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Sanders Hopes Superdelegates Flip on Clinton; Trump's Mixed Message on Guns in Schools; The Mission to Free Fallujah; Search for EgyptAir Jet Spans 40-Mile Radius; Interview with Representative Barbara Lee; Key GOP Donors Still Resistant to Trump; Did a Bomb Bring down EgyptAir Flight 804? Aired 5-6p ET

Aired May 22, 2016 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:07] JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Fred.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. And we begin with the increasingly bitter back and forth between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. This time on the issue of guns. Not only is Clinton accusing Trump of being in the pocket of the gun lobby, she says he wants to allow guns in schools and that a Trump presidency would mean, quote, "more kids at risk for violence and bigotry."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Parents, teachers, and schools should have the right to keep guns out of classrooms. Just like Donald Trump does at many of his hotels, by the way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: In typical Trump fashion, a response came on Twitter. Trump tweeting, quote, "Crooked Hillary said that I want guns brought into the classroom, the school classroom. Wrong," exclamation point. But then Trump said this on a morning talk show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't want to have guns in classrooms, although in some cases, teachers should have guns in classrooms, frankly. But I'm not advocating guns in classrooms. But remember in some cases and a lot of people have made this case, teachers should be able to have guns -- trained teachers should be able to have guns in classrooms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: We will have much more on the gun debate in just a moment. But first, happening this hour, Senator Bernie Sanders will rally his supporters in southern California. You could see them gathering there. The Democratic underdog now hoping that he can get superdelegates to flip from Hillary Clinton to him. It's something he had a lot to say about this morning on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Jake Tapper. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not a great fan of superdelegates but their job is to take an objective look at reality. And I think the reality is that we are the stronger candidate. So we will see what happens, Jake.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: So you actually -- you think it would be OK for the pledged delegates, the majority of Democratic voters to pick one candidate and then the superdelegates to actually go with a different candidate? You're not suggesting that?

SANDERS: Well, it's very funny -- it's very funny that you ask me that question when you had 400 pledged delegates come on board Clinton's campaign before anyone else was in the race. That's called an anointment process. That's called the establishment talking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Let's begin with Sunlen Serfaty. She is live outside Sanders -- the Sanders event in Vista, California.

So, Sunlen, Sanders also had tough words today for the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. He sees her in effect in the Hillary Clinton. What did he have to say?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jim. And you know, this was so fascinating to watch him this morning on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Jake Tapper, really bring some much harsher rhetoric than he has before. Of course this feud between Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and his campaign has been long documented over the last few months over the course of this campaign.

The Bernie Sanders campaign has been very unhappy with how she has done her job. They feel that the Democratic nominating system is rigged against their campaign. So they've been very outspoken. But today, Bernie Sanders took it one step farther when he was asked by Jake Tapper about her own primary battle in the state of Florida for the House. Her Democratic opponent. Actually, Bernie Sanders came out and endorsed him over her. Here's what he told Jake Tapper this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: Well, clearly I favor her opponent. His views are much closer to mine than his -- than Wasserman Schultz's. And let me also say this, in all due respect to the current chairperson, if elected president, she would not be reappointed to be chair of the DNC.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: So absolutely no mincing of words there by Bernie Sanders. Very strong words for Debbie Wasserman Schultz. He has also sent out a fundraising e-mail on behalf of her opponent, Tim Canova, this morning trying to raise money for his race against her in Florida. Now Debbie Wasserman Schultz has responded. She said even though Bernie Sanders has endorsed my opponent, I will remain neutral in the Democratic process, in the nominating race until it ends. But certainly interesting, Jim, to see. It will also be notable,

potentially, even though this is a race about Florida, whether he brings it up here in California, of course this sort of railing against the system, railing against the Democratic nominating process is exactly the sort of thing that fires up his base.

I would anticipate Bernie Sanders to bring it up here today -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Sunlen Serfaty with the Sanders campaign there in California.

Let's talk this over now with our political panel. We have CNN contributor Sally Kohn, she's a Bernie Sanders supporter. We have Democratic strategist Maria Cardona whose firm has done work for a Clinton super PAC. Cardona is a Clinton supporters and a 2016 superdelegate. And Republican strategist Boris Epstein. He is a Donald Trump supporter.

[17:05:02] So, Sally, to you first. You've been a Sanders supporter. You endorsed him in April. Yet, this week, you wrote, quote, "I'm having a hard time being a Bernie Sanders supporter at the moment." Why is that?

SALLY KOHN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I was disappointed with the behavior of some, not all, but some Sanders supporters in Nevada. The media got it wrong. Chairs weren't thrown. But what did happen was certainly far less civil than I would like to see and I think most Sanders supporters would like to see.

I'm also disappointed in the way the Sanders campaign responded. I think you have to come very clearly, repeatedly, you know, first thing out of your mouth against that kind of behavior without saying buts and talking about process. The perception that the process was rigged.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Well --

KOHN: But that said --

SCIUTTO: That's something that the Democrats have criticized Donald Trump, right, for not immediately criticizing supporters who resorted to violence.

KOHN: Well, that's right. And look, part of the thing that's been inspiring about Bernie Sanders' campaign all along has been it has represented the moral high ground in this country for folks too long frustrated by politics, that always have sort of pragmatic and centrist. So I think you have to continue to occupy that moral high ground and really represent the kind of positive, uplifting transformation for all Americans that is at the heart of this campaign.

SCIUTTO: So, Maria, you heard Senator Sanders say there in the interview with Jake Tapper, in his view, Clinton was anointed, his choice of words, by the Democratic Party and that helps explain his opposition to the DNC chairwoman, Congressman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Is there some truth to that? Certainly there are a lot of folks in the party who thought it was going to be an easy ride for her. They were not expecting a challenge as lasting as the one she's gotten from Sanders.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, the people who thought that were certainly not Hillary Clinton and certainly not anybody in Hillary Clinton's campaign. They all knew they were going to have a fight on their hands. They perhaps didn't know it was going to come from Bernie Sanders. As you remember there was a lot of speculation that that fight might come from Elizabeth Warren. The majority of Democrats actually wanted a competitive primary. They believe a competitive primary is good for whoever ultimately gets the nomination.

As a Hillary supporter, I think Bernie has been terrific for the party, has been terrific for her and ultimately for the conversation that we've had within the Democratic Party. But I do think that, you know, what he is saying now is indicative of a little bit of frustration because he knows that he is losing and he's not going to get to the convention with the majority of pledged delegates.

And let's be very clear. That is what matters. Pledged delegates are what matters. It's actually kind of ironic and frankly a little hypocritical for Bernie Sanders who does represent the sort of Democratic revolution in his eyes, the populous movement that is all about the will of the people that he is now trying to make the argument to the superdelegates to overturn the will of the people by telling them that they should choose him as opposed to the candidate who has the majority of pledged delegates and three million more votes than he does. It's not going to happen.

SCIUTTO: Boris, if I could turn to you, because just this issue between Clinton and Trump, the latest issue has been on guns. Donald Trump appeared frankly to send mixed, even contradictory messages in his "FOX and Friends" interview this morning, on whether teachers in the -- the big question whether there should be guns in the classroom.

But then when you look back to 2012, right after Newtown, this horrible tragedy, all those children shot and killed, this is what Donald Trump tweeted at that moment. "President Obama spoke for me and every American in his remarks in Newtown, Connecticut." A reminder to our viewers, the president's remarks in Newtown said, enough of this, we need new gun laws.

What is Donald Trump's position on guns? Do there need to be more restrictions or no?

BORIS EPSTEIN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: We've been talking about that tweet for three days. As far as the tweet goes specifically, to say he's with the president was not a political statement. That was the statement that Donald Trump agreed that this was a horrible massacre that happened --

(CROSSTALK) SCIUTTO: To be fair, the president's point that day, you can go back and read the speech, was not just that this was a tragedy. The president's message that day was that now it's time to change the gun laws. That seemed to be --

(CROSSTALK)

SCIUTTO: There were other points that Donald Trump has publicly supported stricter gun laws.

EPSTEIN: So neither you nor the Democrats (INAUDIBLE) yesterday can really read into Donald Trump's mind as to the tweet. Now let's move on.

(CROSSTALK)

CARDONA: And that would be scary.

SCIUTTO: It's not just the tweet. I mean he has public position --

(CROSSTALK)

EPSTEIN: Guns around schools should not be had by anybody who's not trained. The point that Donald Trump was making this morning was that if teachers are specifically trained, there could be a discussion and maybe a reason to have teachers be able to have guns, again, if they're trained, if that's there to protect the students. And that's not something that's unreasonable. It should be part of the national discussion.

[17:10:01] But again, only with specific licensing and training as far as teachers or security guard having guns. And there are plenty of schools around the country in specific neighborhoods where security guards do have guns. So that's part of the discussion and there's no problem with it whatsoever.

From a sitting -- where I am, it's great to see the Clinton camp and the Sanders camp continuing to go at it. And if you're seeing the numbers, 18 percent of folks who are backing Sanders are going to back Trump, 60 percent are not going to back Clinton as of now, as of the latest on NBC polls. That's very interesting.

SCIUTTO: Sally, I want about that point --

(CROSSTALK)

SCIUTTO: It's a reasonable concern for Democrats because not only have you seen that in polls, but there is something to be said for what Trump and Sanders supporters have in common, which is a frustration with Washington, et cetera. How big a concern is that to Hillary Clinton? Maria, I might go to you and Sally, just quickly before we go.

CARDONA: Sure. Well, I think Sally will agree with me here in saying that Republicans should not be too gleeful because in comparison to what is going on and has gone on in their party, this is no comparison. The Democrats will be together. Yes, there might be some people who might not come out and vote. But ultimately at the end of the day and Bernie Sanders has said this himself, and I take him at his word, the last thing he wants and the thing that he is going to fight most against is to have a Donald Trump in the White House.

I think he agrees. I think most Bernie Sanders supporters would agree that if Donald Trump gets into the White House, it's going to be the end of a democracy and the beginning of an idiotic --

EPSTEIN: Oh come on, Maria. That rhetoric is not helpful. End of democracy? Come on.

SCIUTTO: Sally, I got to give you the -- I got to give you the final word. Are you -- do you believe Democrats and Hillary Clinton should be that confident?

KOHN: I mean, first of all I don't think anyone should be confident. The most important thing that any Democrat or anyone in the left can say right now is that Donald Trump very much could win and we shouldn't rest on our laurels or otherwise we're guaranteed we're done.

CARDONA: Agree. Agree.

KOHN: Number one, and number two, I mean, I got to applaud Boris for that Cirque de Soleil-esque contortionism. The fact of the matter is, you know, this is just one more example another place where Donald Trump is not only bending the truth, he's literally bending his own statements and trying to have it both ways and constantly having trouble with basic facts. You know --

EPSTEIN: And I disagree with you and voters do as well.

SCIUTTO: Guys, we got to leave it there. We got to leave it there. We will be -- we will be covering this issue throughout the day, though.

So Sally Kohn, Maria Cardona, Boris Epstein, thanks very much for joining us.

CARDONA: Thanks so much, Jim.

SCIUTTO: You're very welcome.

Coming up, the mission to free Fallujah in Iraq. Iraqi forces gear up for an operation to retake the city from ISIS with a call for civilians to get out and get out fast.

Plus, a disturbing report about graffiti, one scribbled across that doomed EgyptAir plane. Is it a clue or just an eerie coincidence? A live report from Cairo is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:16:17] SCIUTTO: Welcome back. And now to Iraq where people right now are doing anything they can to flee the ISIS-held city of Fallujah in western Iraq. The Iraqi army has sent in this warning, get out at all cost or find shelter because troops are coming in to attempt to re-take the city. As of Saturday, just 30 families have managed to escape. Those few seen here. Others are being held by ISIS militants who refuse to let them leave.

Video just into CNN shows lines of Iraqi military and security forces staged just outside the city ready to go at a moment's notice. Officials won't say when they are heading in. Only that the operation will launch within days.

Rockets are already being fired at ISIS targets in Fallujah, according to those who sent this amateur footage. See it looks like it's shot from a cell phone. The Iraqi military is telling families who can't get out to either call or text an emergency line or raise a white flag above their homes.

To talk about this, I want to bring in two men who understand exactly what's at stake here. CNN military analyst Colonel Leighton, he's been deployed to the Middle East five times and served during Iraq -- Operation Iraqi Freedom before retiring from the Air Force. Also joining me CNN intelligence and security analyst Bob Baer. He served as a former CIA operative in Iraq.

Colonel, if I could begin with you, there's been a lot of attention in the last several months about the operation to retake Mosul. It's Iraq's second largest city. It's a major stronghold for ISIS. Obviously a big focus of this campaign. But Fallujah, this is also a major prize here. I mean, how significant is this operation and how difficult?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Jim, it's very significant and very difficult. First of all, Fallujah is the center -- one of the centers of the Sunni faith in Iraq and it's also very close to Baghdad. I mean, we're talking 30 miles from the city center of Baghdad. And it's been under ISIS control for basically the period from January of 2014 until now. So that means that ISIS has always had a bit of a dagger pointed at the heart of Baghdad from Fallujah. And it's high time really that Fallujah get retaken by the Iraqi government.

Now from a U.S. significant standpoint, of course we fought two battles over Fallujah and quite few American service members were killed or wounded in those battles. And from that standpoint, there's an emotional as well as a strategic reason for the Iraqi government to go in and take Fallujah.

SCIUTTO: No question. I remember hearing from families of U.S. Marines who were killed there in 2004, 2005 as ISIS took over Fallujah. Really, really sad for them to see that.

Bob, with a base like this, a base of operations in effect so close to the capital for ISIS, has this helped them carry out these terror attacks that we've seen with increasing frequency inside Baghdad by ISIS and by retaking a city like this? Does that reduce their chance to carry out acts of terror? ROBERT BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Oh, I think

undoubtedly Jim. They're building these car bombs somewhere. They've got factories. They're making the explosives or they're taking military explosives and filling these cars up. And it's very difficult to control them, and they're using Fallujah and they have for a long time going back to 2004 as a rear base for Sunni radicalism. And it's been just a very difficult place to control. And I think this government, if it's ever going to reestablish control over Iraq, has to retake Fallujah. And of course they move on to Mosul. The problem in all of this is the way the Islamic State fights. You pretty much have to destroy the city in order to liberate it.

SCIUTTO: Yes. That's a shame.

Cedric, the criticism when ISIS swept into Iraq a couple of years ago now, and we heard this from the director of National Intelligence, Jim Clapper, that the surprise was they had to will to fight, Iraqi Security Forces.

[17:20:07] You've now had them take back some significant cities. Ramadi, nearby Fallujah, some other victories. Have they rediscovered the will to fight?

LEIGHTON: Well, I think some elements of the Iraqi Army have in fact rediscovered the will to fight, Jim. The issue is how many of them really have that level of, you know, esprit de corps or elan or whatever you want to call it. It becomes a very important ingredient in this battle because the -- really the way the ideology of ISIS works. It really tugs at the heartstrings of a lot of Sunni Muslims. And when you look at the way ISIS gathers these recruits, it becomes very important to countermand that appeal.

And the Iraqi state has a very tough time doing that and especially when their soldiers weren't paid, when they're officers were corrupt, those kinds of factors played a big role in really creating that environment where the Iraqi forces did not stand and fight. They supposedly -- the new government has supposedly taken care of that. We shall see, you know, not only with Fallujah but eventually also with Mosul whether or not that's true.

SCIUTTO: At the end of the day, Bob, I mean, you're an Iraqi soldier, you got to be willing to die for your country. Right? Meanwhile, you've got people storming the palace in effect in Baghdad. Lots of frustration with this government. It's hard to see how that happens.

BAER: Well, I think it's pretty much a failed state. You have Kurdistan, which is all but independent at this point. You've got the Sunnis who are accusing the army of being nothing more than Shia death squads in Iraqi military uniforms.

I don't think that's necessarily true, but that's what they believe. So, you know, piecing Iraq back together is going to be more than taking Fallujah. You really do have to find some sort of political settlement or partition for the country. And let's don't underestimate the U.S. Air Force and the Navy who will play a key role in taking Fallujah back. You can't do this without air support.

SCIUTTO: Yes. A lot more Round advisers, they're called. But listen, their ground forces closer to the front lines than they were as well.

Bob Baer, Cedric Leighton, thanks very much as always.

And coming up, a stunning new report of a message that was scrawled on the EgyptAir plane that crashed. Was it a warning? Want to get a live report that hopes to answer that question.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:26:15] SCIUTTO: Welcome back.

Investigators still don't know what caused EgyptAir Flight 804 to drop out of the sky. If it was a terrorist attack, there is still no claim of responsibility. But a chilling new report in the "New York Times" says that two years before the crash, Cairo airport workers had tagged it with graffiti including this message in Arabic, "We will bring this plane down." The "Times" reports the message was believed to be a political statement rather than a security threat. But Egypt's aviation minister tells CNN he's, quote, "not aware that anyone ever vandalized the plane," insisting it was kept in a secure area.

Here's what he told CNN's Becky Anderson earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHARIF FATHI ATTIA, EGYPTIAN CIVIL AVIATION MINISTER: Investigations in these cases are based on facts, based on procedures. And these procedures doesn't include a statement that has been written on a plane because if it has been written on the plane then we would have to examine the security procedure. So our concern would be the security procedure, not what has been written on the plane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Today, grieving family and friends said goodbye to the captain of Flight 804, Mohamed Shoukair. With no body to bury loved ones held a memorial service this afternoon in Cairo.

Egypt has now deployed a submarine to help scour the Mediterranean Sea for Flight 804's wreckage and black boxes. Crews have recovered pieces of wreckage including plane parts and passengers' personal belongings. But the more crucial components like the fuselage are still missing.

CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is in Cairo. He joins me now.

Nic, tell us what is the latest focus of the investigation right now?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, the minister of aviation says the priority for the government is to recover the bodies. To recover the bodies, they need to find the black boxes. He wanted this for the sake of the families. Paradoxically, however, he also says that he feels under absolutely no pressure as far as the investigation side of this is concerned to make a determination about what caused the plane to come down, that he is going to follow and Egypt will follow to the letter of international law how they should handle this investigation.

The man in charge of the investigation is the same man who was in charge of the investigation into the downed Russian plane that came down with an ISIS bomb late last year. That -- that investigation was criticized for its lack of transparency. It seems that potentially going forward, that's what we can expect this time, few details. But the minister of aviation today, when talking about the recovery effort, said that whatever the government needs, the army is in touch with partners who can help provide it in the search for the black boxes, for the bodies -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Nic Robertson, live in Cairo. Thanks very much.

Quick programming note, coming up next hour, I'll be joined live by the chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, Ed Royce, to find out why he strongly believes that terrorism is the cause of the loss of that Egyptian air flight. But first the U.S. lawmaker who says it is time for Congress to stop writing blank checks to fight ISIS. Her online push using the #congressmia.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:32:39] SCIUTTO: Welcome back live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington.

So where is Congress in the fight against ISIS? That's what one representative wants to know. And she's taking to Twitter to make her case. Using the #congressmia, she's calling out her colleagues and urging them to repeal the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force. It's a resolution that allowed former president George W. Bush to use military force against terror groups responsible for 9/11 and those who harbored them. That of course being al Qaeda, the Taliban who harbored them in Afghanistan.

President Obama says that that 2001 AUMF gives him the right today to fight ISIS and other terror groups.

Joining me now, the congresswoman behind the Twitter campaign, Representative Barbara Lee.

Representative Lee, thanks so much for joining us. And I just want to remind our viewers that you are the only member of Congress who voted against the authorization in 2001, if I remember correctly, because you were concerned about what exactly -- has happened exactly since then, which is that successive administrations have used that authorization to target other terror groups in other countries.

How did that happen?

REP. BARBARA LEE (D), CALIFORNIA: Absolutely, Jim. It was a blank check. And the Congressional Research Service just published an unclassified report that has shown it's been used 37 times. Imagine the unclassified numbers in terms of how many times it's been used.

We need to go back to the drawing board, repeal that 2001 resolution, have a debate and vote on a new authorization.

Now I have to just say, the president did present a new authorization 15 months ago. The speaker still won't take that up. Regardless of whether or not one agrees on the use of force, the American people deserve to have their members of Congress talk about the cost and consequences of this new war and have an up or down vote.

But the speaker just refuses to bring it up. I don't know why but that's why I'm moving forward to continue to try to repeal that resolution and to give the Congress 90 days to come up with the new one that's ISIS specific because we all know and everyone agrees that we have to disable and dismantle ISIS. They are terrible, horrific terrorist organization.

SCIUTTO: Now just remind our viewers that the initial authorization which came right after 9/11 said specifically giving the president the ability to target with military force those responsible for 9/11. Correct? As simple as that --

[17:35:09] LEE: That's what it was. It said -- it was very broad. It was those responsible for, individuals, nation, organization, or harbored those that were responsible or connected to 9/11. ISIS didn't even exist.

SCIUTTO: Well, that's a -- it's a great point because ISIS didn't exist then. The administration will say that it's connected. But I wonder, is it your view that the military action the U.S. is taking now, for instance, in Iraq and Syria against ISIS, is it your view that that military action is illegal?

LEE: It's my view that they're operating under a 2001 authorization that does not cover what they are using it for at this point. This is a new war footing. It's against ISIS. It's in a new area. And we have to really understand that the American people are demanding that they know exactly what the circumstances are, how long this is going to be, if we know the costs and the consequences. And so yes, I believe that the current war footing in terms of ISIS is really not appropriate because the 2001 resolution did not cover that. But it was a blank check. So I have to say, it was so broad, it was overly broad. That's why I could not support it.

SCIUTTO: So the president's in a somewhat odd -- you might even say untenable position here because on the -- as you say, he's introduced another resolution 15 months ago. He says he'd like it, but he does say he doesn't need it. That he could still carry out military action. He'd like to have one. He'd like Congress to get buy-in, you know, a phrase the administration likes to use, but he does kind of cover himself by saying well, but you know, legally I don't really need it. I mean, do you buy that kind of fine line that he's walking there?

LEE: You know what, what I buy is that members of Congress have a constitutional responsibility to engage in our job and to do our job. And so it's our job to provide authorizations for the use of force. We have three branches of government. Of course. And so I'm talking about the United States House of Representatives doing its job. We have been misleading in action. The president put forth a resolution. We could take it up if we wanted to. But believe you me, there are a variety of strategies and authorizations that are floating around.

We need to take up some of them and have a debate. That's up to us, not the president. The speaker should bring forth an authorization and allow members of Congress -- the people's House to debate the costs and consequences of this new war.

SCIUTTO: So -- everybody likes to talk tough, as you know, about terrorism and ISIS and taking the fight to them. Why won't Republicans in Congress take up new AUMF?

LEE: I'm not sure that the courage is there to do that. And for the life of me, I don't know why. Republicans are elected just like Democrats to represent the people. And it's a constitutional requirement that we do these things, we do our job. Now I'm not saying it's easy. These are tough decisions. But that's why we're elected to make these tough decisions. There's no way that Congress should be missing in action in terms of our constitutional responsibility.

And so I would assume Speaker Ryan does not want to take it up because he probably has a lot of pressure from his caucus not to take it up. But I do have to say on my repeal amendment the other night, even though it did not pass there were 13 Republicans who voted for it. We have a total of 138 members who voted for it. So we're going to keep working on it and we're going to keep moving this forward because we have to do our job.

It's wrong and we're leaving our troops in harm's way. I mean, our troops, they're doing everything we've asked them to do and they're doing it without congressional legal authority. So Congress needs to step up and we need to do our job.

SCIUTTO: Congresswoman Lee, you took that vote seriously as an American, I thank you for that and I thank you for taking the time today.

LEE: Thank you. My pleasure.

SCIUTTO: Coming up, it's been Donald Trump's calling card.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I don't need anybody's money. It's nice. I'm really rich.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: But now he says he would like to raise $1 billion to beat Hillary Clinton from people other than himself. The question, though, are key donors resisting it?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:42:59] SCIUTTO: As Donald Trump approaches the magic number of delegates to become the GOP nominee, his next hurdle will be coming up with the $1 billion he says he wants to raise before November. But a "New York Times" article suggests many big money Republican donors are still resistant for his candidacy and his call for donations. One Connecticut investor who has given nearly $5 million to Republicans this 2014 described Trump this way, quote, "He's an ignorant, amoral, dishonest, manipulative, misogynistic, philandering, hyper litigious isolationist, protectionist blowhard." Tough words.

Joining me now CNN political commentator and Washington correspondent for the "New Yorker," Ryan Lizza.

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: So, Ryan, strong words. That's just one donor.

LIZZA: Yes.

SCIUTTO: But how big of a hurdle is this for him? How much resistance is he seeing in this group of well-heeled, well-moneyed Republican donors?

LIZZA: Well, in that great piece in the "Times" this weekend, they contacted 50 of the party's biggest donors and they could find, I think it was nine, less than 10, who affirmatively told the "New York Times" that, yes, we will be supporting Trump. And, you know, there's a range of reasons given. But frankly, the donor class of the Republican Party is much more likely to have serious policy disputes with Donald Trump than the party's grassroots and even in the party's elected officials who after all are more likely to respond to the pressure that the grassroots is sending in terms of hey, get behind Donald Trump.

So I think the story of the last three weeks politically on the Republican side has been Trump beating expectations in terms of uniting voters. The polls show that a lot of voters want elected officials to rally around him. The next wall of sort of domino that went down, there's a lot of elected officials are saying, yes, reluctantly or not, we'll support him. But the donor class seems to be a tougher nut to crack.

SCIUTTO: Well, let me -- let me ask you this then.

LIZZA: Yes.

[17:45:02] SCIUTTO: Do Donald Trump supporters then, can he do this Bernie Sanders style, do it $20 donations each and just get that big base in?

LIZZA: Yes.

SCIUTTO: And how much of a hurdle then does he have? Because he's been telling that base since the beginning I'm so much money, I don't need donations. So how does he -- how does he thread that needle? LIZZA: I think that's a great question. I think theoretically there

should be a pretty large small dollar donor base out there for Trump to tap into. He really didn't try in the primary campaign. But if you look closely at his FEC reports, he raised something close to $10 million just by selling merchandise. If you went online and bought a Trump hat, that counted as a donation to his campaign. And so they have the sort of kernel of a small dollar donor base, but he didn't really aggressively fundraise in that way.

I think it's quite possible that he's got a pretty massive small dollar base out there waiting to be tapped. But if you're talking about $1 billion, you're going to need the bundlers, the super donors.

SCIUTTO: Right.

LIZZA: Who can round up that money --

(CROSSTALK)

SCIUTTO: So do they --

LIZZA: It's a contradiction though, right?

SCIUTTO: Yes. No question. I guess the question is -- here's the question. Do they come around? Right? I mean, we've seen a lot -- the whole never Trump movement, you know.

LIZZA: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Virtually disintegrated, right?

LIZZA: Yes.

SCIUTTO: And we see a lot of folks who said some horrible things about him in public, elected officials now coming around.

LIZZA: Absolutely.

SCIUTTO: Does this donor class say, well, I put my money behind him because I'd rather him than Clinton?

LIZZA: I think it's much less pressure on the donors to do that. If you are an elected official -- I've been doing a lot of interviews the last few weeks with Republicans on the Hill about Trump and I've been struck by how no matter how much they hated him, they're saying, you know what, our voters supported him, I've got to go up in front of those same voters. That's why I'm coming around. But if you're Paul Singer or one of these other big hedge fund or, you know, business executives, you don't have the same incentives to support Donald Trump. Right? And issues that a lot of the donor class care about, foreign policy, immigration, Trump's on the other side of it so I think it's going to be much tougher for him.

SCIUTTO: Ryan Lizza, thanks very much.

LIZZA: Thanks, Jim. SCIUTTO: Coming up live in the CNN NEWSROOM, was it a bomb that

brought down EgyptAir Flight 804? CNN goes inside a research lab to learn about the clues that experts will be looking for in the debris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are there countless numbers of explosives?

THOMAS ANTHONY, USC AVIATION SAFETY AND SECURITY: There are dozens of types of explosives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:51:20] SCIUTTO: Welcome back live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It is still too early to tell if a bomb brought down EgyptAir Flight 804. But with the plane's fuselage and black boxes still missing, experts may have to rely on the few pieces of debris they've recovered so far to begin to piece together what was behind this crash.

CNN's Kyung Lah went inside a bomb research lab to learn about the very specific clues they're going to be looking for.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAH (voice-over): It's in the wreckage of EgyptAir Flight 804 that investigators will inspect for evidence of a possible explosive device.

ANTHONY: If we compare the sides there's a difference, there's a very distinct difference.

LAH: Walking us through this bomb research lab former FAA Civil Aviation Security Manager, Thomas Anthony, says investigators look for tell-tale marks of each type of bomb.

ANTHONY: C-4 is very adaptable for the purposes of the terrorists because it can be formed into shapes.

LAH (on camera): C-4 doesn't burn.

ANTHONY: It does not burn. It is -- it releases its high temperature and high pressure gases through shock. Look at the edges here. The edges on the black powder are very, very different. They have this sort of like almost coral-like look to them.

This is napalm. Look at all the residue of the napalm that was left behind. That's something that is indicative and characteristic of the napalm.

LAH: Are there countless number of explosives?

ANTHONY: There are dozens of types of explosives. In the view of the terrorist, a terrorist is likely to follow up a success with a similar form of attack.

LAH (voice-over): Last October, Metrojet Flight 9268 crashed over the Sinai Peninsula killing all 224 aboard. ISIS claimed in a propaganda magazine they brought it down using explosive material hidden in a soda can. The picture shows wires and a detonator with an on and off switch. CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of the photo.

As relatives of the passengers wait through the agonizing search and recovery, the victims' bodies will also hold forensic clues. If it was an explosive, the direction of the blast and what type. But this recovery will be under water like the Air Asia Flight 8501 disaster in December 2014, potentially eroding some of the evidence, but not all of it. A lab can still detect evidence under water even on melted steel.

Anthony says it's critical to have forensic proof in an aviation investigation but just as important, the investigation beyond the wreckage.

ANTHONY: Not what happened only, but how it happened so that that vulnerability can be identified and fixed.

LAH: Kyung Lah Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Kyung Lah, thanks very much.

Coming up next hour, we are following breaking news, Iraq launching an operation to recapture the city of Fallujah from ISIS. I'll talk to the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ed Royce, about what it means for the war on terror and the war on ISIS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:58:22] SCIUTTO: On tonight's brand new episode of "PARTS UNKNOWN," Anthony Bourdain heads to the country of Georgia where he reunites with an old friend. And after a night of revelry Anthony and company try to recover by sampling a local hangover cure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually traditionally Georgia is a man's world. I mean, men drink, eat, party and the women normally do know how to make people healthy and alive next morning after heavy drinking. It's kind of broth and it's made of beef bones and joints. So the whole idea is just suck out whatever alcohol still remains.

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, CNN HOST, "PARTS UNKNOWN": So it's a hangover soup.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hangover soup.

BOURDAIN: Oh, yes. This is right in there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. The joints. BOURDAIN: This is not the first thing I'd think of for a hangover

actually.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really?

BOURDAIN: Maybe this will help. Goes well with garlic?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BOURDAIN: I just dumped a whole bunch of garlic in there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You think it's marketable in the states as a real hangover dish, a thing that should be a lot of clientele?

BOURDAIN: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No? Not really?

BOURDAIN: The hashi (PH) is not really working for me, but I absolutely love (INAUDIBLE). The stew is slow cooked veal with onion and tomato. Heavily seasoned with coriander, fennel, garlic and chilies.

Spicy, I mean, it's really spicy. Got some good zinger there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Feeling better?

BOURDAIN: I am.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Made me hungry. Explore the food and culture of Georgia on "PARTS UNKNOWN" tonight at 9:00 Eastern Time only here on CNN.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.