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Capitol Shooter Shot Yesterday After Pulling What Appeared To Be Gun; FBI Accesses San Bernardino Gunman's iPhone Without Apple's Help; Police Conducting Raids Across Europe In Hunt For Terror Suspects; Fight Between Trump And Cruz Getting Crude And Personal. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired March 29, 2016 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:10] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: This is "CNN NEWSROOM," live from Los Angeles. Shots fired in Washington. The Capitol building locked down. New information about the gunman and his checkered past.
Holes in the international terror dragnet. A man arrested, and first thought to be the third bomber at the Brussels airport, then arrested and then
freed. Why the mistaken identity, and who is the man in white?
Plus, we're getting the first reactions from key U.S. allies to Donald Trump's surprising foreign policy ideas.
Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world; I'm Isha Sesay. "NEWSROOM" L.A. starts right now.
We begin in America's Capitol on lockdown for much of Monday afternoon. A man identified as Larry Russell Dawson was shot by police after pulling what appeared to be a gun at the Capitol Visitors Center. Dawson, 66, is from Tennessee, but he has a history in Washington. Court documents describe him disrupting the House of Representatives in 2015. Authorities are stressing that this appears to be an isolated incident, with no reason to suspect terrorism as a motive.
Well, the scene in Washington was hectic as you'd expect with visitors running for cover. Our Brian Todd has a closer look at the aftermath.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A chaotic scene in the heart of Washington as visitors to the U.S. Capitol run for shelter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard get out, get out! There's an active shooter! So we all ran out, went around the side of the building. Police escorted us out the building. (Inaudible) experience I've ever had in my life.
TODD: The incident sparked by a lone gunman who set off the metal detector as he entered the Capitol Visitors Center. Tourists and Capitol staffers were ordered to shelter in place. STEVEN KUCHINSKY, EYEWITNESS: I saw everybody acting a little nuts and then I saw a policeman coming through and officers coming out, in a row. They were just like sprinting down, and they're going move it! Get out of the way! And then I figured, something's going on.
TODD: A female bystander was wounded by shrapnel.
CHIEF MATTHEW VERDEROSA, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE: An adult male subject entered the north screening facility of the Capitol Visitor's Center. During routine administrative screening, the individual drew what appeared to be a weapon and pointed it at officers. An officer fired and struck the suspect, who was subsequently treated by medical personnel. The suspect was taken into custody and transported to the hospital for treatment.
TODD: Capitol Police say the suspect acted alone and was known to authorities as a frequent Capitol Grounds visitor. This comes as tourists from around the country have flocked to D.C. during the popular Spring season.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the updates they gave us, you know, updates and they were very congenial to us, very hospitable and made us feel safe.
TODD: This vehicle behind me, this Dodge Ram pickup truck with Tennessee plates has been confirmed by police to be owned by the suspect. According to two law enforcement sources who spoke to CNN he is identified as Larry Russell Dawson. According to court documents, he disrupted the House of Representatives chamber in October 2015 loudly stating to Congress that he was a prophet from god. He's identified in those documents as a 66-year-old man from Tennessee.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: So close call at the Capitol at a time when anxiety about terrorism is running particularly high.
CNN law enforcement contributor Steve Moore is here with me. He's a retired supervisory social agent with the FBI. Steve, my friend, it's always good to have you with us.
STEVE MOORE, LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Good to see you.
SESAY: Listen, a man apparently armed appears on the scene. There are dozens and dozens of innocent bystanders. Law enforcement has to react quickly and the decision has to be, surely, shoot or not shoot.
MOORE: Yes.
SESAY: Talk to me about the decision making process.
MOORE: Well that's the most difficult decision an officer makes. Anybody in law enforcement who carries a weapon, the decision making process is simply going to be am I in fear of my life or am I in fear that this person will hurt others or kill others? That is easily answered when a person rings the magnetometer and rather than standing there with his arms raised at his side, he produces a weapon. It's game over at that point. At that point your main concern is your aim so that you don't take out bystanders.
SESAY: You made the point there's a reason why people are let in that magnetometer one at a time, with that distance, that gap between them.
MOORE: Exactly; if you've ever wondered why you can't have a line up to the magnetometer, it's because if you do that, there's people in between you and the officers and the person inside the magnetometer and like, we just found out, if the person comes up with a gun, you want a clear shot.
[00:05:02] SESAY: Given what happened on Capitol Hill on this day, there are going to be those saying they need to change security protocol, security arrangements there at the Capitol. Do you agree with that? I mean, should they be moving the perimeter further out?
MOORE: There's -- this was a success. I don't think you should consider it a failure, because the procedure is, if -- to stop somebody from coming in with a gun. If that person decides he's going to die doing it, you know, you can do nothing. If you move the perimeter out, you are decreasing security.
SESAY: How so?
MOORE: Well it's a fact of life, the bigger the perimeter you have to guard the bigger the holes in it; and if you were to move this one out, it would have to go out to the street. So now, instead of somebody with a gun or somebody with a bomb the size of a handbag, now you can put a car bomb there and you can have 200 people standing in line to get into the Capitol and a car bomb goes off. So moving the perimeter out is really not a great idea unless you absolutely have to. This was a success.
SESAY: Steve Moore, standby for us because there's so much more to discuss with you.
MOORE: Sure.
SESAY: Staying here in the United States, the FBI has accessed the San Bernardino's gunman's iPhone without Apple's help. Officials had been pressing the tech giant to help bypass the phone's security but they changed their tune when an unarmed third party came forward to help retrieve the data. Now here's the thing, officials haven't said if they'll disclose how they did it and give Apple a chance to fix the problem.
The DOJ has dropped this case; it is dropped for now, but we know it won't be the last time these questions of privacy versus security come up.
Steve Moore is still here with me. It does seem curious, Steve, that one minute they couldn't do it without Apple's help, the next minute, lo and behold, they're in. MOORE: I don't think the FBI didn't think they could do it. I think they thought that maybe their probability was low and I think they were also reaching out to private industry to say can we partner with these things in the future? What happened is Apple shut the door on them. So the Bureau at that point went to Plan B which was not what they preferred.
I understand that people on -- good people on both sides of this argument, because it's civil liberties, privacy versus the right to stop terrorism, but at a certain point you have to come down on one side or another.
SESAY: Will they share with Apple? You chuckle when I say this, but will they share with Apple how they did it? You know these people; these are your people.
MOORE: What -- what reason would the FBI possibly have to say, hey, thanks for throwing this in our face, now we're going to show you how we did it. No. No. Apple might even be so motivated to put a fix in to keep the FBI from doing it in the future. The FBI got sandbagged by Apple and they're certainly not going to trust them again.
SESAY: Where do you see this going next because, as we've just said, this will not be the end of these kinds of clashes as the threat of terror looms ever larger in our lives? I mean, this will come up again. What's your sense of how the government will approach it the next time?
MOORE: I think they'll do it pretty much the same, and I'll tell you why. The FBI never releases their -- their techniques for finding information. For them to come out publicly and say ah ha, now we can get into Apple iPhones is extremely unusual and the reason for that was simply a message to Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, whoever is making these products, you can come with us nicely or we can rough you up some, but we're going to get the information.
SESAY: Oh, dear. You can come with me or we will rough you up. Steve Moore, you are an FBI man. Appreciate you joining us. Thank you for the insight.
MOORE: Nice to be here.
SESAY: Police are conducting raids across Europe in the hunt for at least eight suspects in connection with the terror attacks in Belgium one week ago. Authorities released new video in the hopes the public can identify the third suspected bomber at the Brussels airport. It is that many you see on the screen, the man that we refer to as "the man in white." Law enforcement officials tell CNN there's a list of people Belgian and U.S. authorities believe could be the man.
Meanwhile, a suspect officials identified a Faycel C. has been released over inconclusive evidence. Our own Michael Holmes is in Brussels following all the evidence, and he joins us now. Michael, what's the latest? What are we hearing from authorities on the investigation and the release of that individual? Let's start there. MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT, via satellite: All right; good morning from Brussels, Isha. A number of arrests, as you said, in recent days as we know, including the man known as Faycel C. Now, he wasn't just arrested, but then charged with some pretty serious offenses: terrorist murder, attempted terrorist murder among them, and then released when a magistrate said those [00:10:01] charges just didn't stack up.
Now, Faycel he has been known as an agitator, a troublemaker in the community, someone who tried to rally Muslims against non-Muslims but right now the evidence apparently not there to hold him according, to the magistrate. It's interesting the prosecutors said "we're not saying he's innocent. That we do not do." So we shall see.
Three men arrested around Brussels in a dozen raids on Sunday, have been charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist group. No detail on that, however.
Mounting public anger, Isha, frustration about a series of counterterror missteps, signals ignored or not passed on, and the release of Faycel C. adds to that anger. And, as you pointed out, meanwhile, that mysterious third man at the airport, the man in the hat, as he's become known, still at large, as is a suspected second man perhaps involved in the metro bombing, and spotted on CCTV Isha.
SESAY: And Michael, let me ask you about the airport. Many wondering when that will reopen; what are we hearing?
HOLMES: Yes; it's an important angle to this. You've got hundreds of airport staffers who today will be testing a temporary setup for check-in, security screenings, luggage check-in and all of that. Too soon though to say when it might reopen formally. Of course, the damage and we've seen those videos, the damage done by the two bombs that went off, plain to see a lot needs to be done. A lot of structural and cosmetic damage.
Now, the airport of course is a very busy one. This city is the headquarters of the European Union and NATO and so it being out of action is having an impact. A smaller airport, just outside the city, is taking some of the load, but most travelers are actually flying into places like Paris or Amsterdam and then driving the few hours to Brussels.
As I say, a big impact on NATO and European Union, but also tourists trying to get here as well. So they're having to make a bit of a road trip from other European capitals to get to Brussels, Isha.
SESAY: A lot to contend with. Our Michael Holmes joining us there from Brussels, where the manhunt continues. Michael, appreciate it. Speak to you again next hour. Thank you.
Well, CNN Intelligence and Security Analyst Bob Baer joins us. Mr. Baer, always good to have you with us.
The very fact that the Belgian authorities arrested, charged and then let go this Faycel C., has many scratching their heads, wondering what kind of operation is being run here, and in your view how big a misstep is this?
BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: I don't think it's a misstep, Isha. I think they're playing catchup ball. They've ignored this threat forever, the jihadi threat, and what they're doing is just arresting everybody connected to this cell, whether they have evidence or not. Once they have the alibis they release the guy, but because they don't have any intelligence sources inside the cell, they have to knock down doors and arrest anybody they can. I mean, they are way behind on this because they haven't begun to identify the entire cell, that's including Paris.
SESAY: As we talk about the cell, let me ask you, how big do you think it is? I mean, this man in white, who we've seen the pictures and haven't been able to identify, is obviously getting help from people. How big is this? What do you think?
BAER: Well, first of all, look at the man in white. He's got this goatee. I wonder if it's real. He's got the glasses; he's got the hat. It looks to me like he was trying to break up his face. This is a typical disguise, breaking up your face. So they're not even sure from the biometrics who he is. They can't compare with pictures. So he may have been simply a minder that took them there, made sure that they went through with the act and waited outside. I mean, I don't know; we'll have to wait and see on this.
But as far as the cell goes, you have to remember that there's the unwitting part and the witting. I mean, you don't let everybody in on the plans. So there's a lot of people that may have thought that this was just a criminal group, that were helping to steal passports, fake ids, guns, and the rest. They didn't know there was terrorism. So we could be talking about the entire cell, several hundred at least.
SESAY: Several hundred people?
BAER: Yes.
SESAY: So how do you approach that? I mean, take me inside an operation like that. Several hundred, you've got an individual who may have done things to disguise his appearance, I mean, how do you do this?
BAER: You have to run down, first of all, data analytics to figure out how big it was, who is communicating with encrypted cells right, off the bat, that should make you suspicious. How they were getting their arms, was it from criminal groups or was it a witting part of this cell? I mean, the problem with the Belgians is they've gone all these years and allowed this weapons trade to go on. I mean, Europe is not accustomed to this. This is something new. Kalashnikovs, and then you have the people buying the chemicals, the acetone, that was probably done wittingly. So you have all these people. So we're talking this is an open ended investigation, may go [00:15:01] on for months or years.
SESAY: And just very quickly, Bob, the people that they do have in custody, I mean, how do you even approach the questioning, the interrogation, bearing in mind you're trying to -- you're battling against a clock with fear that there could be another attack any time?
BAER: Yeah, there's -- the problem is these people have become believers, clearly, if they're going to commit suicide in an attack like this. So getting them to talk in prison is virtually impossible. I spent a lot of time in prisons talking to these people. They never give up details, even if they're in for life because, you know, --
SESAY: They don't speak?
BAER: They don't speak, or they lie to you. And I think Abdeslam, one of the Paris organizers, was probably lying to the police and they probably knew it. Can you break him down over years? Maybe, maybe not.
SESAY: Bob Baer, so good to have you with us here in the studio. Thank you.
BAER: Thanks.
SESAY: All right. We are going to switch gears now. The Republican Presidential Candidates have insulted each other's policies, their delegates, even their wives, so how much lower can they go? We're going to take a quick break and we'll have the latest mud fight when we come back. Plus, the Clinton camp says it won't debate Bernie Sanders unless he takes on a more positive tone. All the details coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BUSINESS HEADLINES)
[00:20:19] SESAY: Hello, everyone. A top strategist for U.S. Presidential Hopeful Hillary Clinton is swatting down a demand from the Sanders camp for another debate. Bernie Sanders has called for the meetup ahead of the New York Primary on April 19. The Vermont Senator scored major caucus wins across three states over the weekend, but Clinton continues to dominate the national delegate count. Her staffer is refusing his call for a debate because the aide says Sanders is running a negative campaign.
Well, Sanders prides himself on having never run a negative campaign ad in his life. That is not something the top republican contenders can say. The fight between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, is personal and it is crude and it is getting worse. Sunlen Serfaty has the latest on the Republican mudslinging.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump accusing Ted Cruz of trying to steal delegates.
Donald Trump (R) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, via telephone: He's trying to steal things because that's the way Ted works, okay? The system is a broken system.
SERFATY: And threatening to sue, tweeting, "I won the state of Louisiana and get less delegates than Cruz. Lawsuit coming." Cruz today brushing it off. TED CRUZ (R-TX) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I'm always amused when Donald doesn't know what to do and so threatens lawsuits.
SERFATY: Despite Trump's narrow win in Louisiana earlier this month, both he and Cruz won earned 18 pledged delegates but there are 10 delegates still up to grabs. 5 that belonged to Marco Rubio, and are now free agents, and five that are unbound. The "Wall Street Journal" reports that Cruz is in a position to potentially pick up all ten thanks to his campaign's organizational skill at the delegate selection process. The delegate fight comes as they continue their war of words over their spouses.
TRUMP: I didn't know it was necessarily a bad picture of her versus Melania.
SERFATY: Trump refusing to apologize for retweeting a photo of Heidi Cruz next to his wife, Melania.
TRUMP: He owes me an apology because what he did was wrong. He sent out a picture to people in Utah --
CHARLIE SYKES, TALK RADIO HOST: Well actually he didn't, and you know he didn't. You know that it was a Super PAC.
SERFATY: That exchange coming during a contentious interview with a conservative talk radio host in Wisconsin, who is opposed to his candidacy.
SYKES: Mr. Trump, before you called into my show did you know I'm a #neverTrump guy?
TRUMP: That I didn't know.
SERFATY: Cruz, meanwhile, is blaming Trump for planting a salacious tabloid story about him, but offering no evidence to back up his claim.
CRUZ: These are complete made up lies. They're garbage, but, you know, it's indicative of just how low Donald Trump will go.
SERFATY: A charge Trump rejects.
TRUMP: I had nothing to do with it, the campaign had absolutely nothing to do with it.
SERFATY: And back on the threat of a lawsuit over the Louisiana delegate counts, the Louisiana GOP tells CNN that the ten delegates are up for grabs. They will not be changing the rules and who those delegates want to cast their vote for is solely up to them, not to Donald Trump or Ted Cruz.
Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, Rothschild, Wisconsin.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SESAY: Joining me now is conservative writer and CNN Political Commentator Matt Lewis, and CNN Political Commentator Van Jones, who is here with me in the studio. Van also served as an advisor to President Obama. Gentlemen, welcome.
Matt, let me start with you. Donald Trump appearing on Charlie Sykes radio show today and essentially sparks flew. The two clashed on just about everything. We should make clear that Sykes is as anti-Trump as they come though. But, one of the big headlines from the radio chat was the spat between Trump and Cruz is not ending any time soon; it just seems to be getting nastier. You're a conservative, what do you make of all of this?
MATT LEWIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, first it's interesting that Trump went on that radio show with Sykes today and apparently was unaware that he was on with a guy who had vowed to never support Trump. I think he maybe thought he was going on just a conservative talk radio host and conservative talk radio hosts tend to like Donald Trump. So it might have been a surprise that he was not going into a friendly territory.
Look, I think that this is really just -- it's silly season. It's an example of -- I mean, we have horrible things happening, very serious things happening around the globe and Donald Trump is tweeting out things, you know, sort of saying my wife is hotter, more attractive than your wife and you know, this is where we are in the state of the race right now. Sadly, it's not surprising. It's sort of -- sadly we've gotten months more so I don't know how low we might be going eventually.
[00:25"03] SESAY: And Van, to bring you in here, you know, Matt says it's not surprising; but to many it is surprising, especially what is happening in the world now. Right now, at this moment, what happened in Belgium, the fact that this feud continues and they continue to talk about their wives.
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it's kind of crazy and also it's not just Belgium. You have hits happening in Pakistan, incredible damage, women being killed, children being killed in Africa, around the world. We talk about Belgium but this is a worldwide phenomenon.
Ordinarily that tends to bring a country like the United States together. It tends to focus. It gets you more sober. This is serious stuff. In the middle of all this, in the middle of Belgium, Donald Trump starts this fight about, you know, whose wife is hotter and who's sleeping with who and I think it gives people around the world a reason to be very concerned about the United States.
SESAY: Matt, this situation between Trump and Cruz has many saying that, you know, the way Trump is treating Heidi Cruz, posting that unflattering picture in comparison to Melania Trump, I mean, that's the image he put out there. Some are saying this is spotlighting the bigger issue that Trump has with women. That is in turn turning women off him in large numbers, and it will hurt him in a general election. LEWIS: Right; well, look, I don't know if people are going to remember this three or four, five months from now, or when November rolls around, but I think it's fair to say that Donald Trump has a track record of being what some might describe as misogynistic, and it's not just the Heidi Cruz stuff. That's just part and parcel of a pretty long trend. Megyn Kelly, during that first, very first republican debate that FOX News hosted, pointed this out and he later attacked her. So I mean, that's -- you know, that pretty much says it all.
Republicans have had a gender gap problem since Reag -- Ronald Reagan was the last republican to win the female vote. So this is nothing new, but I just think Donald Trump compounds the problem and he's going to have a major gender gap to overcome and again, it's just amazing because republicans, a couple years ago, did this autopsy where they said we need to do better with women. We need to do better with Hispanics. We need to do better with millennials. And Trump is the exact opposite of what Republicans were hoping for.
SESAY: Van, Donald Trump is disrupting any plans the republicans had had, but you know, Matt said they won't remember the situation with Heidi Cruz a couple of months from now, but the Democrats will be making sure the general electorate does.
JONES: Absolutely; and this thing about it is, right now, if you had a normal candidate, what we'd be talking about the gender gap that Hillary Clinton has with male voters, but that -- you know, that would be very troubling. The thing is that the gap that Trump has with female voters now is so big we're only talking about that.
There are some thing -- I don't think the democrats should get too smug here. Donald Trump is so terrible. Oh, look, he's making a fool of himself. We've been saying this about him for almost a year and it's surprising he's able to -- who knows? He might go and put a woman as a VP pick; okay? That might be something he might do to try to tamp down on some of this stuff in a general election. He has a lot more cards to play, but right now, you could not write a better plan to lose a general election than stuff he's doing.
SESAY: Let's talk about the next race, which will be Wisconsin. That's the vote next week. Matt, let me ask you there, the race is tightening in Wisconsin. What are your expectations?
LEWIS: Well, look, I think different states have different political (inaudible). We saw how Utah was very unfavorable terrain for Donald Trump. And I think Wisconsin is not a great state for Donald Trump, and to me the real question -- the real question is does John Kasich spoil the race for Ted Cruz? Ted Cruz ought to win Wisconsin, but John Kasich, being a Mid-Western Governor, if he comes in there and takes 20-percent or something, he could cost Cruz the election and if Trump somehow pulls off a win in Wisconsin, he's on his way to the 1,237 delegates he needs to clinch the nomination.
SESAY: Van, if he doesn't win though -
JONES: Yes. SESAY: If Trump doesn't win in Wisconsin, how badly does that slow his momentum?
JONES: I think every time he does not win is bad news for him. He's now -- it took a long time for the entire GOP establishment to turn against him and to consolidate from 17 down to at least two alternatives. A lot of people say Kasich should get out. The reality is Kasich is a lot more attractive in some of these Northeastern states than a Ted Cruz; but right now, if he can't -- he's got to continue to dominate Donald Trump. If not, he walks into a convention and he's going to be surrounded by a lot of establishment folks who up until now have had to deal with him being on television while they're at home crying.
[00:30:06] Now it's going to be face to face, very different situation in a convention.
SESAY: So much to talk about but we must leave it there. Matt Lewis, Van Jones, a pleasure. Thanks to you both.
LEWIS: Thank you.
JONES: Thank you.
SESAY: Well, in just under 24 hours you can hear the Republican candidates answer questions directly from voters as CNN hosts a new town hall. Viewers in North America can watch it Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Our international viewers can catch the highlights Wednesday at 12:00 noon in London.
Time for a quick break now; and Donald Trump is talking about his views on U.S. foreign policy. Ahead, his comments and the nervous reactions from some key U.S. allies. Plus, Pakistan's Prime Minister is vowing to avenge the victims of the deadly attack, targeting Christians on Easter Sunday. What investigators are uncovering, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SESAY: You're watching "CNN NEWSROOM" live from Los Angeles; I'm Isha Sesay. The headlines this hour: U.S. Capitol Police have identified the man who pulled what appeared to be a gun in the Visitors' Center. 66-year-old Larry Russell Dawson was shot and wounded by security. Court documents show he was arrested last year for disrupting the House of Representatives.
The U.S. Justice Department has dropped its case against Apple. Officials say they've gained access to the San Bernardino gunman's iPhone without the tech giant. Instead the government had help from an outside party, which is troubling news for Apple's highly touted encryption.
[00:35:01] One week after the terror attacks in Brussels the death toll has risen to 35; four more people have died in the hospital. Police raids continue across Europe in the hunt for at least eight suspects in connection with the bombings. One suspect, Faycal C., has been released for lack of evidence. Former Cuban President Fidel Castro is slamming U.S. President Obama's historic visit to his country. Obama's trip last week was focused on mending strained relations between the two nations but in a communist party newspaper column, Castro rejected Obama's words of reconciliation and says Cuba doesn't need anything from the U.S.
Now, U.S. Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump is weighing in on foreign policy in Asia. In an interview with "The New York Times" Trump said he would be willing to pull U.S. forces out of Japan and South Korea if those countries do not pay more to keep the troops there. He also said he might support Japanese and South Korean efforts to build their own nuclear weapons instead of relying on protection from the U.S., citing what he sees as a decline in American power, Trump told the paper this, we're quoting here, "if the United States keeps on its path, its current path of weakness, they're going to want to have that anyway with or without me discussing it because I don't feel they're feel very secure in what's going on in our country."
There have been angry and nervous reactions from U.S. allies in the region. For more on that Paula Hancocks joins us from Seoul. Paula, what are we hearing from allies many the region?
PAULA HANCOCKS, via satellite: Well, Isha, the very fact that we are hearing from the allies in the region is significant in itself. They are concerned enough by these comments that they are making comments of their own. Usually they don't say anything to individual statements from a U.S. presidential candidate but we have statements from both Japan and South Korea, from the foreign ministers. The South Korean foreign minister saying that "our
government is continuously contributing and playing its part in maintaining and strengthening the South Korea/U.S. joint defense capability and providing a stable stationing environment. The U.S. public, including its government and congress sees South Koreas role as contribution positively."
We also heard from the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea saying also that he believed that this was a very positive alliance; and then on to Japan, another alliance that has been lasting decades. the foreign minister there saying whoever will become lasting decades. The foreign minister there saying, "Whoever will become The president of the United States, Japan and U.S. alliance is very important for Japan's security and regional peace and stability. We must maintain it firmly." He went on to say "Japan holds the three nonnuclear principles, the nuclear power basic law and the respect for the NPT," which is the Nonproliferation Treaty, "It is impossible that Japan will arm with nuclear weapons."
Now, certainly from South Korea's point of view this alliance has lasted some 70 years. There's 28,500 troops in South Korea. There's 54,000 in Japan. It really is a cornerstone of the U.S. military presence in Asia and there are some concerns now that this could spark an arms race in northeast Asia so I think this is why the foreign ministers of both countries felt the need to go on the record and say that this simply could not happen. Isha? SESAY: It is quite remarkable that they, effectively, have commented on the comments of a prospective presidential nominee. He hasn't even won the nomination yet but they feel like they have to get out in front of this.
Paula Hancocks joining us there from Seoul; appreciate it. Thank you.
Let's get more perspective now on Donald Trump's foreign policy. Christopher Hill is the former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and South Korea. He joins me now from Denver, Colorado. Ambassador Hill, thank you for joining us, it's always nice to have you on the show. You know the Asia Pacific region very, very well, so I have to firstly get your reaction to Donald Trump's comments. What did you make of it?
CHRISTOPHER HILL, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR, IRAQ and SOUTH KOREA: Frankly, it's just appalling. I don't know what he's talking about but clearly neither does he. The U.S. alliances with Japan and Korea are two of the most important alliances we have in the world and moreover they're two of the best. I mean, those two countries have real serious militaries. We train with them; we work with them; we are prepared, if necessary, to go to war together with them. These are very pivotal countries in our whole security architecture. This has lasted for many administrations, republican and democrat, and then along comes this candidate who clearly has not cracked his briefing book one page.
SESAY: Ambassador Hill, let me read you what he specifically said when he was asked about this issue of withdrawing U.S. forces from Japan and South Korea. Let's put that up for our viewers. He said, "We cannot afford to be losing vast amounts of billions of dollars in all of this. We just can't do [00:40:02] it anymore. Now, there was a time when we could have done it, when we started doing it but we can't do it anymore and I have a feeling that they'd up the ante very much. I think they would."
I mean, it is just bewildering to so many people -- and then he goes onto say, "and if they wouldn't I would have to say yes."
It seems bewildering to so many people, and as many people also say, he clearly doesn't understand how this alliance is -- how this alliance is built and you know, in the case of South Korea and Japan, the contributions they make to it, the financial contributions.
HILL: Well, you've got it and all I can say to your viewers around the world who are perplexed by this is so are many Americans perplexed by this. You know, these are issues that have been around for many decades. Our relationship, as you're set up peace on South Korea suggests, is some 70 years old and for someone to come along and say this is some unequal relationship, we have these treaty relationships because they are in the interest of the United States. They have stood the test of time. They've supported - they've been supported across our political spectrum and with due respect to Mr. Trump and his real estate purchases, he has no idea what he is talking about when he talks about these alliances with South Korea and Japan.
SESAY: Ambassador Christopher Hill, it is always good to get your perspective. I think your voice is among many that is truly confounded by the state of affairs and what it could do to the standing of the U.S. around the world. Thank you so much for speaking to us tonight. Thank you.
HILL: Thank you.
SESAY: And now to Pakistan where there have been funerals, raids and arrests after a suicide bombing Easter Sunday in a public park. It happened in Lahore killing at least 72 people, many of them children. In a national address Pakistan's Prime Minister said terrorists will not be allowed to play with Pakistani lives; and hours after that blast the military launched a crackdown. it says troops arrested a number of suspected militants during raids in three cities and recovered a huge cache of weapons.
A quick break. The governor of Georgia said a bill that critics call discriminatory will not become law. We'll have more on the outcry from major corporations that some say may have influenced his decision.
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[00:45:33] Hello, everyone. In the southern U.S. state of Georgia, the governor says he will veto a bill its supporters say will protect religious freedom. Critics say the bill discriminates against Georgia's gay communities. The governor's decision came amid increasing pressure from a number of major corporations, some of which threatened to boycott the state. CNN's Nick Valencia has the details.
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NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Georgia Governor, Nathan Diehl, had maintained from the beginning that this bill was introduced and that he would veto any bill that he saw as discriminatory, and on Monday, in a statement to the press, he announced his intentions to do just that. Now he said he could not find any examples in the state of what this bill was intended to protect; what this bill was intended to protect are religious officials performing same sex marriages, among other things. LGBT advocates said it was just another way for them to be discriminated against. Supporters of this bill said Christian morals and values are under attack in this country.
Now many people within the Republican Party, here in the state of Georgia, believe that the governor caved to financial pressure. There was a laundry list of blue chip companies, including CNN's parent company Turner, to speak out against this legislation. We reached out to the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau who said had the governor signed this bill into law it would have cost the state between $3 billion and $6 billion in lost revenue.
Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.
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SESAY: Hollywood companies were some of the biggest critics of the bill. Disney and Marvel Studios went as far as threatening to boycott filming in the state, issuing this statement: "Disney and Marvel are inclusive companies and although we have had great experiences filming in Georgia, we will plan to take our business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into law."
Films, like Marvel's "Ant Man" reportedly spent more than $100 million in Georgia and employed more than 3,000 people. AMC also spoke out against the bill. The network's most popular show "The Walking Dead" is filmed in Georgia.
Well I'm joined now to talk about it is Victim's Rights Attorney is Lisa Bloom, who is also a gay rights advocate. Lisa, always good to have you with us.
LISA BLOOM, VICTIMS RIGHTS ATTORNEY & GAY RIGHTS ADVOCATE: Thank you.
SESAY: How influential was Hollywood in getting the governor to veto this?
BLOOM: I think money matters, and it matter very much in this case. Although the governor said in his statement it wasn't because of what the Hollywood studios or other companies, like Coca-Cola said. That had nothing to do with it he said.
SESAY: You don't believe it?
BLOOM: I don't think anybody believes that. He doesn't want Georgia to turn into another Indiana, a state that had a lot of boycotts after an anti-LGBT bill passed there. I think that was instructive to him, and it should be instructive to other states.
SESAY: I want you to take a listen to one of the supporters of the religious liberty bill who says Disney was just making an empty threat. Take a listen:
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DAVE BAKER, FAITH AND FREEDOM COALITION OF GEORGIA: I think these were empty threats and we think they have no merit. The NFL is talking about a Super Bowl. The other two states that are under consideration are Louisiana and Florida, both of which have been religious liberty states for a long time.
Disney talks about not filming here. What are they going to do, close up Disney World? Florida has been a religious liberty state since 1998, and it's a false dichotomy to say you have faith on one hand or business on the other; or, for that matter, faith on one hand and the gay community on the other. These are not irreconcilable and what we want to do is make sure that everyone is protected.
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SESAY: What do you say to that? Does he have a point?
BLOOM: Listen, most main stream religious groups now fully support LGBT rights. So we're only talking about a tiny minority of religious groups. I think this ship has sailed. Americans now favor equality across the board; and to say that a religious excuse should exist in the face of gay rights law is something that most Americans reject.
If he doubts the power of Disney, -- I'm sorry, Disney has a lot of power well beyond Disney World. All of the films they make, all the TV shows, it's a huge powerful company and I think the Georgia governor was right saying we don't want to offend Disney.
SESAY: Let's turn to North Carolina now and the state's new law that's seen as anti-LGBT. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the law which restricts local governments from passing their own anti-discrimination laws and restricts which public rest rooms transgender people can use. Now, as you well know, Lisa, Governor Pat McCrory says the groups challenging the law are slandering the state.
BLOOM: Oh, please.
[00:50:01] SESAY: Talk to me about this. Are we looking at some kind of long drawn-out legal battle here?
BLOOM: We might, and it's not going to be over slander because I do defamation cases myself. I represent a client against Bill Cosby in a defamation case. I'm very conversant in it, and you're not slandering a state when you're making a true statement, namely that discrimination is legal in that state. It was illegal in certain municipalities. The statewide law passed and now it's legal. It's not slander. It's just a true statement of fact.
SESAY: So you think this is going to be contained at the state level? The isn't something that couldn't end up at the Supreme Court?
BLOOM: I don't think so. I doubt it. I think this is something that would be fought the same way it was fought in Georgia. People will boycott the state, and the economic pressure seems to be the fastest way to get results these days. I salute all of these corporations who are saying we stand for equality. We're not going to do business in states that don't support equality. Good for them and that gets the quickest result.
SESAY: And there was a favorable result in Georgia.
BLOOM: Just like that.
SESAY: Just like that. Lisa Bloom, it's a pleasure.
BLOOM: Thank you.
SESAY: Thank you. U.S. Presidential Candidate Donald Trump is celebrating a new supporter but this one has a few years yet before he can vote. We'll meet Trump's new grandson next.
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Donald Trump is grandpa Trump for the eighth time. his daughter gave birth to a boy over the weekend. CNN reports on the ted in the Trump family.
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[00:55:03] SESAY: Donald Trump is Grandpa Trump for the eighth time. His daughter Ivanka gave birth to a boy over the weekend. CNN's Jeanne Moos reports on the Ted in the Trump family.
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JEANNE MOOS: Donald Trump was a hands-on grandpa -
DONALD TRUMP (R) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ivanka, you know, we have a hospital room ready, just in case -
MOOSE: Even before there was a baby to put his hands on. Well, here he is. Meet Theodore James, born in New York City.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congratulations.
TRUMP: Well, thank you; that's very exciting. That's great news.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did it happen? What time?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How did it happen?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know how it happened. No, don't answer that.
MOOS: Trump had told a mostly Jewish audience -
TRUMP: my daughter Ivanka is about to have a beautiful Jewish baby.
MOOS: Ivanka converted to Judaism before marrying Jared Kushner, and the baby was born -
TRUMP: On Easter, so we have an Easter baby, which is beautiful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump kissing babies?
MOOS: When they're his own -
TRUMP: Hi, Sweetheart.
MOOS: -- Donald now has eight grandchildren. ABC's "20/20" caught the Donald's warm and fuzzy side when the kids stormed his office. Ivanka's four-year-old told her this.
IVANKA TRUMP, DAUGHTER of DONALD TRUMP: My daughter sees a large pothole in the middle of the New York City street and she looks at me and she goes mom, grandpa would not like that.
MOOS: The Donald once read "Winners Aren't Losers" to one of his granddaughters. Jimmy Kimmell supplied the book.
JIMMY KIMMEL, TALK SHOW HOST, JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE: "Winners do deals and winners get rich, while sad little losers just sit there and [bleep]."
[Laughter]
MOOS: Baby Theodore, we wanted you to have this video scrapbook so that someday you could look back and see how, even though you were still in the womb, you were already part of the 2016 presidential campaign.
TRUMP: Ivanka going to have a baby, like tonight. In fact, it could be happening right now. It could be any second. It could even be before I'm finished.
MOOS: When the baby's name, Theodore, was announced someone made the connection to Ted Cruz. Someone even had the nerve to replace the baby's head with Ted's.
TRUMP: Lying Ted; lying Ted. What's your name?
MOOS: Call him crying Ted. The only lying this baby is doing is in a crib.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
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SESAY: Thank you for watching "CNN NEWSROOM" live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay. You're watching CNN.
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