cracked the 1,000 number, which is great, right?
No, it's good.
You know, it's interesting, though. I'm up by 400 or so delegates. I'll be up by more than 500 when it's over. And we'll be up by 5 million votes, OK?
And we're going to break -- this coming week, we break the all-time record.
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HOWELL: So the next big delegate prize, it is the state of Indiana, which holds its primary on Tuesday; 57 delegates are at stake for the Republicans. And as it stands now, Donald Trump has a substantial lead now with just over 1,000 delegates, as he pointed out; Ted Cruz with 572 and John Kasich trails, third place, with 157 delegates.
To prevent Donald Trump from clinching the Republican nomination, Ted Cruz is going to need to win in Indiana. And he is getting some help from the Hoosier state's Republican governor.
Mike Pence endorsed Cruz after also being courted by the Trump campaign. But while endorsing Cruz, the socially conservative governor didn't say he was against the Republican front-runner. Listen.
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GOV. MIKE PENCE (R), IND.: I've come to my decision about who I'm supporting. And I'm not against anybody. But I will be voting for Ted Cruz in the upcoming Republican primary.
I particularly want to commend Donald Trump, who I think has given voice to the frustration of millions of working Americans with a lack of progress in Washington, D.C.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Today was a very, very good day. I was honored and humbled to receive the support of Indiana's governor, Mike Pence.
Governor Pence is a strong, principled conservative leader. He is someone who has earned the respect of Hoosiers and earned the respect of conservatives all across this country.
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HOWELL: We are also learning more about how the Democratic front- runner plans to get ahead. In an interview with CNN, Hillary Clinton made it clear she plans to rise above the attacks from Donald Trump. Here is our senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, with this report.
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HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have a lot of experience dealing with men who sometimes get off the reservation in the way they behave and how they speak.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SR. WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hillary Clinton is talking about Donald Trump.
CLINTON: I'm not going to deal with their temper tantrums or their bullying or their efforts to try to provoke me. He can say whatever he wants to say about me. I could really care less.
ZELENY (voice-over): Speaking to CNN's Jake Tapper in her first interview since all but sealing the Democratic nomination, Clinton offering an early look into her plan to take on Donald Trump.
CLINTON: If you are demeaning women, you don't believe equal pay is an issue, you are really insulting to women, I don't see how that adds up, either.
ZELENY (voice-over): The back-and-forth between Trump and Clinton overtaking the presidential race.
TRUMP: If Hillary Clinton were a man, I don't think she would get 5 percent of the vote.
ZELENY (voice-over): The Clinton campaign is trying to turn his attack against him, offering donors an actual woman card. But Clinton is taking the high road.
CLINTON: We're going to talk about what we want to do for the country. And he can continue on his insult fest. But that's the choice he is making.
ZELENY (voice-over): In California, Trump making that choice again.
TRUMP: When I can focus on Hillary, as I say, Crooked Hillary -- when I focus on Hillary, she'll go down easier than any of the people we just beat.
ZELENY (voice-over): While Trump calls himself the presumptive Republican nominee, Clinton won't quite go there just yet.
CLINTON: I consider myself as someone who is on the path and obviously I'm very far ahead in both the popular vote and the delegate count.
ZELENY (voice-over): The acrimony from only two weeks ago has faded.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VT., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am sure a lot of people are very surprised to learn that you supported raising the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour. CLINTON: Wait a minute, wait a minute.
ZELENY (voice-over): At least from Clinton's point of view.
CLINTON: I was pleased when Senator Sanders said the other day he is going to work tirelessly seven days a week to make sure that Donald Trump is not president.
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ZELENY (voice-over): Sanders is saying a little more than that.
SANDERS: We need a 50-state strategy. We need to plant the flag of progressive politics in every state in this country.
ZELENY (voice-over): It's a feeling Clinton well remembers, when a presidential bid dies. She says she's not worried about unifying the party.
CLINTON: I think when I dropped out, the polling was at 40 percent of my supporters said they would not support Senator Obama. Thankfully, the vast majority of them did. So this is a natural kind of process that I think will play itself out.
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HOWELL: And that was CNN's Jeff Zeleny reporting for us.
We are also following events now in Syria. Both the United States and Russia say that they have reached an agreement on a renewed cessation of hostilities in that country.
The truce, though, does not include Aleppo. Hundreds of people have been killed there in the past week. Many died when airstrikes leveled a hospital and a clinic. Some civilians say they are now too terrified to even go to a hospital even if they are injured. Nick Paton Walsh has this report for us.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As disbelief still raged at how airstrikes could kill dozens at a hospital Thursday, it happened again. Another airstrike, one of 20 that hit rebel-held areas of Aleppo Friday, activists said, slammed into another medical facility.
It is fortunate but also chilling that these scenes of destruction don't have people in them. Because of the airstrikes, civilians here are said to be too scared to go to this and other hospitals. They have been, for days, says the manager of the MSF-backed hospital hit Thursday.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're not only afraid to go to the hospitals, they're afraid to walk in the street. They are afraid to get targeted or to be targets or to be hit on the way to the hospitals. WALSH (voice-over): He described the life of Dr. Waseem Maaz, the last pediatrician in Aleppo, one of six medical staff killed in Thursday's strike, seen here tending to patients. His devotion to his work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said if I get married, then I wouldn't be here in Aleppo for much time, that my wife will be in Turkey and I will have to spend half of my days in Turkey and the other half in Aleppo.
WALSH (voice-over): Children were his devotion and so often victims here.
This baby brought from the wreckage could have been one of Dr. Maaz's patients. (INAUDIBLE) here to find a tiny vein for an IV drip.
Instead, this scene haunted the day on which Dr. Maaz died, a boy left to tend the course of his younger brother, to beg if they could change places.
This passes for childhood here, has done for years, those born into the war who can only hope they may outlive it -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Beirut.
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HOWELL: The situation there dire and this story, a story of children, certainly drives it home to you, I'm sure. For more context on what's happening, let's go live to Cairo, Egypt. Our Ian Lee is following this situation in Aleppo.
Ian, it's good to have you with us.
So what to make of this cessation of hostilities?
I mean, is there still hope there or is it fair to say that this is no longer viable?
IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, George, you may remember that last February is when they created this cessation of hostilities between the government of Bashar al-Assad and his allies and the Western- backed rebels. Not part of that was ISIS and Al Qaeda-affiliated Al- Nusra Front.
But the U.N. special envoy to this crisis has said that it is hanging by a thread. And that really is generous right now with the violence that we are seeing. It looks like it is all but over.
And in the last eight days, you had 244 people killed. And this includes 43 children and 27 women. So it does look at this point that these cessation of hostilities, if not hanging by a thread, are dead.
HOWELL: Beyond Aleppo, are there other areas where fighting continues?
LEE: There is fighting in other parts of Syria right now. And if you look at the corridor, the main road that's going from -- [04:25:00]
LEE: -- Damascus to Aleppo, you have fighting around cities of Homs, Hama, Idlib.
This fighting, some between the government of Assad and Western-backed rebels but also against the Al Qaeda, Al-Nusra Front. There is fighting also in the eastern part of Syria as well against ISIS.
Now envoy to the U.N. in Geneva, the Russian envoy, said that the Syrian government is preparing for an offense to take Raqqah and Deir ez-Zor, Raqqah being the de facto capital of ISIS and Deir ez-Zor an important area because of the oil wells in that area.
HOWELL: I just have to mention Nick Paton Walsh's report. The simple fact for people who are not aware of the situation that has been happening for so many years in Syria.
But for people to be afraid to go to the hospital and then to see these images of children who are dealing with such a hellish situation, is there anything being done to revive the cessation of hostilities?
LEE: There is an effort underway. The special envoy Staffan de Mistura, is putting pressure on the United States, on Russia, to get the sides back together. The negotiations had been suspended because the Western-backed rebels are saying that the Syrian regime isn't abiding by them, that they are also not being able to get aid into these areas that are under siege.
But there is a push to bring these sides together, to get that cessation of hostilities back in action.
But to go about kind of the human toll also, hospitals and medical centers have been targeted dozens of times over the past two years. And so this isn't just an unusual occurrence. This is the sort of thing that the people in Syria are living with on a daily basis.
HOWELL: Sadly but realistically, that is the situation they are dealing with. Ian Lee, live for us in Cairo, Ian, thank you for your reporting.
You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Still ahead, why Kenya is planning to destroy millions of dollars' worth of ivory. Live in the United States and around the world this hour, you are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
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HOWELL: A warm welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM and it is good to have you with us. I'm George Howell. The headlines we are following for you this hour: This just in to CNN: a car bomb east of Baghdad has killed at least 24 people and wounded 38 others. It struck a busy livestock market about 60 kilometers or 40 miles from the Iraqi capital.
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HOWELL: South of the building collapse, in Nairobi National Park, Kenya is about to start the largest burn of illegal wildlife products in history. The president there will light a match to a massive stockpile of ivory tusks and rhino horn. It's a dramatic way of getting people to pay attention to the severe poaching crisis.
CNN's Robyn Kriel has been talking to workers at the site of that burn and has more on Kenya's efforts to protect its wildlife.
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KRIEL (voice-over): A heavy burden for Kenyans to bear. Never has the continent's poaching epidemic been so visceral than this endless train of elephant tusks, forming something of a graveyard to the world's iconic endangered species.
And soon this will turn into a crematorium: 12 piles of ivory and rhino horn will be set ablaze in the largest burn of illegal wildlife products in history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a pumping station. There we've got a mixing tank, where we'll be mixing kerosene and diesel, 50 percent each. And then we'll pump it down individual pipes to each tower. We call these ivory towers.
KRIEL (voice-over): It's the ivory of around 8,000 elephants; combined with the rhino horn, this bounty would be worth an estimated $172 U.S. million on the black market.
The potential income that could be generated from this sale has been difficult for many cash-strapped African governments to accept, money that could be put perhaps towards conservation. But Kenya believes it's worth absolutely nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From a Kenya perspective we are not watching any money go up in smoke because, from our perspective, there is no intrinsic value. Kenya believes that the only value of the ivory is tusks on a live elephant.
KRIEL (voice-over): It's a practice that goes back to 1989; a Kenyan invention to deal with the severe poaching crisis.
Today, a new crisis looms: a growing Chinese economy and appetite for illegal wildlife products and now audience to reach.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They never saw the 1989-1990 crisis. They were not subjected to the pressure that we brought on the world's markets in those days. So we have to do it again and that's what we're doing.
KRIEL (voice-over): A record number of rhinos were poached in Africa last year --
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KRIEL: -- around 1,338. And contributing to the stockpile, an elephant is killed every 15 minutes for its tusks.
KRIEL: Each pair of these tusks tells an individual story of an elephant's life. And you can tell just what kind of life it was by the grooves and markings that you can see here. You can tell its approximate age and oftentimes how it died as well.
There are these huge tusks that weigh up to 110 pounds each. And then there are those, tiny tusks belonging to babies, never given the chance to mature or live.
KRIEL (voice-over): The fire could for last up to a week. But organizers hope its image and stigma will be burned into memory forever -- Robyn Kriel, CNN, Nairobi, Kenya.
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HOWELL: An elephant killed every 15 minutes for its tusks, that is an amazing fact. CNN will cover this torching event, beginning at 1 pm London, here on CNN.
Still ahead, Ted Cruz has cast Washington insiders as the enemy throughout his campaign. We will explain, though, why he may need to mend some fences and build some bridges to take down his biggest rival.
Plus you'll hear why Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton says she is open to working with her Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders. That story ahead.
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HOWELL: The U.S. State of Indiana, some analysts say it is a make-or- break moment for U.S. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz. He has already put a lot of work into portraying himself as a Washington outsider through his campaign.
But now he will have to appeal to conservative leaders in order to derail the current front-runner, Donald Trump. Manu Raju reports the bad blood, though, may already be too thick.
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MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former --
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RAJU (voice-over): -- House Speaker John Boehner did not hold back his true feelings about Ted Cruz.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How about Ted Cruz?
JOHN BOEHNER, FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Lucifer in the flesh.
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BOEHNER: (INAUDIBLE) everybody. I have never worked with a more miserable son of a (INAUDIBLE) --
RAJU: Many Republicans on capital Hill are piling on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got the former Speaker, you know, basically calling him a miserable SOB. That's pretty harsh and I wouldn't have called him miserable.
And then you had the other issue, too, you know, where he, you know, he's said he's like -- calling him, "Lucifer in the flesh," I mean, somebody better contact Lucifer for comment because he's probably very upset about this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe he gives Lucifer a bad name by comparing him to Ted Cruz.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: "Green Eggs and Ham."
RAJU (voice-over): After two years of bitter infighting, there's no love lost between members of Congress and Ted Cruz. Battles over raising the debt ceiling, leading the charge to defund ObamaCare, which caused a 16-day government shutdown and calling Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell a liar.
CRUZ: I cannot believe he would tell a flat-out lie.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think that he should apologize for those remarks he made about Mitch McConnell, calling him a liar on the floor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I stood up and said he should. Yes, I think that was the wrong thing to do. It was contrary to the rules.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here is what I tell everyone.
RAJU (voice-over): On the campaign trail Cruz hasn't held back, calling his Republican colleagues part of a corrupt Washington cartel. Cruz's allies say he's the only one who will stand up for conservatives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think this helps Ted Cruz because it says what's wrong with Washington.
RAJU (voice-over): Privately Cruz has done some damage control, enlisting former Texas senator, Phil Graham, a long-time Washington insider, to help build relationships with the House and Senate leadership. Yet even some of his allies think he should do more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Ted would be well served to reach out to his colleagues. I know he is to some. At the end of the day, the more support he gets from across the spectrum of the Republican Party, the more viable alternative he becomes to Trump.
RAJU (voice-over): Unpopularity has been something Cruz has struggled with even before his Washington days.
In his book, "A Time for Truth," Cruz writes that, as a kid, he had enough of being the unpopular nerd. Many Republicans now say Cruz's tactics are the reason for his unpopularity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were called capitulators, surrenderers, we were told that we were impure, we didn't measure up, we weren't sufficiently resolute. That's not a way to make friends.
RAJU (voice-over): Manu Raju, CNN, Washington.
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ALLEN: Even if Cruz is trying to play nice behind the scenes, he is getting hit with the so-called "Washington elites" when he is out on the trail. He is hitting them hard. On Friday, Cruz tried to link them to Donald Trump. Listen here.
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CRUZ: There was a reason yesterday that John Boehner praised both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. If you want to see more leaders in the Republican Party like John Boehner, then Donald Trump is your guy.
If you want to see more leaders like Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, both of whom Donald Trump has given very, very big checks to, then Donald Trump is your guy.
But whether it is Donald Trump, or Hillary Clinton or John Boehner, people are fed up with the corruption of Washington, that they all get rich, and the working men and women in this country get left behind.
I believe the people of Indiana want someone who'll stand with the working men who don't look at Indiana as flyover country the way Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton do but instead look at it as America's heartland, the values we need to get back to, if we get back to Indiana values, this country turns around.
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HOWELL: Ted Cruz there with Carly Fiorina, his new pick as V.P., as they both focus in on Indiana.
Now to the Democrats. Candidate Bernie Sanders withdrew a lawsuit against the party's national committee. Sanders had accused the party of blocking his access to a critical voter database. But now Sanders is taking a more unified tone, saying the ultimate goal is to prevent a Republican from winning the presidency.
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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VT., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are in this campaign to win. But if we do not win, we intend to win every delegate that we can so that, when we go to Philadelphia in July, we're going to have the votes to put together the strongest progressive agenda that any political party has ever seen.
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HOWELL: His rival and now the Democratic front-runner is moderating her approach against Sanders now that Hillary Clinton is enjoying a boost after winning most delegates up for grabs in the Northeast on Tuesday.
In her first interview since that win, Clinton talked with CNN's chief Washington correspondent, Jake Tapper. Here's what she had to say.
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JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Senator Sanders issued a statement that night that suggested he's not necessarily running to win anymore --
[04:45:00]
TAPPER: -- he's running to advance progressive causes on the Democratic platform, specifically named $15 minimum wage at the national level, Medicare for all, breaking up the banks, changing our trade policy and passing a tax on carbon.
Are these issues where you think you could make a deal with Senator Sanders, find some common ground and get those issues on the platform should you be the nominee?
CLINTON: Well, I certainly look forward to working with Senator Sanders in the lead-up to the convention, in the lead-up to the platform that will represent the Democratic Party.
It will be a progressive platform. I have run on a progressive agenda. I really welcome his ideas and his supporters' passion and commitment, because the most important thing for us is to win in November. There is no more important goal.
And I was pleased when Senator Sanders said the other day he's going to work tirelessly, seven days a week, to make sure that Donald Trump is not president. And I really welcome back that, because that has to be our primary objective.
TAPPER: Are there any of those specific issues that you think, yes, I could do that? I know Medicare for all, you have already ruled out.
CLINTON: Well, we're going to talk. We're going to work together, because, look, we want the same goals. We both want to raise minimum wage. The Republicans led by Donald Trump don't want to. We both want to get to universal health care coverage. The Republicans don't seem interested in that.
We both want to deal with climate change, something they deny. So, we go down the list. We have so much more in common. I said that in my remarks Tuesday night in Philadelphia. The connection between my supporters and myself and Senator Sanders and his supporters are very strong.
We really are going to be unified and have a tremendous progressive agenda to run on in the fall. And I really think that will help us with the election and it will also help us govern.
TAPPER: Do you think if he withholds his support until the convention, that will hurt your chances in November, should you be the nominee?
CLINTON: I don't have any reason to believe that.
I know when I dropped out in early June, I immediately endorsed Senator Obama. We had differences in our campaign. We had differences on issues. We had run a really tough race all the way to the end, but I endorsed him. I began working for him.
And, of course, we talked about the platform. We talked about the convention. He asked me to nominate him at the Denver convention. So, you know, we went through some of the same process. And, in fact, I think when I dropped out, the polling was at 40 percent of my supporters said they would not support Senator Obama. Thankfully, the vast majority of them did.
So, this is a natural kind of process that I think will play itself out.
TAPPER: It's interesting, because of all of the people in the world, there's probably no one who knows what Bernie Sanders is feeling more than you.
CLINTON: Right. Right.
TAPPER: Take us back to 2008, what you think Senator Sanders is going through, because it's like, oh, I came so close, but...
CLINTON: It's hard, Jake.
You throw yourself into these campaigns body and soul. You work 24/7. Your family, your supporters, everybody is so invested in trying to win. And I'm very proud of my campaign, grateful that I have such strong support.
But I absolutely understand that Senator Sanders has been a passionate advocate for positions that he cares deeply about. I think that's been helpful to the Democratic primary process. He's brought millions of people into the process, which I think is also very good for the Democratic Party.
But there comes a time when up to look at the reality. In fact, in '08, I was much closer in both popular vote and pledged delegates to Senator Obama than is the case right now. But, eventually, I just decided that I had to withdraw and support Senator Obama because the goal was to make sure we had a Democrat in the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: The Democratic front-runner, Hillary Clinton, speaking with our own Jake Tapper there.
So when you think of the word bamboo, you might think baskets or gardens.
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HOWELL (voice-over): In one of the world's most booming economies, the sturdy plant is king for -- look at this -- building skyscrapers.
Would you ever have imagined that?
The story next.
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[04:50:00]
(SPORTS)
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HOWELL: The Sears Tower there, also known as the Willis Tower in Chicago, so when you think of skyscrapers and what goes into building them, you probably don't think that bamboo could be involved.
But in Hong Kong, builders are reaching heart-stopping heights using bamboo. Senior international correspondent Ivan Watson has this very interesting story.
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IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thirty stories up, hanging on a bamboo pole. This is how they build and repair skyscrapers in Hong Kong, with scaffolding made of bamboo. It's a common sight in these urban canyons, towering ladders of sticks trusted by the workers who cling to them.
It's all the more remarkable when you consider bamboo is technically the largest member of the grass family.
To get a better sense of how this very modern city uses such an ancient technique for construction, I went to bamboo scaffolding school.
So this is the bamboo? WEN CHI-LEUNG, BAMBOO SCAFFOLFDING MASTER: Bamboo.
WATSON: Master Wen Chi-Leung explains, because it's both hollow and strong, bamboo is lighter, cheaper and more flexible than metal scaffolding. And that allows him to work at dizzying heights.
You've worked 88 stories up on bamboo?
"I can see a lot of clouds from up there," he says.
The key to this job is a safety technique Master Wen calls riding the bamboo, keeping an ankle locked around a pole at all times.
You keep your gloves in your helmet?
CHI-LEUNG: Yeah.
WATSON: As for the scaffolding.
You make it look so easy.
[04:55:00]
WATSON (voice-over): It's held together with simple knots made of nylon strings.
Maybe you can finish this one for me, because I've ruined it.
I should probably stick to my day job.
Goes up like that?
The people who do this work are proud of their craft.
"Bamboo scaffolding is an art," this scaffolder says, "a Chinese traditional art that can be traced back thousands of years."
It's certainly an example of an ancient skill that continues to be taken to modern day heights -- Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.
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HOWELL: That view is a doozy. Wow.
OK, so there is a public feud between the U.S. first family and the British royals. But not to worry. It is all for a good cause.
President Barack Obama and first lady Michele Obama tweeted a challenge to Prince Harry over the Invictus Games. That's an upcoming competition for injured veterans from 15 nations. The prince then responded and recruited Her Majesty to help. Listen.
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HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES: These are all the individuals who are running the 100 meters. And the American man here is incredibly fast. ELIZABETH II, QUEEN OF ENGLAND: It's quite clear.
PRINCE HARRY: A message?
Oh, from Michelle. How very amusing.
Let us watch it together?
QUEEN ELIZABETH: Yes.
PRINCE HARRY: So look.
MICHELLE OBAMA, U.S. FIRST LADY: Remember when you told us to bring it at the Invictus Games?
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Careful what you wish for.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boom.
QUEEN ELIZABETH: Really, please.
PRINCE HARRY: Boom.
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HOWELL: It seems that the royals got the last word there. We'll see what happens at the competitions in Orlando, Florida, starting May 8th.
We thank you for watching this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell at the CNN Center in Atlanta. I'll be back after the break with another hour of news from around the world. Stay with us.
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