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FBI Access Gunman's Phone Without Apple's Help; Manhunt for Unidentified Airport and Metro Suspects; Tennessee Man Shot After Pulling Gun in U.S. Capitol; Trump and Cruz Rivalry Gets Personal;; Arrest, Release of Terror Suspect in Brussels; Arrests Made in Lahore Attacks; Wife Become Part of Presidential Race; Movie-Watching Proposal Causes Uproar in Hollywood. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired March 29, 2016 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:01:13] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.
Ahead this hour, major news in the battle between national security and personal privacy. The FBI has cracked a terrorist cell phone without Apple's help.
Plus, more raids and arrests in Europe. But a key suspect in the Brussels terror attack is still nowhere to be found.
And panic inside the U.S. capitol building after police shoot a man who pull what appeared to be a gun.
Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Isha Sesay. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.
The U.S. government is dropping its case against Apple. It had been lobbying the tech giant to open up an iPhone belonging to the San Bernardino gunman. But the FBI said it accessed the data without their help, thanks to an unnamed third party.
It's unclear if officials plan on alerting Apple on how they got in, giving the company a chance to fix that weakness in their technology.
This case may be over but we all know it has started a dialogue that could have major implications going forward. Let's turn to Hemu Nigam now. He is the founder and CEO of SSP Blue, an advisory firm for online safety security and privacy.
Welcome once again.
HEMU NIGAM, FOUNDER AND CEO, SSP BLUE: Thanks, Isha.
SESAY: Thank you for joining us. So, listen, we talked about this. You know, the FBI, the government said they needed Apple's help. They couldn't do it without them. They needed the help to get into this phone. And hey, now they're in. I mean, what do you make of it? Some are saying that this was always just a ruse. They never needed Apple's help to begin with. What do you say? NIGAM: Well, Isha, we're in Hollywood. You couldn't ask for a better
Hollywood script than this right now. But I will tell you, I don't think the FBI was playing a ruse here. I truly do think they weren't able to get in when they asked the court for help. Apple said no, at all cost we're going to protect our users' privacy, even if they're a dead terrorist. And eventually someone out there, and I think it's probably people who work inside FBI or contracted by the FBI were able to find a way around. And in essence what FBI did was dig their own tunnel, even though Apple was saying there is no way there is a way to do that.
SESAY: So Apple may have the moral victory, if you want to call it that. But, I mean, they've got a bigger issue on their hands now that it's known that their phones can be hacked.
NIGAM: Right. Apple has an on-paper victory but realistically speaking I'm sure inside the walls of Apple there's a lot of chaos going around right now which is how did they do it, what's going on here. Could our other users be at risk? It's not just limited to that one phone because if there is a way to do it on that one phone, it's quite possible that you could actually do it on another one and all the hackers in the world are waking up and saying, wait a minute, let me figure one out, too. So I think that's where this is going.
SESAY: You're in the tech business. Do you think the FBI should share with Apple how they did it?
NIGAM: Well, what's most interesting is that Apple actually asked the court to require the FBI to step up and say, how did you do it? And the FBI is saying, classified, sorry. I mean, that's what I mean. This is a script made in Hollywood.
SESAY: But in the interest of all these other people who now open to the possibility of their phones being hacked, I mean, that was always the possibility. Obviously which was just unknown.
NIGAM: Right.
SESAY: Now that it is known, do you think they should --
NIGAM: Well, let me speak actually from the White House perspective.
SESAY: OK.
NIGAM: The president has this policy in place that says if you find a vulnerability, you have an equitable duty to share it with the company when you're in the government, if it is what's called zero day. In other words, there's no fix for it, nobody knows about it, tell the company whose vulnerability you've figured out, maybe in a counter intelligence activity, as quickly as you can.
[01:05:01] I think the FBI and the CIA and other counter-intel agencies are going to have to debate that question. And at some point this means a dialogue needs to happen. So personally I think this is the most important time in our society where truly a trustworthy, open discussion needs to happen between the industry and between the government.
SESAY: The debate between security versus privacy as some are pitching it is moving to Europe.
NIGAM: Yes.
SESAY: As you well know. What is your view of how the debate will take shape there and obviously with the events in Belgium? Some are saying the authorities have an upper hand in this argument.
NIGAM: Well, absolutely. Because if you look at Belgium, nobody saw it coming. And I think a lot of law enforcement is saying, was it because they went too encrypted communication channels? Is that why they didn't know? And in France, for example, they're driving legislation through France right now that would require a prison sentence if a private sector company doesn't help in an encrypted piece of technology.
So when Apple made a competitive move to say privacy for our customers we're better than other companies what ended up happening I think and is going to be happening more and more is all companies are going to be attacked by law enforcement saying, you know what, now we have laws. Either comply with them or get out of the country.
SESAY: Always great to get your perspective. Thank you so much.
NIGAM: Thanks, Isha.
SESAY: Thank you.
Well, one week after the terror attacks in Belgium, the bombings are claiming more victims. And authorities are on the hunt for suspect across Europe.
Michael Holmes is following all the developments for us from Brussels. And he joins us now.
Michael, bring us up to speed with the latest. What are we hearing from authorities?
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Isha. We do have that news that the man known as Faysal C who had been arrested and then charged with things like terrorist murder and attempted terrorist murder has now been released after a magistrate said the evidence against him didn't stack up. Meanwhile you've got authorities here continuing to look for two key suspects. That third airport bomber, a possible second man involved in the metro attacks. But they're not the only ones being hunted.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (voice-over): The manhunt continues for the third unidentified bomber at the Brussels airport and a second man believed to have been involved in the metro attack. They're among at least eight suspects authorities are still searching for throughout Europe in connection to last Tuesday's blasts. Police have carried out raids every day since the attacks and are rounding up what they allege are members of a wider terrorism cell.
Three men were charged in Belgium on Monday accused of participating in the activities of a terrorist group. In Germany, two men arrested, and in Italy, Algerian man Jamal Eddin Wali was taken into custody, accused of providing fake residency document for Najim Laachraoui, one of the Brussels airport killers, suspected of making the bombs used in both the Brussels and Paris attacks.
At the same time, raids and arrests in connection to a foiled Paris plot. That plan began to unravel on Thursday when French authorities after weeks of investigation arrested Reda Kriket, an associate of Abdulhamid Abaaoud, the suspected ringleader of the November Paris attacks who was later killed in a shootout with French police. Explosives and Kalashnikov rifles found in Kriket's apartment. So too information which led police to another two men who was swooped up in Brussels and a French national arrested in the Netherlands on Sunday.
The French government has praised police and intelligence services for thwarting yet another attack but warns the fight is far from over.
FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, FRENCH PRESIDENT (Through Translator): We know other networks are still out there. Although we can say that the terrorist cell who committed the Paris and Brussels attack is being wiped out, we are still threatened.
HOLMES: As security forces work to further dismantle that threat across Europe, the death toll from the Brussels attack continues to rise.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And yes, sadly that is true, Isha. The death toll climbing, word that several of those wounded in those horrific attacks have succumbed to their injuries in recent days. The number of dead now stands at 35. That doesn't include the three dead terrorists. Several of the victims still to be formally identified -- Isha.
SESAY: Yes, it is all very sad, indeed. And Michael, let me ask you about the scene of one of the attacks, the airport. What are we hearing about when it will reopen?
HOLMES: Yes, of course, you've got the -- one of the biggest most important airports in Europe closed at the moment because of the damage done by those attacks. I can tell you that today there is going to be we're told hundreds of airports staffers there trying to work out some sort of temporary set-up for check-in and security and baggage check-in and things like that.
[01:10:02] They've been trying to get this airport back up and running. As you know this city is the headquarters for the European Union, the headquarters for NATO. So it's a pretty crucial airport when it comes to Europe. At the moment, a smaller airport outside the city is being used for some flights but most people coming in here are driving from places like Paris and Amsterdam.
And of course with the tourist season approaching, they do need to get that airport up and running so they're going to be doing some testing today and see if they can at least get a temporary arrangement so that the airport can reopen. As you know, the damage done by those bombs was considerable, Isha.
SESAY: Yes, it was. Michael Holmes is joining us there from Brussels with the very latest. Michael, appreciate it as always. Thank you.
Turning to the U.S. now. And police at the capital shot a man after he pulled what appeared to be a gun in the visitor's center. The incident put the capital on lockdown for several hours. Authorities say it's an isolated event with no clear ties to terrorist motives.
Our own Brian Todd has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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. And so we all ran out. Went outside of the building, police escorted us up the building, simply the most stressful experience I've had in my life.
TODD: The incident sparked by a lone gunman who set off the metal detector as he entered the Capitol Visitor Center. Tourists and Capitol staffers were ordered to shelter in place.
STEVEN KUCHINSKY, WITNESS: I saw everybody acting a little nuts, and then I saw a policeman coming through and officers coming out in a row. Just like sprinting down and they are going, move it, get out of the way. And then I figured something is 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 in the Capitol Visitor 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 (on camera): This vehicle behind me, this Dodge Ram pickup truck with Tennessee pleats has been confirmed by police to be owned by the suspect. According to two law enforcement sources who spoke to CNN, he is identified at Larry Russell Dawson. And 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 VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: A terrifying day for many at the U.S. capital.
Next on CNN NEWSROOM L.A., the raucous Republican race, we'll have the latest on the feud between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.
Plus, we'll tell you why a proposed new way to watch movies has theaters worried about their future. All of the details just ahead. Do stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(SPORTS)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:17:21] SESAY: It's fair to say Donald Trump and Ted Cruz do not like each other very much. There have been some epic name-calling, mudslinging, threatened lawsuits. And just a lot of bad blood in the Republican race. And it is getting worse.
CNN's Sara Murray takes us into it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump is getting outmaneuvered by Ted Cruz in the delegate fight.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I won Louisiana and now I hear he is trying to steal delegates. You know, welcome to the Republican Party.
MURRAY: And now he is threatening to sue. Tweeting, "Just to show how unfair Republican primary politics can be, I won the state of Louisiana and get less delegates than Cruz. Lawsuit coming."
Trump's latest threat comes after a "Wall Street Journal" report revealing even though Trump narrowly won the state of Louisiana, Cruz appears poised to pick up more delegates.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm always amused when Donald doesn't know what to do except threatens lawsuits.
MURRAY: The Trump-Cruz feud is continuing as Trump refuses to back off his attacks on Cruz's wife, Heidi.
TRUMP: I didn't even know it was necessarily a very bad picture of her versus Melania.
MURRAY: Trump today speaking with conservative talk radio host Charlie Sykes.
CHARLIE SYKES, CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST: Mr. Trump, before you called into my show, did you know that I'm a #neverTrump guy?
TRUMP: That I didn't know.
MURRAY: Sykes repeated asking Trump if he would apologize to Heidi Cruz.
SYKES: Most real men when they screw up, go, you know what?
TRUMP: No, I --
SYKES: I'm a hot-head, I shouldn't have done that.
TRUMP: I do apologize. And I believe in apologizing. Before I would think about apologizing, he owes me an apology because what he did was wrong. He sent out a picture to people in Utah that --
(CROSSTALK)
SYKES: Well, actually he didn't and you know that he didn't. You know that it was a super PAC.
MURRAY: Cruz also making the point that a Facebook ad featuring an old modeling photo of Melania Trump came from an anti-Trump super PAC and not his campaign.
CRUZ: The ad they put out was deplorable. And as soon as I saw it, I denounced it.
MURRAY: The Republican rivals are also trading jabs over a tabloid report about the Texas senator. Cruz accusing Trump and his backers of planting the story but offering no proof to back up his assertion.
CRUZ: These are complete made-up lies. They're garbage. But you know, it's indicative of just how low Donald Trump will go.
MURRAY: A claim Trump denies.
TRUMP: I had nothing to do with it. The campaign had absolutely nothing to do with it.
MURRAY: As the campaign devolves into a unsavory personal battle, John Kasich is calling for civility, blasting out a fundraising e- mail, declaring, "Families should be off limits. Enough is enough with the mudslinging and the personal attacks."
(On camera): Now of course this battle is getting even more pitched as we get closer to the Wisconsin primary, the next big fight for the GOP.
[01:20:02] Right now it looks like Ted Cruz has an upper hand in the state but Donald Trump plans to campaign hard here this week. As for John Kasich his campaign has announced they are reallocating their resources. And now to the fact that they probably can't win here in Wisconsin but they're hoping to at least pick up a few delegates along the way.
Sara Murray, CNN, Madison, Wisconsin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 adviser 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 would vow 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 friendly territory.
Look, I think that this is really just -- it's silly season. It's an example of, and 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's hotter, more attractive than your wife. And you know, this is where we are in this state of the race right now. Sadly it's not surprising. It is sort of the (INAUDIBLE). I think -- although sadly, we've got months more. So I don't even know how low we might end up going eventually.
SESAY: And Van, to bring you in here. You know, Matt said it's surprising, but to many it is surprising especially what is happening in the world now.
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right.
SESAY: Right now at this moment what happened in Belgium, the fact that this feud continues and they continue to talk about their wives.
JONES: It's kind of crazy. Also it's not just Belgium. You have -- it's happening in Pakistan. Incredible damage, women being killed. Children being killed in Africa around the world. We talk about Belgium. This is a worldwide phenomenon. Ordinarily that tends to bring a country like the United States together. A sense of 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 is sleeping with who. And I think it gives people around the world a reason to be very concern 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 that, you know, this is spotlighting the bigger issue Trump has with women. That is in turn turning women off in large numbers and it will hurt him in the general election.
LEWIS: Right, well, look I don't know if people are going to remember this three or four, five months from now, you know, 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 Ronald Reagan was the last Republican to win the female vote. So this is nothing new. But I just think Donald Trump, you know, compounds the problem. And he's going to have major gender gap to overcome. And again, it's just amazing because Republicans a couple of 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 that the Republicans has had.
JONES: Yes.
SESAY: But, you know, Matt said they will remember the situation with Heidi Cruz a couple of months from now. But the Democrats will be making sure the general electorate does.
JONES: Yes. Absolutely. And the 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 are only talking about that. You know, there are some things that I don't think that Democrats should get too smug here. Oh, you know Donald Trump is so terrible. He is making a fool of himself.
[01:25:02] We've been saying this for -- about him for almost a year. And it's surprising he is able to -- who knows. He might go and put a woman as a VP pick, OK, 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, the stuff he is doing.
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.
SESAY: Well, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton managed to land punches against both the Republican establishment and Donald Trump. She says the party has allowed the extreme to become normal in politics and Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Every day another Republican bemoans the rise of Donald Trump. They say a Trump nomination will set their party back decades. I agree. It will set the Republican Party back if Donald Trump is their standard bearer. But Donald Trump didn't come out of nowhere. What the Republicans have sewn with their extremist tactics, they are now reaping with Donald trump's candidacy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Well, in just under 24 hours, you can hear the Republican candidates answer questions directly from voters. 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 on Wednesday at 12:00 p.m. in London.
We're going to take a quick break now. Pakistan is mourning the victims of a deadly attack targeting Christians on Easter Sunday. And the country is cracking down on possible suspects. Hear the prime minister's message to terrorists, next.
And the disturbing evidence Belgian investigators found inside the apartment of two suicide bombers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:30:22] SESAY: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.
The headlines this hour --
(HEADLINES)
SESAY: Two of the identified suicide bombers in Brussels attacks were brothers. Police searched their apartment.
As Nick Paton Walsh reports, troubling missed clues that might have helped prevent the bombings.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the apartment at the heart of the Brussels attacks, where the brothers, Ibrahim and Khalid Bakraoui, lived and made bombs that tore through the metro and airport. This video shows how police left it. But a source with knowledge of the brothers' lives there reveal to CNN, just 10 days ahead of the blasts, explaining to CNN that, as this exclusive video goes, police have sealed off both the top floor where the brothers lived and the one below it. Why? Because the brothers spilled so many chemicals 10 days before the blast that it leaked through the floor into the apartment below.
(on camera): The fact that chemicals could have leaked between entire floors in that building portrays how careless the brothers must have been with the liquids they used to build the bombs and how many signs there were to the outside world that something was amiss.
(voice-over): One man who regularly met the brothers there and doesn't want to be identified for his own safety said they were kind men and only had two beds and a refrigerator in the apartment.
"Each time they went up with things in their hands suitcases things like that," he said, "when you saw that face, you would have no idea they were terrorist. They were good people. I just saw one visitor, just one time."
The man he recognized as airport bomber an ISIS bomb maker, Najum Laachraoui. His expertise was vital to the brothers in preparing the bombs.
He also explained that the brothers kept their working clothes and overalls in the basement of the building.
Another mysterious window into what the brothers did there so long.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Brussels.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Earlier, I spoke with CNN intelligence and security analyst, Bob Baer, about the investigation, beginning with the release of that terror suspects. The arrest and release of that terror suspect, Faycal C., and his eventual release.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Mr. Baer, good to have you with us.
The very fact that Belgian authorities arrested, charged and then let go this Faycal C. left people scratching their heads. In your view, how big a misstep is this?
BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE & SECURITY ANALYST: I don't think it is a misstep. I think they are playing catch-up ball. They have ignored this threat forever. Jihadi threat. What they are doing is arresting everybody connected to this cell, whether they have evidence or not. Once they check the alibis and release the guy. But because they don't have any intelligence sources inside the cell, they have to knock down doors and arrest everybody they can. They are way behind on this. 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. This man in white who we've seen the pictures and yet they haven't been able to identify is obviously getting help from people. How big is this? What do you think?
BAER: 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. Looks to me like he was trying to break up his face. A typical disguise breaking up your face. So they are not even sure from the biometrics who he is. Can't compare with pictures. He may have been a minder that took them there. Made sure they went through with the act and waited outside. I don't know, we will have to wait and see. You have to remember that there's the unwitting part in the witting. You don't let everybody in on the plans. So there's a lot of people that may have thought this was just a criminal group that were helping, stealing passports, fake I.D.s, guns, they didn't know there was terrorism. We could be talking about the entire cell, several hundred at least.
[01:35:28] SESAY: Several hundred people?
BAER: Yeah.
SESAY: So how do you approach that? 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 rundown first of all the data analytics to figure out how big it was. Who was communicating with encrypted cells right off the bat. That should make you suspicious. How they are getting their arms. Was it from criminal groups or a witting part of this cell? The problem with the Belgians is they had gone all those years and allowed this weapons trade to go on. Europe is not accustomed to this. This is something new. Kalashnikovs. We are talking an open- ended investigation that may go on for months or years.
SESAY: Very quickly, the people they do have in custody, how do you even approach the questioning, interrogation, bearing in mind you're battling against a clock with fear that there could be another attack any time.
BAER: Yeah, the problem is these people have become believers, clearly. If they're going to commit suicide. So getting them to talk in prison is virtually impossible. I spent a lot of time in prison talking to these people. They never give up details even when they are in for life.
(CROSSTALK)
SESAY: They don't speak.
BAER: They don't speak. Or they lie to you. I think Abdasalam, one of the Paris organizers, was lying to the police and they probably knew it. Can you break them down over years? Maybe not.
SESAY: Bob Baer, so good to have you here with us in the studio.
BAER: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE) SESAY: Authorities in Pakistan arrested a number of suspects in connection with the Easter Sunday bombings targeting Christians in the hall. Security forces carried out raids in three cities and discovered a huge cache of weapons. The prime minister is vowing to avenge the victims.
CNN International diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Callous, calculated cold-blooded, more than 70 dead from a single suicide bomber targeting families enjoying a warm Easter evening in a crowded play park.
UNIDENTIFIED WITNESS (through translation): We suddenly heard the sound of an exPLOsion from inside. I park my bike and rush inside. I pick up the injured it move them away from there. I saw bodies. Many injured people. Men, women, children were lying there.
ROBERTSON: The park in the center of Lahore. The prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, canceling a trip to Washington Wednesday, vowing revenge.
NAWAZ SHARIF, PAKISTAN PRIME MINISTER: (through translation): We are accounting for each and every drop of blood of our martyrs. This score is being settled.
(SHOUTING)
ROBERTSON: More than 300 injured. Hospitals frantically trying to save those they could. More than one-third of the victims, children.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was just a lot of patients, a lot of chaos initially.
ROBERTSON: The splinter groups of the Pakistani Taliban claiming the attack. They say they were targeting Christians, a message to the government at the beginning of a new bombing campaign. They have a track record of killing Christians and early this month apparently targeting American interests. In this photo shown off remains were removed, the killing of two local U.S. employees in a roadside bomb attack in Pakistan's tribal border region.
(SHOUTING)
ROBERTSON: As the dead from the Easter evening attack were buried, amid the grieving, lie of the terrorist all too clear. Not just Christians, but Muslims too laid to rest.
SHARIF (through translation): We will not let them rise again, God willing. We will not allow the terrorists to play with the lives of the Pakistani people. This is my resolve.
ROBERTSON: It is a promise Pakistan's prime minister may struggle to deliver quickly. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:40:04] SESAY: A quick break now. To the U.S. presidential race, when we come back, and a look at the women behind the top Republican candidates. We will see why they are getting so much attention on social media.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(HEADLINES)
SESAY: While they've been in the headlines a lot lately, even though neither of them are running for office. Heidi Cruz and Melania Trump are the subject of a bigger battle, the battle of the White House candidates.
Randi Kaye has more on the White House hopefuls.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEIDI CRUZ, WIFE OF TED CRUZ: I was Ted's very first fan, his number- one fan, his biggest fan, his very first fan. I'm still his biggest fan.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Heidi Cruz, stumping for her husband, Ted Cruz. She is not the kind to sit on the side lines.
CRUZ: Ted and I have been a partnership that has been the way it has been since day one.
KAYE: She has been a manager at Goldman Sachs, and has been focused on helping her husband win the White House.
CRUZ: Encourage you to vote for Ted Cruz.
KAYE: She helped raise over $50 million last year.
[01:45:11] (on camera): The California-born Heidi Nelson studying economics and international relations in college. A family trip to Washington as a child reportedly got her interested in politics. Her mother told "The Washington Post," that by fifth-grade Heidi announced she hoped to attend Harvard Business School, which she later did, after a short stint on Wall Street.
(voice-over): She met her future husband while working for the George W. Bush campaign in 2000. The couple has two daughters. When things get tough on the trail, he calls Heidi to sing him show tunes.
CRUZ: He loves "Phantom of the Opera" and he loves "Les Mis."
KAYE: Unlike Heidi, Melania Trump is often more seen than heard. Although on this rare moment on campaign trail she took the mic and spoke to South Carolina voters. MELANIA TRUMP, WIFE OF DONALD TRUMP: I just want it say, an amazing
place South Carolina. Congratulations to my husband. He was working very hard. He loves you. We love you.
KAYE: Melania also once fielded questions in the spin room following a debate.
TRUMP: Great evening. Yes. Just wait. It was handled was very fair and elegant. And fair questions and all about the economy and business. And he is master that.
KAYE: Still, Melania stays behind the scenes most days, off the trail and at home caring for the couple's young son, Baron.
TRUMP: He needs a parent at home. I'm teaching him morals and values, and preparing him for his life to be an adult.
KAYE: Melania told Anderson Cooper she gives her husband advice but didn't try it change him.
TRUMP: He's an adult. He knows the consequences. And so I let him be who he is. I give him my opinions many, many times.
KAYE: Melania was a Slovenian immigrant who became a naturalized citizen in 2006, and met Donald Trump at a fashion party in 1998. She would later become his third wife. And in this campaign, his greatest defender.
TRUMP: He has the momentum. He goes with the flow. He goes with the people.
Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Don't forget the GOP candidates will take the stage in just under 24 hours, the CNN's Republican town hall. Viewers in North America can watch Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. Our international viewers can watch highlight on Wednesday at 12:00 p.m. in London.
Next on CNN NEWSROOM, L.A., a new proposal could let people watch movie premiers from home. This is causing an uproar right here in Hollywood.
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[01:51:48] SESAY: The experience of watching the latest movies in theaters with a big bucket of popcorn could soon change. The screening room would allow people to watch movies at home on the same day they make their big screen debuts. Users would need to buy a special set-top box and pay a $50 fee to rent the movies for two days. $50. That means no more screaming kid or rude patrons. But the proposal led by entrepreneur and Napster co-founder, Shawn Parker, pitted some of Hollywood's biggest names against movie theaters.
Joining me to discuss it, Sandro Monetti, the managing editor of the "L.A. Business Journal."
I call you Arrow now because you are here all the time.
SANDRO MONETTI, MANAGING EDITOR, L.A. BUSINESS JOURNAL: Thank you.
SESAY: Sandro, seriously, this is a technology. This is a sign of the times how far things have come. But this proposal by Shawn Parker, $50? I can't even get the words out. $50 to rent a movie? Who's he aiming this at?
MONETTI: Well, Shawn Parker is a true entrepreneur. He is aiming it at, for example, imagine you're a young couple with a baby. You can't go out to opening weekend. You can't get a baby-sitter. Why not stay home, watch batman versus superman. Cheaper than a baby-sitter, parking, all that expensive popcorn, which is parked up 85 percent by the way.
SESAY: A lot of diapers you can buy for $50, you know that, right?
MONETTI: There is a market out there. As long as there is a market out there, there's a service to provide for it. Imagine if you have ten little girls wanting a sleep-over to watch a movie together. Thank you, Tiffany. Thank you, charm a ne. Pay mummy.
SESAY: Seems a little devious to me. But again, technology. You can't stand against progress. But there are some in Hollywood very against this. Break down the camps for me.
MONETTI: I've never seen an issue so divided. A-list filmmakers in favor of the idea, in the likes of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" director, J.J. Abrams. Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese.
SESAY: Heavy hitters.
MONETTI: Avatar's James Cameron. Christopher Nolan. We are talking about the a-list divided. Because no one in Hollywood can decide whether this will crow ate new revenue streams or cut into revenue streams. A coalition of filmmakers including James Cameron back then and Deller, too, stepped forward to stop it. But times have changed over the last five years. Now we're in an era where the environment is ready because there are some more plat forms for enjoying entertainment at home on hand-held devices and at home. And also, I just think that this time you have Shawn Parker. And he is the kind of vigorous huckster who can probably get this through. He is very cleaver by not keeping all the money for himself but tying in the -- oh, you can have money. And the exhibitors, you can have some money as well. Major movie chains were against it. But reportedly, AMC, owned by China's Wonder Group, are close to signing on or are interested. I think this idea could have legs.
[01:55:19] SESAY: There is something to be said for the rude patrons and screaming kids and watching it together, that experience, that is part of the experience. MONETTI: This is the argument of the filmmakers who are again saying
this will kill the spirit of going to the movies. I disagree. History shows us that nothing can kill off go together movies. When television started, everyone thought the movies were over. Well it seems 60 years later we're still going to the movies. Shawn Parker can destroy a lot of things and music when he co-created Napster, he disrupted the music industry. But I don't think the era of going to the movies will come to an end.
SESAY: All right, fine, fine. Let's see what happens next. I feel very old with all this technical stuff.
MONETTI: You're not as old as me.
SESAY: That's true.
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Sandro Monetti, always a pleasure my friend. Thank you.
MONETTI: Thank you.
SESAY: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Thank you for watching. I'm Isha Sesay.
For our viewers in North America, "Amanpour" is next.
For everyone else, the news continues with Michael Holmes, in Brussels, and Errol Barnett, at the CNN Center, right after this.
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