Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Battle Rages to Take Terror Group's Last Syrian Enclave; E.U. Departure Set to Lead to More Customs Regulations; SpaceX Crew Dragon Docks with Space Station; Cohen Says Trump Ordered Him to Hide School Records; At Least 23 Killed In Alabama In Outbreak Of Storms; U.S. House Committee Launches Obstruction Of Justice Probe; Lawmakers Vote Enough To Block Emergency Declaration; Interview with John Bolton; Opposition Leader To Return Home Monday For Protests; Bolton: Meeting Was Unquestionable Success For Us; White House National Security Adviser Says N. Korea Owes Full Explanation About Otto Warmbier's Death. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired March 04, 2019 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:00:00] NICK WATT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Devastating tornadoes touched down in the southern U.S. killing at least 23 people, children among the dead and officials say that death toll could rise higher. The U.S. president now facing an obstruction of justice inquiry. Democratic leader says impeachment is not yet on the table.
Venezuela's self-declared leader is coming home and calling for more mass protests and he has a warning for President Nicolas Maduro.
Hello everyone and thanks for joining us. I'm Nick Watt in Atlanta. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
At least 23 people were killed in one Alabama County alone as tornadoes struck the southeastern United States. Children and adults among the dead. That staggering death toll in Lee County surpassing the death toll from all tornadoes in all of last year across the entire U.S. Apparently the town of Beauregard was hit by two tornadoes in the space of just an hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY JONES, SHERIFF, LEE COUNTY, ALABAMA: The challenge is just the sheer amount of damage and debris that's all through the areas where the homes were located. It literally tore these residences completely apart and of course, it's a hazardous area as you might imagine. And that's, of course, something that the search and rescue personnel are having to contend with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: Troy Turner is the editor of the Opelika Auburn News in Alabama and he joins us now on the line. Troy, what are your reporters on the ground seeing? TROY TURNER, EDITOR, OPELIKA AUBURN NEWS: A lot of extensive damage as you might expect with something like this. Tornadoes, Alabama has a history of some bad ones but this is the worst we've had in several years and it's by far the worst that Lee County has had in east- central Alabama. We've had at least 23 fatalities already. They've temporarily suspended the search for tonight but they'll be starting back at daylight and they fear that they'll find several more.
WATT: And Troy, what kind of community is this, small, rural, close- knit?
TURNER: Yes. It's a rural area. We actually had two communities like that that were hit pretty hard today and we believe in two separate tornadoes. But the worst one was in the community of Beauregard and we've -- a lot of the fatalities are there, women, children, and men, all types of victims. And like I said, they're afraid that they might find more tomorrow when daybreak comes.
WATT: That's right. Yes, we're hearing that this death toll could rise. And I mean, Troy what sort of warning were people given before these tornadoes touch down?
TURNER: That's one of the things that we're asking questions on and we'll be pursuing that question a good bit tomorrow as people get into this because right now search-and-rescue is the primary thing with all of our local officials as it should be. That the biggest concern is working with families and so forth.
But one of the questions that a lot of the victims themselves and the families and so forth are asking is why no more a warning is what they got. We don't know that answer yet. I don't know if this -- if there's anything that they possibly could have shared from where the services is or if it's just that sudden that it -- that it developed, but there was not an apparently enough warning. A lot of the victims that are survivors are telling us that they heard nothing. They heard no siren.
We did have forecast the normal tornado watches and that type of thing but not for a specific tornado that had touched down. And ideally they would like to have had a siren or something like that and they didn't hear that. So other than the warnings that had been broadcast, they didn't know that one that specifically touched down until it was too late.
WATT: Troy Turner, Editor of the Opelika Auburn News in Alabama, our thoughts are with you, your staff, and of course, the people of Lee County. Thanks very much for joining us.
TURNER: Thank you.
WATT: Now, I want to bring in Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with more. Pedram?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Nick, you know, this was an event here that of course, very little notice for some of these folks. The tornado warnings initially only giving some of these folks about five minutes of ahead way before the storms moved directly overhead.
And you take a look, it was an incredible Sunday when it comes to the damage that was left in place, and the tornado reports increasing by the hour. Now, the estimates now upwards of 35 reports of tornadoes across the southern portion of the United States, significant number of wind damage and hail damage reports as well.
And of course, this had all the makings for a significant weather event across the southern United States and with a number of fatalities in the number of tornadoes there. The number of fatalities, the highest for a U.S. tornado since 2013 in the city of Moore in Oklahoma. So really an incredible outbreak here considering we're still in the latter phases of the winter season.
[01:05:06] But it was early to the afternoon hours when we saw a series of these storms begin to pop up and spawned tornadoes one of which an impressive one because it not only touched down with significant strength but the estimates put that on the ground for over 100 kilometers at one point what is considered a wedge tornado almost a mile, almost a kilometer I should say in diameter.
This particular tornado was an estimates again an EF3 scale which would take whit's winds in excess of 260 kilometers per hour as it traversed across portions of rural Alabama into the state of Georgia. But you notice the month of March, this is the beginning typically of tornado season and the activity really intensifies going in towards the summer season of course.
But the pattern had been really quiet in the past several years and this particular year really starting rather sharply. And there's the front right there beginning to exit the picture with it conditions and the south will begin to quiet down as well. But again, the damage has been done.
And just out of curiosity, I looked into how many lightning strikes were reported there, Nick, upwards of 10,000 in the past several hours across the southern United States. So you know it's been a wild day in some of these areas.
WATT: It certainly has. Thanks a lot, Pedram. Now, moving to Washington D.C. Democrats now control the U.S. House of Representatives and the newly minted chief of the powerful House Judiciary Committee says that he's launching an investigation on Monday into President Donald Trump.
Congressman Jerry Nadler says the focus will be on allegations of obstruction of justice and abuse of power.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think the President obstructed justice?
REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Yes, I do. It's very clear that the President obstructed justice. It's very clear. 1,100 times he refer to the Mueller investigation as a witch hunt. He tried to -- he fired -- he tried to protect the Flynn from being investigated by the -- by the FBI. He fired Comey in order to stop the Russian thing as he told NBC News. He -- he's dangled parts --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But --
NADLER: He's threatened -- he's intimidated witnesses in public.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: Now, President Trump responded to word of the probe on Twitter saying, I am a man being persecuted by some very bad conflicted and corrupt people. Our Boris Sanchez in Washington has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jerry Nadler making a statement on Sunday revealing that he is preparing to request documents from some 60 individuals and entities related to President Trump. And this gets personal.
Nadler specifically said that he would be asking for documents from the president's own son Donald Trump Jr. as well as Allen Weisselberg. He's a top executive at the Trump Organization. Somebody who is believed to be intimate with the president's tax returns. Something that Democrats have long-press of the President to release.
Also on that list the former chief of staff John Kelly as well as former White House Counsel Don McGahn. So Nadler's scope is very broad. Though he was asked about impeachment on Sunday, he said, it is too soon to go in that direction. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NADLER: Impeachment is a long way down the road. We don't -- we don't have the facts yet. But we're going to initiate a proper investigations.
It's our job to protect the rule of law. That's our core function. And to do that, we are going to initiate investigations into abuses of power, into corruption of -- into a corruption, and into obstruction of justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Nadler is saying that he wants to make a case to the American people about impeachment before going there. I asked for the White House to respond to Nadler's request, they ultimately declined to comment. It's clear though that we will hear more from President Trump on this. He tweeted a pair of times on Sunday talking about Democrats going after him unfairly. But again, this is personal and we know the president is not shy about sharing his feelings. Boris Sanchez, CNN at the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE) WATT: President Trump is facing another hiccup in his efforts to fund his much-vaunted border wall. He's declared national emergency to secure the funds to fulfill that big campaign promise without congressional approval. But the House has approved a bill that would block Mr. Trump's national emergency and now Republican Senator Rand Paul tells his local newspaper that he will vote for that blocking bill in the Senate and his vote could be decisive. So what then?
For more on all this let's bring in CNN Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein in Los Angeles. Ron, Rand Paul votes against it, the President then vetoes and we're left with the court battle. Is this just symbolic on the part of Rand Paul?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you laid it out exactly the way it's going to unfold. But Rand Paul probably won't be alone in joining the other three who have already said they will oppose this. Look, I think politically the idea of an emergency declaration to do this has been very unpopular from the beginning.
60 percent or more of the country have said that they don't think the president should issue such a declaration in order obtain the funds. If the Republican Senate approves a resolution disapproving of that decision, I think it will compound the public resistance to it.
But ultimately, it is unlikely that 15 Republicans which is what would be required will vote to overturn the inevitable presidential veto which means that this will be decided ultimately by John Roberts and all likelihood in a very closely divided Supreme Court.
[01:10:45] WATT: And the other Trump story that we've been following today, Ron, this announcement from Jerry Nadler that he is going to launch this investigation tomorrow, demand documents from 60 people, among them Don Jr. Does this spell any real political or legal peril for the president?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, it depends on what we find right? I mean, I think -- first of all there are a couple things that's worth noting about this. I think we're going to see a pretty clear separation of the roads here because on the one hand, the House is going to be very aggressive and successful at forcing testimony and obtaining documents from people in the private sector.
On the other hand, we've already seen from this administration whether it's in the testimony for example of Matthew Whitaker, the acting Attorney General a couple weeks ago that they are going to be very aggressive in claiming executive privilege on conversations involving the president as a way to try to defeat that and resist this Democratic oversight.
So you may see the Democrats having more success at bringing in people from Trump's private sector light than they are for example at obtaining information, the information they want about the president's alleged role in overturning the resistance to Jared Kushner's security clearance. Now that may be something that develops.
The other point is that they are deeply ambivalent about whether they want to go down the road of impeachment. and you see that in Chairman Nadler's comments today and previously. On the one hand, there is a certain irresistible momentum as evidence of wrongdoing for example in the hush money payments to women who claimed affairs with him accumulates.
On the other hand for the same thing reason that we're talking about before, this is not likely to ever remove him from office because there would never be enough Republicans, may perhaps any Republicans and the Senate to do so. And voting to impeach without removing might give the president of foil, a chance to say to his supporters, they're not really after me, they're trying to silence you.
WATT: And how do you think the president will react to Nadler going after Don Jr., asking for documents from Don Jr., the president's eldest son.
BROWNSTEIN: Nuclear, I think you know, I think he will react very badly. But you know, he does not have the same ability to resist that he does with conversations involving you know, officials in the White House. I mean, there is no -- I don't see how he could claim executive privilege over something like that and for Allen Weisselberg and other members of the of the Trump you know, organization.
So he may be in a stronger position to stymie them as they look directly at him. The Supreme Court, Nick, in 1974 in the decision about Richard Nixon when he was president requiring him to hand over his White House tapes to the Watergate prosecutors made clear that executive privilege is not an unlimited authority or an unlimited right of the President. But exactly where those borders are, exactly where those boundaries are, we don't know.
I'm guessing that this White House is going to fight it all the way to the Supreme Court whatever the House Democrats asked for because of nothing else they know they can burn down the clock that way.
WATT: And Ron, finally, I just want to ask you about Michael Cohen. We saw him testify under oath this week and the President has been tweeting a lot about that this afternoon. Now, the President you know is calling him a convicted liar and fraudster. The President employed Michael cone for ten years and many of the crimes that Cohen is accused and convicted of were allegedly done at the behest of the President. It's quite bizarre to see Donald Trump just you know, absolutely lambasted him on Twitter this way.
BROWNSTEIN: Right. I mean it is -- look, I mean, this is what the President -- you know, the President's strategy from day one, even before day one, during the transition has been to try to discredit any individual or institution that he thinks can harm him. And it really doesn't matter what your history is with the President or your history in general.
I mean, you know, Robert Mueller appointed by a group you know, a Republican president you know, is now the leader of a gang of angry Democrats. It's not connected to kind of an underlying set of facts. What it is connected to is this very visceral attempt to convince his base that all of this is a you know, orchestrated effort not so much against him but against them. And that is really critical to his messaging.
[01:15:00] I mean, you know, the idea that there are these elites -- these deep state elites who are trying to taking it out on me in an attempt to silence you. And that has helped him connect to his base, but it is also worth noting that a majority of the public consistently has said they believe that the Mueller investigation is serious, worthwhile and important.
And the president as on many things is talking to a minority of the country that is passionately for him at the price potentially of deepening the alienation of the majority that has raced questions or has doubts about the way he's conducted himself as the president.
WATT: Ron, joining us from Los Angeles. Thanks very much for your time.
BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.
WATT: Now, in the coming hours, Venezuela's opposition leader is set to return to Venezuela to lead renewed protests against sitting president, Nicolas Maduro.
Juan Guaido announced his plans in the social media video shot from an undisclosed location. He's been touring Latin America rallying support from regional leaders. But in doing so, he violated a travel ban imposed on him by Maduro's government.
So, now, Guaido could be arrested when he returns but he warned Maduro that detaining him could be "a mistake."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUAN GUAIDO, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF VENEZUELA (through translator): Tomorrow, anticipating any intent from the regime, we have left instructions for our people. First, we meet in protest tomorrow to announce the next step.
They can cut a flower but never stop spring. This process is unstoppable. The transition has begun in Venezuela. The only one that puts a stop to it is the regime that blocked humanitarian aid. We are doing well because we are together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: CNN's Patrick Oppmann has been following this story and he has more now from Caracas.
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Juan Guaido says he is returning to Venezuela to save his country. Monday is set to be a key day for the future of his opposition movement because if quite Guaido has not already returned in Venezuela, he says he will return to take place in opposition rallies here in Caracas and across the country.
These are rallies that many times in the past have turned quite bloody as opposition supporters clash with police and security forces. Guaido addressed his supporters by social media. It's not clear from what country he was in Ecuador for much of Sunday. But then, departed it's not clear if he landed in Colombia if he is in Venezuela. He simply didn't say. But he did say that if the Venezuelan government arrests him if they make good on their threat to arrest him, that will be "the worst mistake they have ever made."
The sitting socialist President Nicolas Maduro is in a tough spot because if he were to arrest Guaido, it would certainly bring the wrath of the United States, It would further galvanize and unite the opposition here. But if he doesn't arrest, Guaido, then, he will look weak.
So, as Juan Guaido is set to return to Venezuela, is set to take place in opposition rallies, he's once again testing the will of the government here, and both the men who claim to be Venezuelan's presidents are on a collision course. Patrick Oppman, CNN, Caracas.
WATT: Next, South Korea and the U.S. are resuming military drills while trying not to upset North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Plus, a top White House official says, the U.S. deserves answers over what happened to American student, Otto Warmbier. Even as President Trump says he trusts Kim's account.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:21:00] KATE RILEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS ANCHOR: I'm Kate Riley with your CNN "WORLD SPORT" headlines. We start in the English Premier League where a palpable shift in the title race on Sunday began after Manchester City went ahead after a win at Bournemouth on Saturday, and Liverpool had the chance to reclaim the top spot. They needed a win away at Everton, but the trophies had other plans in Liverpool.
Simply could not find the back of the net, and this won the game ending in a goalless draw Liverpool on their one point behind Man City with nine games remaining.
Good news for Chelsea fans though, perhaps, their run of misfortune has finally come to an end. On Wednesday, they beat Tottenham. And on Sunday, they were away at Fulham.
All goals coming in the first half. First, Gonzalo Higuain opening the scoring a Fulham would equalize. But then, Jorginho hitting a sensational rocket into the upper corner to seal the 2-1 win for the Blues.
And finally, to tennis. Australian Nick Kyrgios is one of the most talented players ever to step on the court. But he's often struggled to apply himself and it has been no surprise to see crashing out in the early rounds on the ATP Tour. But when his eye is definitely on, and he's played brilliantly all week at the Mexico Open, and when his fifth ATP title along the way Kyrgios beat Rafa Nadal, Stan Wawrinka and John Isner, before taking down Alexander Zverev in straight sets in the final here.
And that's the look of "WORLD SPORTS" headlines. I'm Kate Riley. WATT: In South Korea, the annual joint military drills with the U.S. are just starting up. But this time, they look a lot different from the dramatic war games we've seen in the past. They've scaled back much smaller drills that -- you know, that they just announced a couple of days ago just days after the failed summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un that ended without a denuclearization deal.
Now, President Trump tweeted that dialing back the drills was an idea he, in fact, had a long time ago, and will "save hundreds of millions of dollars for the U.S. for which we are not reimbursed." He added, "Reducing tensions with North Korea at this time is a good thing."
Earlier, CNN's Jake Tapper asked the White House national security adviser whether last week's summit with North Korea was, in fact, good for the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, CNN: It seems as though, President Trump doesn't have anything new to show for the summit. Kim Jong-un got a second face-to-face meeting with the American president, building his cloud on an international stage.
Now, we're told South Korea and the U.S. are scaling back major joint military exercises. Did this summit end up helping North Korea more than the United States?
JOHN BOLTON, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I think it was unquestionably, a success for the United States, because the president protected, defended, American interest. You know, the possibility was there for North Korea to make a big deal with us to do complete denuclearization in exchange for the potential for a very bright economic future.
The president wanted to make that big deal, he pushed very hard for it, the North Koreans were not willing to walk through the door that he opened for them. So, now we'll see what happens.
But in terms of the outcome, the president has conducted this diplomacy different from prior administrations. All three prior administrations that address this question failed. So he is trying a different route.
Kim Jong-un himself said that the last meeting, you know, we're going to go through many stations before we reach agreement this is just one more station.
TAPPER: But there's no -- nothing new on the table. There's nothing new that has been achieved, right? Except for now, there's these major joint military exercises with South Korea which is what the North Korea -- North Korean's want that's achieved for them. What is -- what did the U.S. get?
BOLTON: You know, I don't -- I don't see that there's any real difference between on the exercise point between what the president decided in Singapore now. It's not like some new decision has been made. The president made his decision on the exercises back in the summer of last year, and those continue.
I think what the United States gets from this is we show again the potential for the opening of North Korea if they're prepared to denuclearize. We'll let the North Koreans evaluate at what happened. We're going to take a look at ways of making sure that our maximum pressure campaign of economic sanctions continues because after all, it's the sanctions that brought North Korea to the table in the first.
[01:25:19] TAPPER: Well, nobody begrudges the president for trying something new. Nobody begrudges the president for trying --
(CROSSTALK)
BOLTON: I think -- I think some do begrudge him that.
TAPPER: OK, nobody reasonably begrudges the president for trying something new or for trying to achieve peace. But nothing came of the summit other than further demonstrations that the United States wants peace, wants denuclearization.
Would you recommend a third summit without a tangible deliverable, as it's called, something on the table that the United States knows will be achieved?
BOLTON: Well, you're speaking in the -- in the terms of conventional diplomacy that, my goodness, there's no deal, how horrible.
I would say it the other way. If you can't get a good deal, and the president offered North Korea the best deal it could possibly get, no deal is better than a bad deal. So, the president's decided to shake things up in North Korean diplomacy, given the failure of the last three administrations to achieve the denuclearization of North Korea.
He obviously thinks it's worth trying. We will see now what comes next.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: John Bolton also addressed Otto Warmbier, the American student who died after being held captive in North Korea. Now, the U.S. president says, he believes North Korea's leader when Kim says that he doesn't know what happened. Jake Tapper asked Bolton about what he thinks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOLTON: Look, the president made it very clear he considers what happened to Otto Warmbier, an act of brutality that's completely unacceptable to the American side.
I've heard him before the summit itself, before the press conference, talk about how deeply he cared about Otto Warmbier and his family.
The fact is, the best thing North Korea could do right now would be to give us a full accounting of what happened and who was responsible for it. TAPPER: Do you take Kim Jong-un at his word?
BOLTON: The president takes him at his word.
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: No, I know he does, but what about you?
BOLTON: My opinion doesn't matter. My opinion is that I'm --
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: You're the national security adviser to the president, and your opinion matters quite a bit.
BOLTON: Right. I'm not -- I am not the national security decision- maker. That's his view.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: Next, ISIS propaganda promised, the terror group would thrive and spread. The reality, it's shrinking and now on the brink of defeat. We report from the frontlines of Eastern Syria. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:00] NICK WATT, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Nick Watt with the headlines this hour.
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido says he will return to Venezuela on Monday to lead the protests against his rival Nicolas Maduro. Guaido has been touring Latin America, rallying support from regional leaders and in an online video he said Maduro's government would be making a big mistake if they try to arrest him when he returns.
23 people are dead including children in the U.S. state of Alabama after tornadoes touched down on Sunday. This, according to the Lee County sheriff. Both Alabama and Georgia bore the brunt of storms sweeping across the southeastern United States and this is all part of a storm system bringing severe winter weather to much of the East Coast.
And Huawei CFO is suing Canadian officials saying that they violated her rights during her arrest in December. Meng Wanzhou says officers detained, searched and questioned her without advising her of her rights. She was arrested at the request of the U.S. which accuses her of helping Huawei dodge sanctions on Iran.
The self-declared ISIS caliphate is on the brink of defeat. The terror group has been cornered for weeks in eastern Syria in a shrinking bombed-out patch of the Euphrates Valley. U.S.-backed forces, largely Kurdish troops, have the area surrounded. And they resume their assault on Friday saying that they expect this to be a decisive battle.
Here is how the U.S. National Security Advisor described the situation to CNN's Jake Tapper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BOLTON, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: We're talking about an area roughly the size of Central Park in New York. And the negotiations have been under way to let some noncombatants out, some of the ISIS fighters want to visit Alla (ph) , that's what they are there do. And I think the Syrian opposition is about to accommodate them.
But we're talking about an insignificant piece of real estate here and it will happen very, very soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: For weeks CNN's Ben Wedeman has been reporting from the front lines in eastern Syria. And he has more on this weekend's fighting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Hell in a very small place. Air strikes, artillery and mortar rounds rain down upon the so-called Islamic state's miserable realm. Reduced to a ragged cluster of tents, wrecked cars and trucks perhaps just a half square mile. Despite the onslaught, people -- men it appears, can be seen walking to the tents.
U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have given up trying to estimate how many people, all fighters they say, are still there.
"Some of them want to surrender. They are suicidal. And some want to escape but we won't let them," says Zarkhan (ph) the commander on this roof. "They can either surrender or die."
They are surrounded, outnumbered, and outgunned. Final defeat seems imminent yet they fight on convinced perhaps that divine intervention will allow them to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
(on camera): All indications are the battle will not be over today or tomorrow as President Trump says. One commander told us maybe it will be done in four or five days.
(voice over): In the evening, SDF troops prepare their weapons for battle. The pounding carries on around the clock. There is no rest for the last hold outs.
[01:34:59] Midnight and the earth shakes. Night into day the onslaught continues. ISIS lived by the bullet and the bomb; and by the bullet and the bomb it is dying.
Ben Wedeman, CNN -- Baghouz, eastern Syria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: For more, I'm joined now by Colonel Cedric Leighton. He's a CNN military analyst and a retired U.S. Air Force officer.
Colonel -- even if the ground is taken from under their feet surely the ISIS ideology and ISIS threat will live on?
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think so, Nick. And, you know, the big issue here is precisely what you raise in your question.
This is an ideological battle and while it's great to, you know, take the town of Baghouz, the place in Eastern Syria that Ben reported from it's really, really important for us to understand that this ideology lives on in places that we have already taken back from ISIS -- places in Iraq, places in Syria, and places frankly in Europe.
So this is going to be a long, drawn-out battle and it's going to be a battle that I think will take quite some time and may have some more dangerous events in its future.
WATT: And I think as you eluded to there. I mean the ISIS threat to targets in the west continues.
LEIGHTON: Absolutely. And when you think about it, remember that ISIS has already directed its followers and its ideological adherence to look for opportunities to attack targets not only in the Middle East, but also in the West. And they are particularly looking at Europe but I think any place is a place where we need to at least be concerned that ISIS sympathizers might want to strike. So this is not over by a long shot.
WATT: And, I mean of course, the Syrian civil war continues, large swaths of that country still lawless and we've been reporting in the past few days about an Al Qaeda resurgence with Hamza bin Laden, you know, rising up the food chain there. Is a resurgent in Al Qaeda in Syria and elsewhere also something we need to keep an eye on?
LEIGHTON: Most definitely. When you look at Al Qaeda, of course, they tend to be focused we think in Pakistan and, you know, in areas in Afghanistan that border along the Pakistani area.
But it's very clear that when you look at Iraq and when you look at Syria there are still adherents of Al Qaeda philosophy and the Al Qaeda movement that exists in those countries.
And that they can also present a danger. They are not as strong as they once were but it doesn't take much to cause a huge terrorist attack if really you want to really do that.
WATT: And Colonel, just briefly to finish up, back to ISIS -- I mean what will the demise of the ISIS territory do to the ongoing Syrian civil war? LEIGHTON: I think that's a really excellent question. Really close
to Baghouz there are both Syrian government forces as well as Russian forces. And those forces will seek to take Baghouz from the Syrian Democratic Forces. And if that -- when that happens I think we'll see a scramble for as much territory as possible and the Syrian civil war may well unleash other issues that, you know, will have to be settled either on the diplomatic table but more likely in the arena of armed conflict.
WATT: Colonel Cedric Leighton -- thank you so much for your insights.
LEIGHTON: You bet, Nick, absolutely.
WATT: In the coming hours the U.S. will merge its consulate-general in Jerusalem into the American embassy in the city. When the move was first announced last October it was condemned by Palestinian officials. The stand-alone consulate-general had provided diplomatic representation to the Palestinians. The State Department says quote, "The move does not signal a change of U.S. policy on Jerusalem, the West Bank or the Gaza Strip.
Next, on both sides of the Channel they are preparing for Brexit, not quite knowing what they are preparing for but expecting a major headache as decades of relatively free movement of goods, people and dogs might come to an end. Details coming up.
[08:39:26] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WATT: Algeria's president Abdelaziz Bouteflika is defying protesters who are demanding he resign by announcing that he will run for a fifth term in office in elections next month. The protesters are -- protests, I'm sorry -- are some of the biggest the country has seen in decades.
Demonstrators are also demanding those elections be called off and that the government be dissolved. Security forces have fired tear gas at the crowds.
It's widely believed that the now 82-year-old president who was first elected in 1999 is now largely incapacitated after a stroke and has left the reins of the country in the hands of the military and civilian elites.
Now, the U.K. is set to leave the E.U. in about 25 days. Many Brits are worried about a no-deal Brexit and they are not alone; the French are also fretting.
As CNN's Jim Bittermann reports, Britain crashing out of Europe could affect creatures great and small.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Oscar the Yorkie may not look too worried about Brexit but his caretaker certainly is. Paul Anderson runs a business called Pets2Go, regularly transporting thousands of pets a year from Europe to Britain and back again. And like other animals Oscar travels back and forth easily with a pet passport.
PAUL ANDERSON, BUSINESS OWNER, PETS2GO: Ok, little man.
BITTERMANN: But potentially after Brexit more paperwork will be needed and perhaps even a new blood test before he can reenter into France.
ANDERSON: There doesn't seem to be any clarity on what is going to happen to our business or transport as a general. It's a bit of a mess.
BITTERMANN: With as many as 2,000 pets crossing the English Channel each day, according to animal control inspectors, any change in the rules means added expenses and headaches for pet owners. For the three dogs of Ian Squirrell and Debby Lansley, this may be the last trip for a while.
DEBBY LANSLEY, PET OWNER: Until we know what's happening. I mean some are saying that they are going to be needing rabies injections. I mean obviously they have got that but they are saying they need blood tests.
IAN SQUIRRELL, PET OWNER: They could take blood tests.
LANSLEY: Yes.
SQUIRRELL: And for English pets they're charging 260 pounds for the blood test which is quite a lot of money.
LANSLEY: When you've got three dogs.
SQUIRRELL: When you have three dogs.
BITTERMANN: Even without a clear idea of which direction Brexit may take, it's already costing a lot of money. French Customs says it is spending more than $68 million constructing new customs facilities, hiring 700 more customs agents and hundreds more veterinarian inspectors.
[01:45:02] (on camera): Customs officials here say they have been planning for the worst case scenario for years. And that means going back to the battle days of customs declarations, health and sanitary inspections, screening of animals for diseases, and fruits and vegetables for pesticides and weed killers. In short reestablishing controls that haven't existed here for 25 years.
(voice over): In the time since under European Union rules, customs inspection have been carried out on a random basis, sometimes quite literally looking for the needle in a haystack. But after Brexit French customs inspectors are expected to be much more thorough.
The French produced a video hoping to explain to people how they can avoid delays crossing by ferry or by Eurotunnel by going online in advance of their trip.
But those new facilities include expanded customs and parking areas for any of the eight million trucks crossing the channel which have not completed proper paper work in advance, according to the Customs director for northern France.
THIBAUT ROUGELOT, CUSTOMS DIRECTOR FOR NORTHERN FRANCE (through translator): It's possible that with the customs formalities there will be an added cost to transport. I don't know how the companies will react to this extra cost and restrictions on the circulations of merchandise.
BITTERMANN: Merchandise like fresh produce, for instance. At the moment, the French import about 55 percent of the land they consume. Much of it from Britain according to agricultural statistics and most after it has been slaughtered.
Customs delays could mean fresh lamb would have to be frozen putting British lamb in direct competition with countries as far away as New Zealand.
TOM BUCKLE, SHEEP FARMER: Things will get complicated and anything goes -- no one knows what will happen really.
BITTERMANN: Some though are already making decisions without waiting. At STC Transport which regularly moves thoroughbreds back and forth across the channel for racing and breeding, one recent client canceled his horses' trip. The company believes others will follow.
SIMON BROSELETTE, STC TRANSPORT: The owners are reticent to travel at the moment. They don't know no if the mares will stay. (INAUDIBLE) How will they return, how will be the return in France?
BITTERMANN: So in spite or perhaps because of the political dither on the other side of the Channel, over in France some are already voting on Brexit with their feet.
Jim Bittermann, CNN -- Calais, France.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: Now, the U.S. President has in the past called himself a genius so why would he allegedly pay someone to keep his school grades hidden? That's next.
[01:47:38] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: One more last push of winter, at least it feels like it across portions of the United States for significant cold upwards of 50 record-cold high temperatures slated for portions of the upper Midwest while a frontal boundaries draped across portions of the northeast U.S. brings in a significant bout of snow, potentially their snowiest system of the season coming in. Of course, just a couple of week before winter officially ends.
And blustery weather certainly adding some insult to injury across the area. But Boston could get the blockbuster event out of this potentially up to 20 or 30 centimeters of snow when it's all said and done. Back towards the West where it all began, yes another system, another round of wet weather into California. Some good old rain down towards the coast while significant snow builds up towards the mountainous region.
But San Francisco will keep you cloudy, 13 agrees. And work your way into portions of Texas, the cold air into north Texas six below across that region.
You want warmth, you can find it across portions of the tropics, of course. Kingston, some blustery weather but not too bad when you are approaching 30 degrees and sunny skies there.
And down into portions of say the northern tip of South America, Bogota, into the middle teens and upper teens. Manaus, around 31. La Paz also looking at a few showers and thunderstorms as we shift the attention down towards Montevideo, looking at some rain there. Buenos Aires also coming in with wet weather.
One of the cooler spots, down farther towards the south. Rio Gallego should be into the middle teens. Some blustery weather across that region.
WATT: SpaceX is one step closer to sending humans into space. The SpaceX craft known as the Crew Dragon didn't carry any humans to space for this test mission just a dummy named Ripley. But the three members aboard the International Space Station entered SpaceX's capsule Sunday after it successfully docked. And they are excited.
ANNE MCCLAIN, U.S. ASTRONAUT: On behalf of Ripley, , little earth, myself and our crew, welcome to the Crew Dragon.
Congratulations to all of the team who made yesterday's launch and today's docking a success. These amazing feats show us not how easy our mission is, but how capable we are of doing hard things.
Welcome to the new era in space flight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: This is the first space station docking for a commercially- built spacecraft. NASA hopes to begin using Crew Dragon to transport U.S. astronauts later this year. And we will talk live about that with astronaut Chris Hadfield here on CNN in the next hour.
Now in Washington after U.S. President Donald Trump's former lawyer testified to Congress last week, viewers were left with one burning question in particular.
Why on earth would you have your lawyer threaten your school to keep your grades a secret.
Jeanne Moos tries to find out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Why would a guy with such a high IQ --
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know I have an IQ better than all of them.
I guarantee you my IQ is --
-- much higher than any of these people.
MOOS: -- lower himself to this.
MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: When I say con man, I am talking about a man who declares himself brilliant.
TRUMP: I know words, I have the best words.
COHEN: But directed me to threaten his high school, his colleges, and the college board to never release his grades or SAT scores.
MOOS: The President's former fixer, produced a letter to Fordham University. It warned of substantial fines, penalties and even a potential loss of government aid "If Trump grades were released the criminality will lead to jail time."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like, I swear to God if you tell anyone I got a G- minus in math I will destroy you.
MOOS: Is making threats any way to treat schools you brag about?
TRUMP: I went to an Ivy League college --
Wharton.
Wharton.
Wharton School of Finance. number one business school.
MOOS: Knowing President Trump wanted to hide his academic record made critics salivate.
I kind of want to see Trump's SAT more than his taxes. Someone else borrow the President's owns words.
TRUMP: Russia is if you are listening --
MOOS: "Russia, if you are listening I hope you are able find Trump's SAT scores that are missing.
(on camera): But Donald Trump definitely deserves an A in irony or maybe it's hypocrisy, earned for badgering Obama to release his academic records --
TRUMP: If Barack Obama opens up and give his college records --
MOOS (voice over): -- and passport records, Trump vowed to give a check to charity.
TRUMP: For $5 million.
MOOS: Obama who graduated with honors from Harvard Law didn't bite. Trump continued to boast about attending Wharton.
[01:55:03] TRUMP: You've got to be very smart to get into that school, very smart.
MOOS: So smart you don't want anyone to know your grades.
Jeanne Moos, CNN --
TRUMP: Because I have a very good brain.
MOOS: -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: Next a tweet that just went viral speaks to many issues in the U.S. including education and affordable childcare.
An American University student didn't want to miss class, but couldn't find childcare for his five-month-old daughter, so he brought her along.
His professor offered to hold the little one and taught the rest of the class with the baby strapped to his chest.
Another student tweeted about the situation, and that tweet has been liked by over 300,000 people.
Thanks for joining us.
I'm Nick Watt.
Another hour of news is up next with John Vause.
You are watching CNN.
[01:55:56] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
