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Clinton Gets Tough With Sanders Five Days Prior To New Hampshire Primary; Latest CNN/WMUR Poll Shows Sanders With 61 Percent Support In N.H.; British Police Say Julian Assange Faces Arrest No Matter Outcome From U.N. Ruling. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired February 05, 2016 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think it's time to end the very artful smear that you and your campaign have been carrying out in recent weeks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: It is getting heated and down to the wire in New Hampshire. Five days ahead of the primary election, where she's behind in the polls, Hillary Clinton gets tough with democratic rival Bernie Sanders.
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Should he stay or should he go? As the United Nations rules on the embassy exile of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, British police say he faces arrest no matter the outcome.
HOWELL: And if you're tired with all your ride or aboard with Bavaria, how about Iran for your next skiing vacation? A lot of powder up there.
ALLEN: Yes. And we're not kidding here. Iran for vacation. We'll tell you why the country's frozen north could be the next hot destination.
And welcome to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Natalie Allen.
HOWELL: And I'm George Howell. From CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, Newsroom starts right now.
ALLEN: And we are just four days away from the New Hampshire primary. And while the republican race is tightening, democrat Bernie Sanders is surging. He met rival Hillary Clinton at a debate in Durham Thursday night.
HOWELL: Sanders press unfamiliar campaign issues everything from campaign finance reform to universal health care. Clinton though, touted her experience in public service and claims she is a true conservative -- progressive, I should say, candidate. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CLINTON: I understand Senator Sanders is really trying to distinguish
himself. I understand that. That's what you do in campaigns. But at the same time, let's not be -- and I think in an unfair way, making an accusation or making an attack about where I stand and where I have always stood.
And it is fair to say, Senator, that in your definition, of you being the self-proclaimed gatekeeper for progressivism, I don't know anyone else who fits that definition.
BERNIE SANDERS, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I mean, instead of arguing about definitions, let's talk about...
(CROSSTALK)
CLINTON: Well, you used to get it yesterday with your (Inaudible).
SANDERS: ... let's talk about what we should do. And one of the things we should do, is not only talk the talk, but walk the walk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: The latest CNN/WMUR poll shows Sanders with 61 percent support in New Hampshire. Hillary Clinton has 30 percent.
HOWELL: And you saw from that snippet there, this was one of the more heated debates that we've seen between these two candidates.
We talked about it with political strategist and Sanders' supporter, Jonathan Tasini, and democratic strategist and Clinton supporter, Matthew Littman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW LITTMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I was one of those people who thought that there were enough debates and we didn't need more. And I was definitely wrong. I thought this was the best debate I've seen so far.
In either party, I thought it was absolutely terrific. I think if you went in liking Bernie Sanders, you like Bernie Sanders after the debate. If you went in liking Hillary like I do, you like Hillary after the debate.
I think Hillary's command of a wider variety of issues than Sanders and her ability to get things done that she's proven over a very long career is what puts her in the driver's seat as far as I'm concerned and makes her the better candidate.
ALLEN: Jonathan, do you mirror his perspective on this debate?
JONATHAN TASINI, AUTHOR & POLITICAL STRATEGIST: I would say -- well, I'd say two things. One is, I'm actually in favor of the forum setup that CNN did last night and the one that Chris Cuomo moderated a week or two ago. I think it's a much better setup, where candidates actually get to talk directly to the audience. Get to talk at length rather this a little bit of back and forth.
But I do agree it was -- it was an interesting debate. There were some fireworks, theatrics. I still think that the status quo candidate, Hillary Clinton, has not answered very fully or has dodged some very important issues.
For example, her vote for the Iraq war. She continues to dismiss that, as if it's something that it happened so long ago, and we shouldn't care about it. Even though it killed hundreds of thousands of people, cost the taxpayer's $3 trillion and counting, and really did create ISIS.
And in my view, that disqualifies her for bringing the democratic nominee. And it actually shows that Bernie Sanders who voted against the war, has much more wisdom in deciding how to pursue foreign policy.
HOWELL: Sanders acknowledging that the former Secretary of State has more experience but he did make the distinction when it comes to judgment and he did not let Secretary Clinton off the hook completely with that Iraq vote. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[03:05:03] SANDERS: I fully, fully concede that Secretary Clinton who was Secretary of State for four years has more experience, that is not arguable, of foreign affairs. But experience is not only the point. Judgment is.
And once again, back in 2002, when we both looked at the same evidence about the wisdom of the war in Iraq, one of us voted the right way and one of us didn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: Matthew, the question to you. How did you feel about that response?
LITTMAN: There is a reason why Hillary did become Secretary of State. Look at what she did. She did the wrong vote on the Iraq war. There's no doubt about it and she says that. She was able to get sanctions against Iran that everybody said was impossible. She was able to get China along the sanctions against Iran.
(CROSSTALK)
TASINI: That was John Kerry actually. John -- John Kerry did that.
LITTMAN: Actually, it wasn't. That's actually inaccurate.
TASINI: All right. I'll wait -- oh, that's not true.
LITTMAN: Hillary ended up having drinks -- Jonathan, enough.
TASINI: Not true. LITTMAN: Hillary ended up having drinks with the ambassador from China in a hotel. That's how they were able to get those sanctions against Iran, after Brazil and Turkey went against them. She was able to bring China in. That was a pretty amazing accomplishment, one of many that she had as Secretary of State.
Remember, Bernie Sanders has no foreign policy advisers at this point.
TASINI: Bernie Sanders was absolutely right. That was a highlight of the debate tonight. He made it clear that it's not just about flying around the world. It's not just about knowledge, knowing the names of the prime ministers and the presidents of various countries. It's about wisdom and knowledge.
And the one thing that's not been brought out, go ask former Senator Bob Graham, former Senator of Florida. He urged Hillary Clinton to look at the intelligence that many people, 23 democrats who voted against the war, she refused. She did not study those intelligence reports.
Go talk to Bob Graham. And the reason is she had no desire to study those intelligence reports she was going to embrace the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld war. And I ask every democrat in New Hampshire and around the country, would you, in the same position, trust George Bush and Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld and cast your vote based on that knowledge?
ALLEN: This was a more fired-up Clinton than we, perhaps have seen in earlier debates. Up until now the democratic contest has been subdued affair than its republican counterpart that might be just because of the numbers.
But here's just one example of Hillary Clinton going for the jugular against Sanders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I really don't think these kinds of attacks by insinuation are worthy of you. And enough is enough. If you've got something to say, say it directly. But you will not find that I ever changed a view or a vote because of any donation that I ever received.
SANDERS: What I...
(CROSSTALK)
CLINTON: And I have stood up...
(APPLAUSE)
... and I have represented my constituents to the best of my ability. And I'm very proud of that.
SANDERS: You know...
CLINTON: So, I think it's time to end the very artful smear that you and your campaign have been carrying out in recent weeks. And let's talk -- let's talk about the issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: All right. Let's go to you, Matthew, with the point that she was making about taking donations from big, big money donors.
LITTMAN: Yes. So, Barack Obama took a lot of money for Wall Street. I don't think that anybody would accuse Barack Obama of being in the pocket of Wall Street. Wall Street is a constituent of the state that Hillary is in.
TASINI: Hillary Clinton is the status quo candidate. As Bernie Sanders recently pointed out, just a couple of days ago, it's fine to be a moderate. There's nothing -- some of his best friends are moderates. The fact is that Hillary Clinton is running away from long- term policies that she had. Stances that she took.
I mention the Iraq war. She stood on the Senate floor and argued for the defense of Marriage Act, which once -- was one of the most anti- gay pieces of legislation that we had in the past couple of decades.
She said marriage is between a man and a woman, at a time that millions of us, real progressives, were marching in the streets for marriage equality. And she never changed her position until the polls said that she should change her position.
ALLEN: We know that Bernie Sanders had opened up his biggest poll lead yet against Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire. The CNN/WMUR survey suggested that twice as many voters were likely to vote for Sanders, 61 percent to 30 percent. How much do you think this played into their performances tonight? I'll start with you, Matthew.
LITTMAN: I think Sanders is obviously doing well in New Hampshire. So, it seems to be very good state for him. Sanders has to note, though, and I'm sure Jonathan understands this, that both Iowa and New Hampshire, overwhelmingly white. And a lot of the states that are coming up are not overwhelmingly white.
And that's why you see Hillary with bigger leads where there are more African-American and Latinos a more diverse population that represents more of America. So, I think she's going to be doing much better as we go along here. These two states are kind of an anomaly.
[03:10:00] ALLEN: What do you think about that, Jonathan?
TASINI: Well, I think that the bar has been constantly changed for Bernie Sanders. Back -- it reminds me of the Gandhi quote. First, they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, and then, you win. And we're in stage three right now. We started at roughly 7 percent in the polls, 3 percent in the polls nationally. Each time the bar has been moved.
He said, well, Iowa doesn't matter. Then, Iowa mattered. New Hampshire was all -- was at one point, is important. Well, now, it doesn't matter because there's some home state advantage. And actually, I think the real thing that's happening over this course of the last several months is that every time Bernie Sanders becomes more well- known, his support grows. And the national polls are closing almost every week.
One of the things that is true about New Hampshire, is because Bernie Sanders is from the state next door in Vermont, he is much better known. And I think that's why he has great support. I think once we move to Nevada, which is now competitive, I think we're going to win in Nevada.
I think in South Carolina as soon as we win, and New Hampshire. Those polls are going start to close. Ben Jealous, the former head of the NAACP just endorsed Bernie Sanders. A very important endorsement, which would be very important in South Carolina among the African- American community.
And most importantly, one of the things that I wasn't sure that Bernie could do when he first started to run, was raise enough money. So, he will be on the air and have staff on the ground in every single one of the Super Tuesday states. And we're going to do very well in those states, as well.
ALLEN: Matthew Littman and Jonathan Tasini, thank you for your time.
TASINI: Thanks.
LITTMAN: OK. Pleasure to be here.
ALLEN: Well, it's getting real, isn't it?
HOWELL: Yes, for sure.
ALLEN: The race is a little tighter on the republican side. The latest CNN/WMUR poll shows Donald Trump leading among New Hampshire voters with 29 percent. Marco Rubio jump from third to second with 18 percent.
HOWELL: Iowa caucus won Ted Cruz, he has 13 percent. Ohio Governor, John Kasich, 12 percent. And former Florida Governor, Jeb Bush at 10 percent.
ALLEN: Donald Trump sat down with CNN for a one-on-one interview. He talked with our Anderson Cooper about the upcoming New Hampshire primary and about accusing GOP rival Ted Cruz of committing voter fraud at the Iowa caucuses this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, AC360 SHOW HOST: There's a new CNN poll out that shows you're doing well here in New Hampshire. How does it feel?
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It feels great. The people are amazing. I've been to New Hampshire so many times and I have so many friends up here aside from this. And they're amazing people. It's a great place. I just like it. I'm comfortable.
COOPER: You're doing more in New Hampshire. You're doing more smaller events. You're doing more events. I think you had four or five already today.
TRUMP: Yes.
COOPER: Events like this with kind of people up close, asking you questions. Is that a change in strategy? If so, why?
TRUMP: I don't think so. I just feel very comfortable up here. And I love being here. And, you know, I've just been embraced. I have friends that have nice houses and they invite me over to dinner. And they would anyway, whether I was doing this or not. But there's a great level of comfort in New Hampshire for me.
COOPER: In this poll, Marco Rubio has also now jumped to second place. Do you think he is more of a threat than Ted Cruz?
TRUMP: I don't know. I mean, it could be somebody out of the pack. You know, I'm watching your stuff every night and I'm saying, well, who is -- who is going to be moving. I've been doing well. I guess in the polls we do pretty well. But I don't know who is second. I really don't. Are you saying that Rubio came in second now or he is?
COOPER: Yes, he did. He came is in second.
TRUMP: Yes. It was sort of funny because in Iowa he was third and I was second, and they said he did fantastically well. And me, they were sort of disappointed. I don't even know why they were disappointed. Because I got actually the most votes in the history of the Iowa -- you know, for the republicans.
And we had a huge turnout. It was really a tremendous -- I mean, I really -- I must say, I really enjoyed Iowa. But this is -- there's a different feeling here. This is an amazing feeling with the people, with the crowds. You probably saw the crowd I had this morning. It was just incredible.
COOPER: How important is it for you to win here?
TRUMP: Well, I'd love to win because I like to win. I mean, my life is about winning. You know, I don't like to lose.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: I've heard that about you.
TRUMP: You know, your definition of win when you come in second out of 11 people -- and actually 17, because we started off with 17, many dropped out. So, let's say you're second out of 17, you know, I mean, we consider that good. But, no, I would love to be number one in New Hampshire.
I think we'd send a great signal and, you know, my whole thing is make America great again, Anderson. That's what I want to do. I want to make America great again.
There are so many things we can do to take back our country because we're losing our country. I mean, we're doing deals that are so ridiculous.
The deal with Iran where we're handing over $150 billion and we get nothing. It's not like we get. We get nothing. So many horrible things are taking place.
If you look at trade with China, we're going to make -- we're going to -- we're going to make for them this year $500 billion. We can't do it. We can't afford this. Mexico. Japan. Vietnam. That's another one coming on very strong. They are coming on so strong. Vietnam, you don't believe what's going on over there.
[03:15:00] And they are taking our jobs, they are taking our money, they are taking our base, they're taking everything from us and it's not going to happen if I get elected president. It's not going to happen.
COOPER: You came in second in Iowa to Ted Cruz. Let's talk about Cruz. You've basically accused him of fraud, of stealing the election in Iowa, you talked about wanting a new election there. Have you actually spoken to Republican Party officials about that?
TRUMP: Now, look, I'm into New Hampshire now. It's just one of those things. It was sort of a lot of strange things. And you know, I like Ben Carson very much and he got pretty roughed up, frankly. Although it affected me maybe more than Ben. But I'm so much -- because I've been here for two days, I'm so much into this, into New Hampshire that I just -- I don't care about that anymore.
COOPER: But do you think Ted Cruz intentionally was spreading inform -- false information?
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: I don't care. I mean, I don't -- I don't even say. Let's see what happens. I guess people are looking at it. Who cares?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: Ted Cruz is focusing his attacks on Donald Trump. Though, he is also battling with Marco Rubio for both in New Hampshire. Just listen to this sample of their stump speeches on Thursday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TED CRUZ, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump is very rattled right now. He told the entire world he was going to win Iowa. And then, he didn't win. And his reaction is, he got very angry. You know, how stupid could the people of Iowa be?
I assume the next question he's going to ask is, how stupid can the people of New Hampshire be?
(APPLAUSE)
You know, my view of it is, this is a job interview. And I don't think that people are interested in temper tantrums. I don't think people are interested in insults and attacks.
MARCO RUBIO, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I won't just be the republican president. I will be the American president. I intend to work for all Americans, even the people that don't agree with me. Even the people that say nasty things about me on Twitter, I'm going to cut their taxes, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: The republican candidates will meet in their next debate, Saturday night in New Hampshire. That states primary is set for Tuesday.
In just a moment, we are following a story, breaking news from the U.N. A panel has made its ruling on whether WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange has been lawfully detained. We'll find out what could -- what could happen next in a live report ahead.
ALLEN: Also ahead, drawn debate on the campaign trail. Why New Hampshire voters want to hear what the presidential candidates will do to tackle heroin abuse in their state.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: I'm Kate Riley with your CNN World Sports headlines.
Italian Football Club, Lazio being fined $56,000 after their match against Napoli was reportedly halted following alleged racist chants. The Rome Club is also being noted to close three sections of the Stadio Olimpico ground for their next two Serie A home games.
[03:20:09] The match was stopped for three minutes in the second half after some fans allegedly aimed racist chants at Napoli defender.
On Saturday, Rugby Six Nations gets underway in Europe. The old enemy of Scotland will be the first test for England's new coach, Eddie Jones, who was appointed to the role after Stuart Lancaster, was dismissed after failing to make after the group stage at last year's World Cup where they were host. The Australian Jones is England's first ever foreign head coach.
And two trips are guaranteed after the Super Bowl on Sunday. Plus, the MVP will be heading to Disney World. And the second, the entire team will be invited to the White House. This was all so true for the NBA champions.
And on Thursday, the Golden State Warriors met with President Obama at the White House. And the president he's a well-known Chicago Bulls fan. And it's the Bulls' record mark of 72 wins in the mid-'90s that the Warriors are chasing. Coincidentally, Golden State's coach, Steve Kerr, was a member of that squad.
And that's a look at your sports headlines. I'm Kate Riley.
ALLEN: We have this just in to CNN. A U.N. rights working right has found that Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder has been arbitrarily detained. Assange has been living inside Ecuador's embassy, in the British capital, for nearly four years.
HOWELL: He is trying to stop his extradition to Sweden in connection with a sex crime investigation.
Following at CNN's Nima Elbagir joins us now live from London with more. Nima, good to have you with us. So, Julian Assange has indicated that he will likely walk out of that embassy come noon there in London. If he does, will he still face arrest?
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he indicated that if he said the U.N. panel didn't find that his detention had been arbitrary and that he had been deprived of his freedom.
The U.N. panel has of course, now officially confirmed that it believes he has been arbitrarily detained. So, we're waiting to hear from Assange what that will mean and what the next steps forward will be for him and his supporters. He is expected to speak sometime later this morning U.K. time.
This, his supporters have always said, if this finding was indeed as it now has been released to be, in support of Mr. Assange, they said it will be a moral vindication. But under British law, George, it's little more than that.
British authorities who have already seen this finding, they were shown this number of weeks ago, in fact, had indicated yesterday that in no way does this change their position under U.K. law. They are bound legally to exercise that Swedish arrest warrant in those outstanding allegations of rape.
HOWELL: So, that point, including the fact that this is a nonbinding ruling. So, is there any back story, you're understanding as to why Mr. Assange has decided to make this decision, based on this ruling?
ELBAGIR: Well, it would put him amongst the echelon of others whom the U.N. has found for being arbitrarily detained like Aung San Suu Kyi or the Egyptian President, Mohamed Morsi. So, on that level, it does give a certain moral heft.
But he has not indicated that if the U.N. panel finds in his favor, that he would still walk out of that embassy. Because the legal status here in the U.K. has not changed.
A lot of the legal experts we've been speaking to and they went up to this decision being released, say that at the core of it, George, is this contention of whether he should have been arrested before he was charged.
Whether he should have been arrested to face questioning back in Sweden, given that Mr. Assange has always said that he believes those allegations were framed politically. As he and his supporters put it.
The Swedish authorities say that as far as they're concerned they believe and they maintain this throughout that this is all in -- in the course of running down the clock, George.
Two of those allegations, two of outstanding charges have already expired because of the Statute of Limitations. And one of the remaining ones, the actual, the rape charge, that has a 10-year Statute of Limitations. There's only four years remaining on that.
HOWELL: And at this point, all eyes, all cameras there on that embassy. Our Nima Elbagir live for us in London, and we will stay in touch, Nima, as we learn next steps in what happens with Julian Assange.
Switching now to the Zika virus. It is considered ground zero in Brazil where the outbreak has happened. The country's president vows to fight it and the mosquitoes that spread it.
ALLEN: But Zika does not appear to be bothering partygoers around Rio's annual carnival. The celebration starts from the coming day, and Shasta Darlington reports on that.
[03:25:06] SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Brazil gearing up for its annual carnival celebration under a cloud cast by the Zika virus. But you wouldn't know it heading out on the streets here in Rio de Janeiro, going to the block parties that Sambadrome, as they have their trial run ahead of the big parades this weekend.
The Zika simply isn't the topic of the day. In fact, they're expecting more visitors here in Rio de Janeiro, more than a million, than they have last year. And it's the same for Recife, one of the hardest hit city in the northeast, that's been so affected by the Zika virus and by a spike in birth defects.
Well, they're also expecting more visitors than last year. This is, of course, largely due to the exchange rate. It's gotten too expensive for Brazilians to spend their holidays abroad. And much cheaper for foreigners to come here to Brazil.
Now that doesn't mean that officials aren't doing their part to try to minimize the risk of being bitten by a mosquito. They have been going door-to-door, trying to eliminate those pools of water that are the main place where the mosquitoes that spread the virus breed.
And they've been launching radio campaigns. The President Dilma Rousseff was on national TV, also just trying to get people to pitch in and do their part. They've even been at Sambadrome fumigating.
And of course, this is a big deal. Because the link between the Zika virus and those birth defects was established here by doctors. The number of birth defects continues to rise. And there has been concern that the carnival celebrations could help spread the virus for their field. But again, you head out on the streets and it seems that all people want to do is party.
Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.
ALLEN: They probably need the break from worrying.
HOWELL: The party goes on.
ALLEN: Well, next here on CNN, new indications Kim Jong-un may launch a long-range rocket into space. We'll show you some newly released satellite images that may support this possibility. We'll break it down.
HOWELL: Plus, the moment at New Hampshire's democratic presidential debate, that had Hillary Clinton saying enough is enough. Stay with us.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: And welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. We're live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.
HOWELL: And I'm George Howell.
The headlines we're following for you this hour.
ALLEN: We have this just in to CNN, a U.N. rights working group has found that Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, has been arbitrarily detained. Assange has been living inside Ecuador's embassy in the British capital for nearly four years. He is trying to stop his extradition to Sweden in connection with a sex crime investigation.
HOWELL: World leaders are pledging more than $10 billion to help refugees that are fleeing Syria's savage war there. But the U.N. says the money alone will not solve the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II. The U.N. has temporarily paused the peace talks, for saying the humanitarian promises have not been fulfilled.
ALLEN: Two New York police officers are in good condition after being shot while on patrol Thursday night. The officers were in an apartment stairwell when they encountered two men. One of whom opened fire and ran to a nearby apartment. Police said, they later found the suspect dead from what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
HOWELL: And a quick snap shot at polls in politics. Donald Trump leads the republican presidential candidates with 29 percent, in the latest CNN/WMUR poll of New Hampshire voters. Marco Rubio, now second with 18 percent. Ted Cruz with 13 percent. And among democrats, Bernie Sanders leads Hillary Clinton 61 percent, to 30 percent.
ALLEN: New Hampshire right next to Vermont, which is his home state. So, he has fans in that area. We will see if Clinton or Sanders changed any voter's minds with their debate performances in New Hampshire Thursday evening.
HOWELL: It was a lively debate. Here's some of the highlights.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: People support me because they know me. They know my life's work. They have worked with me.
SANDERS: Our job together, is to end our rigged economy, create an economy that works for all.
CLINTON: I'm not making promises that I cannot keep. But you will not find that I ever changed a view or a vote because of any donation that I ever received. I think it's time to end the very artful smear that you and your campaign have been carrying out in recent weeks. And let's talk -- and let's talk about the issues.
SANDERS: A kid gets caught with marijuana. That kid has a police record. A Wall Street executive destroys the economy, $5 billion settlement from the government, no criminal record. That is what power is about.
CLINTON: I'm absolutely against privatizing the V.A. and I am going to do everything I can to try to fix what's wrong with the V.A.
SANDERS: I think where we now stand, correct me if I'm wrong. You have 22 delegates. I have 20 delegates. We need 2,500 delegates to win the nomination. You know, this is not -- this is not the biggest deal in the world.
CLINTON: If I'm so fortunate to be the nominee, the first person I will call to talk to you about where we go and how we get it done will be Senator Sanders.
SANDERS: I happen to respect the Secretary very much. I hope it's mutual.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: Well, the topic of illegal drug use. It is one of the major issues on the campaign trail. Candidates from both parties have been repeatedly asked how they would tackle heroin abuse and addiction in New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz says the problem lies with open borders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: It is an absolute tragedy. And one of the things that is fueling the tragedy is our open border. Because heroin is being brought in by transnational criminal cartels. People like el Chapo. Now I know Hollywood celebrity, Sean Penn thinks el Chapo is cute and chick and nice.
And you're right. The attorney general of the United States sold him an illegal gun under fast and furious. It is ridiculous. And people are going to be held accountable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Rampant heroin use isn't just a problem in New Hampshire. Cities in small towns across the U.S. say they are being overrun by the drug and the deaths it is causing.
Deborah Feyerick has more.
[03:35:02] DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a cold New Hampshire morning, as the Manchester SWAT team quietly moves into position. Within minutes, two suspected drug dealers are taken into custody.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN O'KEEFE, MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE POLICE DEPARTMENT OFFICER: We're at war, with the drug cartels. And the drug dealers, not only this city but in the nation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: The raid is part of a federal, state and local operation, called Granite Hammer. Its goal, stemming the heroin epidemic, revenging in New Hampshire, where Manchester police say every five days someone dies of an overdose. Usually heroin.
O'KEEFE: Five years ago, in 2010, in this city, we seized less than 200 grams of heroin in one year. Now, fast forward to 2015, we took over 27,000 grams of heroin off the street.
FEYERICK: The heroin crisis has become a key issue for the presidential candidates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: We can't be here in New Hampshire and not talk about the addiction problem.
SANDERS: It is a crisis.
CRUZ: It's a horrible disease.
TRUMP: That wall is going to stop so much of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: And it's weighing on voters' minds here in New Hampshire. Another home. Another raid. The SWAT team is executing a search warrant on the second floor apartment, where a man is suspected of dealing drugs.
The sun is barely even up. And surveillance suggests that people, possibly buyers, have been going in and out of that apartment for the last couple hours.
To understand the reach of the heroin epidemic, all you have to do is look at this map. This really shows what amounts to the poisoning of America.
MICHAEL FERGUSON, NEW ENGLAND DEA SPECIAL AGENT: It does. It's what's represented here, is where you see orange, and it's in the center lower cartel's influence in the United States.
FEYERICK: Michael Ferguson is the special agent in-charge of New England for the Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA for short.
FERGUSON: Every city and town is a heroin epidemic going on today.
FEYERICK: I'm looking at this. This is like a virus that's just spreading.
FERGUSON: It is a public safety, public health. It's a national security situation.
FEYERICK: Ferguson says drug dealers are setting up shop in small towns across America who rent is cheap and profit margin is high.
At New Hampshire State Police Forensic Laboratory, technicians take in 750 new drug cases every month. That's 200 more than they can physically process.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a backlog of about 3,500 cases. It is literally like shoveling sand against the tide.
FEYERICK: Still, back on the streets of Manchester, undercover and uniformed cops keep making arrests. Keep trying to hold the tide at bay.
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Manchester, New Hampshire.
HOWELL: Heroin abuse is just one of many issues on the agenda in New Hampshire. The next republican debate is this Saturday. And our Erin Burnett hosts a live post-debate special.
ALLEN: You can catch it right here on CNN at 11 p.m. Eastern Time in the U.S. or noon on Sunday in Hong Kong.
HOWELL: You're watching CNN Newsroom. Still ahead, North Korea could be a step closer now, to carrying out a new provocative act.
Coming up, details on a possible rocket launch that is making some world leaders nervous.
[03:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. Turning our attention now to North Korea, where a rocket launch could be eminent. A U.S. official says the North may be fueling a rocket, expected to launch after Monday.
ALLEN: North Korea insists it is sending a satellite into orbit. But critics believe the launch is just a front for a ballistic missile test.
CNN's Brian Todd reports for us from Washington.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: New indications that Kim Jong-un is about to launch a long-range rocket into space. A U.S. official tells CNN, North Korea may already be fueling a rocket at its Dongcheng-RI site.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whenever they get real close is when they will move it over to the Launchpad. We won't have a lot of warning at that point.
TODD: Newly released satellite images from the monitoring group 38 North, show the presence of vehicles, including buses for personnel at the launch site. The images show another ominous sign about the launch tower.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They've made it higher, 10 meters higher since they tried these launches.
TODD: What does that mean?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it could be that it is a bigger rocket.
TODD: A bigger rocket with a longer range, possibly capable of hitting the continental United States. Kim's regime has already declared it will launch a satellite into space as early as this weekend. While the regime says it's an earth observation satellite, experts say that's a cover.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE KLINGNER, FORMER CIA ANALYST: They can claim that's a civilian satellite, but that's the same technology that you would need to put an ICBM warhead anywhere that you want on the face of the earth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: The expected path of this launch has the U.S., South Korean, and Japanese militaries on alert. The first stage of the rocket is supposed to drop into the Yellow Sea off the coast of South Korea; a cover for the actual satellite should fall into the East China Sea. Then another stage drops into the Philippine Sea.
But the U.S. and its allies say they'll shoot these components out of the sky if they go astray.
Coming on the heels of North Korea's fourth nuclear bomb test, analysts believe that Kim is doing this to build his stature inside his country, to show he can stand up to the U.S. and his other enemies. But they worry the young, violent dictator might miscalculate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KLINGNER: We know less about him than his father and his grandfather. We even have concerns of perhaps he doesn't understand the concepts of red lines. That he might stumble across a red line that his father or grandfather would have known to stop short of.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: Experts worry about Kim's dangerous partnerships. They say North Korea cooperates a great deal with Iran on nuclear and missile technology. One analyst told us he wouldn't be surprised if when this rocket is launched, there are several Iranian scientists at the site. They want to learn about North Korea's missile technology and possibly buy some of it.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
HOWELL: Chinese Football Club, Jiangsu Suning has agreed to a record- breaking deal with Brazilian striker, Alex Teixeira. The club will pay him $56 million to join them for the start of the China Super league season in March.
Earlier this week, another Chinese club struck a $45 million deal with Colombian striker, Jackson Martines.
ALLEN: It is the largest annual human migration in the world. You know where we're talking about? China. Every year, hundreds of millions of Chinese people travel home to celebrate the lunar New Year.
HOWELL: That's right. More than 1.4 million passengers left Guangzhou by train Thursday setting a new record.
CNN's Alexander Field takes us to an overcrowded railway station there, as travellers prepare for the long journey home.
[03:45:05] ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just take a look around, these people are waiting patiently but they have been waiting all year for this moment. For so many of them, this is the one and the only time of year where they will get to go home. They'll see their friends. They'll see their family members. Which is what makes all of this the largest annual migration of people on the planet.
Here in China, it's called the spring festival and it includes the lunar New Year. So, everyone is scrambling to get home by New Year's Eve. There are only 332 million train trips taken across China. These people have all had to buy their ticket weeks in advance. For a lot of them, the journey won't just take hours, it will actually take days.
The trains leaving the stations here in Southern China, are some of the busiest in the entire country. That's because this is a region that's full of factory, it's a manufacturing area. The workers come from all over the country, which means that their journey home can start with one train ride, you can call it by a few more rain rides.
And some people tell us after that, they can have to hop on a couple of buses. These trains will run all through the day and all through the night. Every single seat on this train is sold out. And actually it's quite common that you'll see people sitting on the floor. A lot of these trains have standing room only; every inch is packed of stuff that people are bringing home.
If there are delays, if weather throws the schedule off, that's when you can have pretty big problems. With all these people travelling it can create a lot of chaos. The spring festival lasts for 40 days. During that time there will be 2.9 billion trips. But the biggest rush happens in the days and the hours before the dawn of the year of the Red Fire monkey.
ALLEN: All right. Well, the next time I take the six-hour drive home to my hometown, I won't whine.
(CROSSTALK)
HOWELL: Catch some plane and be more -- can you, I mean, you have to. Just to imagine.
ALLEN: Really? They want to be home.
HOWELL: What they're going through the end.
ALLEN: Pretty cool. All right. Well, will people be flocking to another country for a certain reason? There's an Iran that few in the West have ever heard about, much less seen. When we come back, it's a ski and winter sport destination the country hopes will lure millions. Fred Pleitgen will report for us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The latest round of snowfall over the Eastern U.S. won't bring any snow to the major ski resorts southeast. However, as we focus our attention on the western half of the United States, that's where we see some of the fluffy white snow expected across places like Montana, Idaho, into Oregon, as well as Washington.
A few different systems moving through this area. Not major storms. But nonetheless, it will bring some fresh snow to the cascades. And you can see some of the scattered shower activity just north of Boise.
Here's our forecast snow totals. Going forward, Mt. Baker may be over a foot of snowfall over the next day and a half. Good news for skiers and snowboarders. Lesser amounts as you travel further south. We will keep this forecast high and dry for the State of California. Maybe the extreme northwestern sections picking up a few light snow showers.
But the Sierra Nevada range, not anticipating any new snow. But still a healthy snowpack in place for a heavenly into Squaw Valley, as well as Snow Mountain. You can see some of the snow showers moving throughout Colorado. Summit County could pick up another one to three inches, once this little system moves through.
Good news for skiers and snowboarders down there to get some fresh snow there. Winter Park three inches. Breckenridge at two inches. And you can see some of the bases there in excess of 60 to 80 inches of current snowfall.
[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. Well, it was what, two weeks ago, we were talking about the big blizzard here for hours. And parts of the U.S. Eastern Seaboard are still cleaning up after that record snowfall. HOWELL: And now another winter weather system is bearing down on New
England. Our meteorologist Derek Van Dam is here to talk to us about that.
DAM: There's some big differences between that storm two weeks ago and this one. That's for sure. This is a much faster moving storm system. But it's going to give people a big wake-up call for Boston and New York City.
Let me explain, George, Natalie, and everybody at home. Take a look at this. This is the real-time radar, coming along the East Coast and where you can see the precipitation sliding parallel with the New England coastline. We're starting to experience that transition from rain to snow in the nation's capital, into New York, Philadelphia and Boston.
That i-95 Corridor. We talk about it so much. That's the main interstate that connects all these major cities together. Well, yes, it's going to be a sloppy mess this morning. And you can plan on the worst conditions, basically, from Long Island, northward into the Boston area.
Let's time this out, if you are, perhaps, traveling to this region or you're waking up along the East Coast, trying to plan your day. New York City, you have a good six hours of snowfall this morning. But it will taper off right around that lunchtime period. It's really Boston into the Providence area, eastern sections of Connecticut that will continue to see the heavier snowfall.
By the way, the eastern sections of Long Island. But look how quickly this storm moves out, by late tonight and into early tomorrow morning, and I think that storm will be long gone.
Nonetheless, here's where we anticipate our heaviest snowfall. Just west of Boston, six to eight inches for the Boston metro. Half a foot of snow not out of the question. New York City, Long Island, two to four inches of snow for you.
Heaviest snowfall definitely over the extreme eastern sections of Maine, where we anticipate the storm to linger around for the longest period of time.
Now the other side of the world, into Turkey, this particular part of the Eastern Europe, is also getting hit by a winter storm that is going to bring snowfall to the higher elevations of Turkey. Istanbul, I do anticipate your precipitation to stay all rain. Temperatures just warm enough to keep that in the liquid variety. But nonetheless, it will be rather unpleasant Saturday and Sunday for those locations. Rain and wind as the storm system continues to move through Central Turkey.
ALLEN: All right. Well, we're going to talk about some skiing weather, in a place I know you like to ski.
HOWELL: I know you're a skier.
DAM: Yes. And I believe you're going to Iran now, correct?
ALLEN: Yes. We're going to Iran.
HOWELL: Right.
ALLEN: All three of us. We're going to skiing in Iran.
DAM: Let's go.
ALLEN: You might.
HOWELL: And that's the thing.
DAM: Show us.
HOWELL: You know, Iran now, you know, with the nuclear deal, the agreement on the books, sanctions being lifted from the West, Iran is focusing in on tourism.
ALLEN: One major attraction, Iran's mountain rangers with powder and ice that the country hopes will lure lovers of winter sports. We might all be there.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen is.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Deep in the Alborz mountain range lies in Iran few in the West have heard about. The Darband-Sar ski resort is the one of the biggest and most modern in the Islamic republic. Skiers marvel at the quality of the snow and the facilities.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The snow is powder. I love that. That's amazing.
PLEITGEN: At an elevation of 3,600 meters, around 12,000 feet, Darband-Sar slopes are open up to six months of the year. Weekends are often packed, mostly with Iranians, looking to escape the urban jungle of the capital of Tehran.
Iran has a wealth of beautiful mountains and ski areas. And ski tourism is one of the industries that the government here wants to develop. They hope that with the lifting of sanctions, very soon millions of tourists from all over the world will come here.
[03:54:55] With a deejay, a nonalcoholic cocktail bar and an American- style food court, it's a far cry from the away Iran is often portrayed. With hard liners chanting death to America, and major problems with civil and women's rights.
But in the mountains, gender equality is a lot closer. At Meygoon Ice- Climbing School, Zapidhi Jabda (ph), one of the best female ice climbers in Iran, expertly scales the frozen falls while fellow male athletes cheer her on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (TRANSLATED): Ice climbing is much more risky than rock climbing, she says. The ice can break off anytime and fall on you. But if you love the sport, it's really cool.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: Ice climbing is still a fairly new sport in Iran, but it is quickly catching on. The Meygoon school's boss tells me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TRANSLATED): We started 14 years ago. And now, it's getting very popular, he says. Every day, we have between 60 and 70 people coming here for training and for competition.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: While Iran still has a long way to go in improving its tourism infrastructure, it certainly has enough mountains, snow and ice to become a popular winter sport destination.
Frederik Pleitgen, Darband-Sar, Iran.
HOWELL: Iran? Colorado? Iran?
ALLEN: No, I don't know. Something to ponder for a future vacation I guess. Thanks for joining us for the past two hours. We appreciate it. I'm Natalie Allen.
HOWELL: And I'm George Howell. For our viewers in the United States, Early Start with John Berman and Christine Romans is coming up next.
And for other viewers around the world, stay with us for another edition of CNN Newsroom with Max Foster. You're watching CNN.
[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
