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England's Danny Willett Wins Both Masters; Belgian Attackers Planned to Target Paris; Fireworks Celebration Ignites India's Temple Fire; Newspaper's Parody Warning of a Trump Presidency; Official: Al Qaeda Branch Didn't Murder Blogger; Taliban Rocket Strikes Intended for John Kerry; Australian Mother, Film Crew Detained in Lebanon; New Movie "Criminal" Exposes "Memory Transfer". Aired 1-2a ET
Aired April 11, 2016 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.
Ahead this hour, families are demanding answers after a stockpile of fireworks exploded, killing more than 100 people at a temple in India.
Also ahead, investigators believe the terrorists who struck Brussels last month originally had another European capital in mind.
But first here, an epic collapse at the Master's paves the way for the tournament's first British champion in 20 years.
Hello, everybody. Great to have you with us. I'm John Vause, NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.
As promised, we'll begin with the 80th Masters Tournament, one which we remembered for an historic victory and an epic collapse.
Danny Willett wearing the green jacket for his first major green ever. But his triumph has been overshadowed by defending champion Jordan Spieth's meltdown.
Kate Riley joins us now from Atlanta. And Kate, what's the bigger headline here? Willett's win or, you know, Spieth's coughing up a five-stroke lead?
KATE RILEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, John, it all depends on how you look at this one. It was of course Spieth's for the taking, but he slipped up unfortunately. The defending champion was looking in control on the frontline, but on the 10 he lost control of his five-stroke lead, and that was exactly what Danny Willett needed.
The Englishman making five birdies and not a single bogey in sight. He finished the tournament on five under. Now Jordan Spieth was leading by one stroke going into the final round. Everything seemed to be going his way as he made that turn onto the back nine, it's seven under, but on the back nine, the young American starts with two bogies before he reached the 12th hole, a hole he will now have nightmares about as he hit the water not once but twice. He then over-hit the ball to find the bunker. He would get a quad bogie on the hole and give up the chance of winning.
Now Spieth's collapse is exactly what Willett needed. The Brit with a fantastic round here on the 14th, with a wonderful approach that would put him within feet of the easy birdie. Then on the 16th hole, he would get his fifth birdie of the day without absolutely no bogie to blemish the score card. He finished five under, and no one would be able to touch him after that and he would hold on to win the first Masters for a European player since 1999, would you believe?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANNY WILLETT, GOLF CHAMPION, MASTERS in AUGUSTA, GEORGIA: It's not been a bad last 12 days. Yes, I mean, words can't describe, you know, the feelings and what's going on and what we've got to do and everything like that and what we've just done. I mean, what we've just accomplished this week.
I don't know, we're just going to have to wait and see if it sinks in, see if a couple of bottles of wine help it sink in a bit more. Then go back home and get right back on track and see if I can, you know, be competing again.
JORDAN SPIETH: Was playing a, you know, dream come true front nine and then I knew par was good enough, and maybe that was what hurt me. Just wasn't quite aggressive at the ball. With my three wood, six iron on 10. And then the drive on 11 and then just a lapse of concentration on 12 and it cost me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RILEY: Yes. And what a fortnight it has been for the Willett family, first welcoming their son into the world and now all of this. It really has been nothing short of fantastic for them.
John, Danny Willett, the winner of the 80th Masters.
VAUSE: It was a great win. Kate, thanks so much.
Belgian prosecutors say the terrorists who attacked Brussels last month were originally going after Paris but they changed their plans as investigators were closing in. A laptop belonging to the attackers reportedly contained a list of targets in Paris, including the financial district as well as a Catholic center.
Meantime authorities in Brussels said the suspect arrested on Friday Mohammed Abrini has admitted to being the so-called man in the hat. He's seen here along with two other terrorists shortly before they attacked the Brussels airport. Investigators say Abrini also played a role in last year's attacks in Paris.
Kelly Morgan re-traces his footsteps.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLIE MORGAN, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Mohammed Abrini has been one of the most wanted men in Europe ever since the coordinated attacks in Paris in November. But it's at this Schaerbeek apartment where authorities first learned of Abrini's possible involvement in the Brussels attacks as well.
This is where the attackers made their bomb and where police say they found Abrini's DNA. This is where a taxi driver picked up three men on the morning of March 22nd and drove them to the airport. Due to increased security, this is as close as we're allowed to film at Brussels airport.
[01:05:03] But it's in the departure terminal that cameras first captured the man in the hat. Mohamed Abrini has told police that it was him pushing a trolley alongside suicide bombers Najim Laachraoui and Ibrahim el-Bakraoui. But before the blast, he leaves the terminal and is captured again on CCTV walking past the Sheraton Hotel. He then leaves the airport by the Avis car park and does so on foot.
The next image is captured almost an hour later here in Zaventem, three kilometers away from the airport. And he's seen wearing just a light colored shirt as he walks right by here. Abrini has told police that he dumped his distinctive white jacket in a bin at some point during this leg of the journey.
Another 50 minutes later, he's seen walking across this pedestrian crossing at a major junction in Schaerbeek. He's made pretty quick time during this six-kilometer leg of the journey during which Khaled el-Bakraoui has detonated his bomb at the Maelbeek metro station.
Just eight minutes later, he arrived here, just over a kilometer away from the scene of the metro blast. He was right here 40 minutes after that attack when emergency services would have been fighting to save people's lives. It's the last image of the day that is captured of him on CCTV. After that, he disappears.
It would be 17 days before authorities catch their man in Anderlecht, police pouncing on Abrini as he walked by here in plain sight. It's just a short distance from Molenbeek where he and many of the other young men implicated in the Brussels and Paris attacks grew up.
Kellie Morgan, CNN, Brussels.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Steve Morris is a CNN law enforcement contributor. He's also a retired special agent with the FBI.
And Steve, it's always good to have you with us.
STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Thanks.
VAUSE: We got the situation now where Abrini has just been arrested. It just seems so similar to what happened, you know, in the days before the Brussels attack. They arrested Salah Abdeslam and then four days later these attacks were carried out in Paris.
Should something like that be expected again or at the very least an attempt to carry out a terrorist attack? MORRIS: It is something that's certainly possible. You have to be on
the guard against it because if they have prepared, say, TATP for an attack, TATP is like sushi. It's not going to be as good tomorrow as it is today. And you have to get rid of it somehow. You can't keep it in your closet.
VAUSE: So this is -- this is the explosives of choice that these --
MORRIS: Yes.
VAUSE: These terrorists are using in Belgium and in France. So if their plans are disrupted, let's say they were going after Paris, so their plans are disrupted they have to use these explosives in a number of days? Is that how it works?
MORRIS: It depends on the type of explosive, but yes, it loses its power and its efficacy and becomes more unstable. Some of the explosions that I worked in Pakistan were really explosives meant for something else that the terrorists had to do something with before they reached the point of being really a bad thing --
VAUSE: OK. We have this information --
MORRIS: For them.
VAUSE: Yes. We have this information now that, you know, Paris was the original target, but they've put their plans hastily into action if you like.
MORRIS: Right.
VAUSE: For Brussels. Wasn't as prepared if you like.
MORRIS: Right.
VAUSE: They still managed to kill 32 people. Still managed to wound hundreds of people. Hypothetically, is there any way to know how serious that plot could have been should it have been allowed to go through to fruition in Paris?
MORRIS: If they had the entire area cased that they wanted to hit and they knew when the place would be full of human beings, of lives, then yes, it could have been much worse. So --
VAUSE: Because we're looking at a situation where they had automatic weapons, they had Kalashnikovs, they had the explosives, they had the suicide bombers ready to go.
MORRIS: Right.
VAUSE: So, I mean, 32 death toll are awful -- it's serious. We would have been looking at Paris part two or something.
MORRIS: Absolutely it could have been. And that's -- it shows a little bit of their shortfalls. They couldn't come up with a plan to attack Paris in four days, which should be a little bit encouraging. VAUSE: OK. What about the situation where these plots are being
hatched in Brussels, in Belgium. And they're being targeting France.
MORRIS: Right.
VAUSE: Why is Islamic State so intent on going after France?
MORRIS: Well, because it's -- they've got a cell close by. I mean, literally its proximity. Paris is a world capital, not that Brussels isn't, but it's not -- it's not London. It's not Berlin. It's none of these. So they want to hit as big as they can. And Paris certainly has that and has the media.
VAUSE: Absolutely. So every time they arrest one of these guys, whether it's Abdeslam or Abrini, it seems that they reveal another part of this terror network in Europe. And you get the feeling by this that the more arrests they make, the more we find out we don't know, which just scratched the surface of this terror network.
MORRIS: I think that's exactly. And I mean, we spoke about this during the last attack. When they found that computer, they were going to get an amazing download of information. And that's where they found out about the Paris attack.
[01:10:03] These downloads equal overload for the haw enforcement people because they may come up with 25 new suspects just from that computer and how do you get teams, 25 different teams, on all of these people? It really gets to the point where it's diminishing returns.
VAUSE: Yes. OK. As we say, they're just scratching the surface of all of this.
MORRIS: Absolutely.
VAUSE: And the concern obviously is that there could be another attack like there was the last month.
MORRIS: You have to watch out for that.
VAUSE: OK. Steve, thanks for coming in.
MORRIS: Thanks.
VAUSE: Ukraine's prime minister says he will resign. Arseniy Yatsenyuk made the announcement on Sunday during a televised addressed. He said he cannot let the government be destabilized while the country is at war.
His resignation comes amid political division in Ukraine as it continues to battle Russian-backed separatists in the east of the country.
India's prime minister described the deadly fire at a temple as shocking beyond words. Narendra Modi toured the site of the disaster on Sunday. At least 106 people were killed. More than 500 others were injured. CNN's Malika Kapur joins us now live from Mumbai with more on this.
And Malika. what's the latest you have on the investigation?
MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are hearing from police officials in the Kollam area this morning, John, that they have detained five people. And these are people who worked for the Independent Fireworks contractors. People who supplied the fireworks to the temple authorities. They are questioning five of them. And they are also looking for members of the Temple Authority Board, who are now absconding. We believe they're looking for at least 10 people who are absconding.
All this on a day when India is still coming to terms with this horrific accident.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAPUR (voice-over): A night of celebration gave way to a day of tragedy. This is what remains of a temple in the town of Kollam in south India after several buildings within the sacred complex were engulfed in massive flames overnight and others crumbled to pieces. Officials say fireworks stored in the temple complex caught fire after sparks fell on them.
More than 100 people are dead, some bodies charred beyond recognition. Hundreds are injured. Ambulances rushed them to hospitals where they're being treated for severe burns, broken bones and asphyxia.
Prime Minister Modi reacted quickly, expressing grief, ordering helicopters to airlift those critically injured and going to the scene of the tragedy himself, taking along a team of doctors, including burn specialists. He's announced a compensation package, $3,000 for next of kin, $750 for those injured.
Many locals say that's not enough. What they want are answers. What went wrong? Where were the safety measures that could have prevented a night of devotion from turning into a deadly tragedy at dawn?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAPUR: It's going to be another grim day for the residents of Kollam as they continue to look for family members who were killed in this horrible accident. Many bodies charred beyond recognition and others of course in Kollam in the hospitals that are overflowing with patients continuing to try and get medical attention. The death toll right now at 106. There are chances it could continue to rise further -- John.
VAUSE: OK, Malika. Thank you. Malika Kapur live there with the very latest on that fire in India.
John Kerry has become the first U.S. secretary of state to pay his respects at a memorial in Hiroshima's -- rather to Hiroshima's bombing victims. He and foreign ministers from the G7 summit laid wreaths at the monument. In 1945, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb that devastated the city and
killed an estimated 140,000 people. Three days later another bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki killing 70,000 people there.
U.S. President Barack Obama says insufficient planning for a post- Gaddafi Libya was the worst mistake of his eight-year long presidency. He made the comments in a FOX News interview which aired on Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Worse mistake?
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Probably failing to plan for the day after what I think was the right thing to do in intervening in Libya.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The NATO-led intervention in 2011 led to the toppling of Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi. He was then captured and later killed that year.
Well, coming up after here on NEWSROOM L.A. those headlines, they're not real, but the "Boston Globe" says the concerns for the future are.
[01:15:02] Also ahead, Hillary Clinton's struggle to get through the turnstile of the New York subway lampooned on "Saturday Night Live."
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(SPORTS)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The NBA's Golden State Warriors are just one win away from basketball history, beating San Antonio on Sunday for their 72nd victory this season, tying the league record set by Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls in the 1995-1996 season.
Golden State can break the record in their season finale on Wednesday. The Warriors also dealt the Spurs their first home loss of the year, spoiling their bid for history.
The U.S. presidential candidates are working hard to win votes in New York with that state's primary a little over a week away from now. Republican Ted Cruz won easily in Colorado and locked up support of the state's 34 delegates. Frontrunner Donald Trump complained about Colorado's complex process raising the possibility of a challenge at the Republican convention in July. And in a NBC interview, Trump's newly appointed convention manager accused Cruz of bullying delegates into supporting him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) [01:20:06] CHUCK TODD, MSNBC'S MEET THE PRESS MODERATOR: What is fair game to win a delegate? Is threatening a fair game? Is threat a fair game?
PAUL MANAFORT, TRUMP CAMPAIGN CONVENTION MANAGER: It's not my style. It's not Donald Trump's style.
TODD: What if --
MANAFORT: But it is --
(CROSSTALK)
MANAFORT: But it is Ted Cruz's style. And that's going to wear thin very fast.
TODD: You think he's threatening delegates?
MANAFORT: Well, he's threatening the -- you go to his county conventions and you see the tactic, Gestapo tactics.
TODD: Gestapo tactics? That's a strong word.
MANAFORT: Well, you look at -- we're going to be filing several protests because reality is they are not playing by the rules.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: A FOX News poll shows Donald Trump with a double-digit lead in New York over Ted Cruz and John Kasich.
Trump also had some harsh words for the "Boston Globe." The newspaper published a satirical front page over the weekend warning readers about what it described a deeply troubling risks of a Trump presidency. Trump called it stupid.
Senior media correspondent Brian Stelter has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Well, this looks like the April Fool's Day edition of a college newspaper. But on April 10th, you know, it's a stunt of course by the "Boston Globe." But it has a very serious point. There are some jokes in here, but it's also trying to warn readers about the dangers of a Trump presidency.
And really what it's about is on page two, there's a full-page op-ed from the editorial staff of the "Boston Globe" warning that Trump must be stopped. They say that Ted Cruz would be equally bad. And editorial writers suggest Mitt Romney or Paul Ryan as the party's nominee at the convention this summer.
Now the "Boston Globe" of course, a Massachusetts based, a lot of liberal readers but Trump has also found quite a bit of support in the state, so it will be interesting to see what kind of backlash there is, if any, from the "Globe's" position. Now we should note this is the editorial staff that created this front
page, not the newsroom staff, and there is a divide in newsrooms, so they are separate.
Let me share with you what the editorial page editor, the idea section editor, Katie Kingsbury said to me. She said this all about taking Trump at his word. Quote, "Our goal is to create a conversation about what a Donald Trump presidency could look like."
So that's why you have a headline here about deportations to begin. It's using his Trump's own words about his plans for immigration.
There's another headline on the bottom that says, "U.S. soldiers refuse orders to kill ISIS families." Now that's a reference to Trump's comment that the U.S. military should, quote, "take out the family members of terrorists."
There are also some jokes here on the page, though, including a comment about Trump national park being closed, it's been renamed from Yellowstone National Park. And so they did have some fun with this front page, some satirical moment, but also a very serious point, too, and I think it is having its intended effect of creating conversation about what the news climate could look like a year from now. Sort of a worst-case scenario if Trump were to become president.
It's been leading the "Drudge Report," for example, which calls it fake news but the editor says to me this is not fake news, this is our preview of the future.
I reached out to the Trump campaign for comment, they have declined a comment for the moment but I have a feeling Donald Trump may take a whack at the "Boston Globe" when we see him in public in the days to come.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, on the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders is hoping to build on a momentum from his win in Wyoming on Saturday. Heading into the New York primary on April 19th, he's won eight of the last nine Democratic nominating contests. Senator Sanders says he believes he can close the delegate gap with Hillary Clinton. Meantime, Secretary Hillary Clinton campaigned in Maryland on Sunday. She's brushing aside any talk of a floor fight at the Democratic convention. Clinton says she intends to have the number of delegates needed for the nomination.
New York's subway system briefly became part of the campaign. Mrs. Clinton had to swipe her metro card repeatedly to get through the subway turnstile last week, something that happens to a lot of New Yorkers who ride the subways. But "Saturday Night Live" wasn't about to let it go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATE MCKINNON, ACTRESS: The New York City subway is the best way to get around. Is this a working metrocard? Is this -- I'll just go in the old fashion way. I'll take a cab. Cab is the best way to get around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It's a big week for politics right here on CNN. For the next three nights, Anderson Cooper will host town halls with each of the Republican candidates and their families. On Monday, John Kasich will be with his wife Karen, their daughters Reese and Emma. On Tuesday Donald Trump will be joined by his wife Melania and children Ivanka, Eric and Donald Jr. Wednesday Senator Cruz will be with his wife Heidi. And then on Thursday, please don't miss the Democratic president debate as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders face off live from New York.
It all happens this week 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time. That's 2:00 a.m. in London, 9:00 a.m. in Hong Kong. You will see it only here on CNN.
A short break. When we come back, protests in Bangladesh over the brutal murder of yet another blogger. We'll discuss the mixed messages coming from a prominent government in a moment.
[01:25:05] Also CNN's Nick Paton Walsh speaks to Afghan army soldiers who have defected to the Taliban. Hear their reasons why in an exclusive report in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.
England's Danny Willett has won the 88th Masters. It's the first major championship of his career. Willett took control Sunday when defending champion Jordan Spieth squandered his lead with a series of late errors. Spieth tied for second.
The prime minister of Ukraine says he's stepping down. Arseniy Yatsenyuk also called for the formation of a new government. This comes amid political division in the country as it battles Russian- backed separatists in the east. Yatsenyuk's formal resignation is expected Tuesday.
The terrorists behind last month's attacks in Brussels are apparently intended to hit Paris instead. Belgian prosecutors say they changed their plans as investigators closed in. Police reportedly found a list of target on a laptop recovered in Brussels. It included the Paris financial district and a Catholic association.
Bangladeshi demonstrators were on the streets of Dhaka on Sunday. They were protesting the murder of a secular blogger last week. The country's home minister is denying al Qaeda's claim of responsibility. Instead he's blaming homegrown militants for the violence. Six writers have been killed in Bangladesh in the past 14 months.
[01:30:00] In an odd turn, however, that same official has urged bloggers to control their writing. That sentiment isn't like to be well received.
Brad Adams is executive director of Human Rights Watch, and he joins me now for more on this.
Brad, first of all, let's get to what the home minister's now saying about the claim of responsibility here. What does it matter if it is al Qaeda which is behind these attacks or if it's home-grown militants? What's the significance here?
BRAD ADAMS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: The Bangladeshi government is very afraid that the rest of the world would think that they are a hot spot for radical Islam. And so they've always denied that al Qaeda operates there, that ISIS operates there, or any other foreign forces operate there, because they say they can control the situation themselves, but manifestly, they cannot. It's not clear whether ISIS or al Qaeda are operating in Bangladesh or whether they're responsible for these killings, but the government doesn't have a mind on it. They want to blame a domestic organization, the third largest political party in the country which they are in the process of banning.
VAUSE: So when you hear from the home minister telling CNN bloggers are the ones who should control what they write, what sort of concerns do you have when you hear that?
ADAMS: Well, you're basically blaming the victim. You know, if a victim of domestic violence was blamed for not having dinner on the table when her husband and beater came home, it's really an outrageous sentiment and making people in Bangladesh which side the government is on. Clearly they are not on the side of the killings, but in many cases they haven't been willing to pronounce the name of the victims, they haven't come to funerals. They claim they're a secular government. They want Bangladesh based on secular values. That's using their own words, but right now they seem to be torn between siding with Islamists and siding with free speech.
VAUSE: OK, so if nothing changes, if these bloggers are continued to be murdered in the streets over we've seen over the last 14 months or so, if nothing changes, where do you see Bangladesh ending up?
ADAMS: They are at a bit of a crossroads. They have war crimes trials, and they haven't been fair trials. Those trials are of radical Islamists from the 1970s, who oppose the independence of Bangladesh. The government wants those people put on trial and hanged. And interestingly, that's been a call of a lot of the secular bloggers who have wanted the old hard-line Islamists to be put on trial for war crimes. They'll use their free speech rights, they themselves are being attacked. I fear Bangladesh will continue to be polarized. They'll be more and more polarized unless the government can actually stand behind some basic principles of free speech and find ways to protect the bloggers. They have often asked for protection and not received it. And in many cases the police just don't expend the resources and make it a priority. They say they have to investigate these cases like they would investigate simple robberies or other small crimes.
VAUSE: Brad, I have to leave it there, but clearly this is something we're going to follow, because it is one of those situations where people are being murdered simply for expressing an opinion. Brad Adams, the executive director of Human Rights Watch.
Thanks for being with us, Brad.
ADAMS: Sure.
VAUSE: We go to Afghanistan where the Taliban say U.S. Secretary of John Kerry was the intended target of a series of rocket attacks in Kabul. Secretary Kerry had already left before the blast but the attacks underscores how volatile the situation still is. And now Taliban insurgents have made some advances in Helmand Province.
Senior international correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh, has more from the Afghan capitol.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You know a war's going badly when an enemy's right in front of you. This white flag is the Taliban's. They really are that close to these Afghans, defending one of the last government holdouts in Heldman Province. It used to be NATO that shot from these positions near the vulnerable city.
(GUNFIRE)
PATON WALSH: Hundreds of Americans and British died, many in the town where these pictures show the Afghan army recently in heavy clashes.
(EXPLOSION)
(SHOUTING)
PATON WALSH: But now Afghanistan is quite quickly watching Helmand fall.
(SHOUTING)
PATON WALSH: The Taliban are winning partly because of men like these. This is a rare window into the Afghan government's worst nightmare. Soldiers from the Afghan army, who America spent billions training, who say they've defected and joined the Taliban. They never dreamed they'd change sides.
[01:35:08] UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER (through translation): I did 18 months of army training and took an oath to serve this country, but the situation changed. The army let us down, so we had to come to the Taliban. They treat us like guests.
PATON WALSH: They carry their old uniforms, I.D.s, and bank cards used to get their old army wages.
They fight where these pictures were more recently filmed. But now they use their training and experience to train the Taliban.
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER (through translation): I decided to leave the army when my dad and injured comrades lay in our base, but nobody took them to hospital. My army training is very useful now, as I am now training Taliban fighters with the same knowledge.
PATON WALSH: Men who've seen the tide turn and voted with their feet.
(on camera): Helmand's the indisputable heartland of the south. And they've worked so hard to push the Taliban back. And here in Kabul, you can speak to many who say it could fall at any day. That gives you a sense of how much on the offensive the Taliban are and what could happen in the summer fighting season ahead.
(voice-over): This is the center of the key town in the Taliban's sights. Tense, yet teeming. Some visit briefly from areas the Taliban now control.
"It's a bit too soon to say whether people are happy with the Taliban. The bazaar is now full of people. That was because the security was bad. And some people avoided the government's forces."
Others fled to its outskirts from the fighting and flash points.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): My worst memory is how a wedding party was hit by mortar, killing a large number of people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): The bullets and rocket the followed, so I fled here.
PATON WALSH: Just over a year since NATO stopped fighting, and here, the Taliban's white flags are closer than ever.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Nick Paton Walsh joins us on the line from Kabul.
Nick, the lack of security is such a huge issue there in Afghanistan. How much pressure is President Ashraf Ghani and his government under to try and do something?
PATON WALSH (voice-over): A significant amount at this stage. When we spoke to the acting defense minister about the position in Helmand they were quite clear they believed they could hold on. In fact, he's offered to resign if the city did fall. And similar confidence from American officials here. But speaking to police in Helmand, they're saying that the capitol is pressured by two different directions from the Taliban. About a third of the area, a third of the province is in Taliban control, more or less under their control. And all of it's still under contest.
Helmand is a vital, strategic area. So many American and British lives lost in its defense and holding the Taliban back. I think it is saddening and shocking to many that in under 18 months since the combat presence ended we are in this perilous situation. There are few people who would admit that things are going well in Helmand, quite the opposite.
The problem really is that symbolism is one thing but also it's potentially a huge cash resource for the Taliban because of the opium and poppies grown there. They can fill their coffers with cash as the temperature warms up here. But this is a key for Afghanistan. Every year, everyone always says is important, but this one more so than ever, particularly given how -- Simply, if the unity government survives this year, that will be a measure of success. The expectation so low, the investment of blood and treasure by the West so high, and frankly the awful and perilous nature of daily life in Afghan are acute now -- John?
VAUSE: It's incredible to think it's been 15 years since the U.S. and its allies overthrew the Taliban government, and the Taliban once again re-insurgent there in Afghanistan.
Nick, thank you.
Nick Paton Walsh there on the line from Kabul.
A short break. When we come back, an Australian TV news crew has found itself at the center of an international controversy after an alleged child abduction in Beirut. More details on that story in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:42:46] VAUSE: Now to Lebanon where a crew from the Australian version of "60 Minutes" is in jail and facing the possibility of being charged over an alleged child abduction. Reporter Tyra Brown (ph) and the producer, cameraman and soundman were detained five days ago by police for covering a story about an Australian mother trying to reunite with her two children. The mother, Sally Faulkner, from Brisbane, who was also detained, alleged the children's Lebanese father took them to Beirut last year on vacation and never returned. Images from a security camera shown on Lebanese TV appear to show both children being snatched and packed into a car allegedly by members of a child recovery agency. Australia's foreign minister says she expects officials in Lebanon will decide soon if there will be charges against the TV crew.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIE BISHOP, AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: At this stage, we understand that they're still being held in detention and that the question of charges is an issue that will be determined shortly. I'm talking to make representation and with officials within the Lebanese government as well. And given the sensitivity of this case and the fact that children are involved, we are handling this very carefully, but we are keeping channel 9 informed at the highest levels and ensuring that our consular staff are available to provide whatever support they can.
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VAUSE: Channel 9 airs "60 Minutes" in Australia.
And media report, Peter Ford, joins me now from Melbourne with more on this. And, Peter, you've been following this story since the beginning. I think you broke this story. Do you now when this matter will go before a court in Beirut? What sort of contact has the network had with the crew, which is behind bars right now?
PETER FORD, AUSTRALIAN MEDIA REPORTER: The network has had no direct contact with the crew at all, nor have the people detained had any contact with their families. The next stage of this story will unfold in the next four to six hours. It will go before a judge. The judge will then decide if charges are going to be laid. Now the expectation is, and certainly the local media in Beirut are reporting that charges will be laid against all seven people, but we don't know. We are now entering into a phase where there are a lot of unknowns. If they are granted bail, do they have to surrender their passports? There is a possibility in the worse-case scenario they could be facing a long time waiting in Lebanon, and in the worst-case scenario, certainly waiting in jail.
[01:45:19] VAUSE: What's the background to this story in Australia? This is a custody dispute that has been in the headlines for quite some time.
FORD: It has been going on quite some time. And Sally Faulkner has tried to get somewhere on social media, three did invite the "60 Minutes" crew. Over there it's being reported as an attempted kidnapping. Here from our perspective, from our eyes it's being treated as a child recovery operation.
VAUSE: We have reached out to the 9 network for a statement. We have yet to hear from them. What has the network said about this over the past 24/48 hours?
FORD: Virtually nothing. All they've said publicly is that the people involved are being kept in humane conditions. I'm told it's pretty rough going. In the last 24 hours, they've been transferred from prison cells to detention centers, male and female respectively. There are a lot of Syrian refugees, so there's a shortage of accommodation for people to be kept. But they are now in jail cells, and what happens beyond that will be determined in the next few hours. But certainly, the network has said almost nothing publicly. If anything, they've almost tried to play down the story. But it's becoming apparent that this is a very serious situation that could potentially drag on for a long time.
VAUSE: The father at the center of this dispute is reported to have some fairly high connections within Lebanese politics, what do you know when about that?
FORD: Well, there is connections on both sides, and certainly the grandmother who was hit in that incident that took place, she also has connections to people in government, but the father, interestingly, has been quite open in saying he doesn't want to see charges pressed. Now that ultimately may not be his decision. It won't be his decision. These could in fact be criminal charges, we don't know. But at this point in time, there is no indication that the father is lobbying for this to be a severe outcome. It is reported that unknown sources expect this matter to be treated leniently. But certainly, within the network, their legal representatives quietly saying, don't hope for that because it probably won't happen. We expect it will go on at least for several weeks.
VAUSE: Wow, several weeks. If this is the case, in a Lebanese jail for members of that TV crew and that mother from Brisbane as well. Difficult times ahead.
Peter, thank you.
Well, memory transfer, scientists have yet to achieve it, but it's being explored in a new Hollywood movie. Up next, we'll speak to the director of "Criminal" about the message he has.
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[01:52:28] VAUSE: So consider this for a moment. Good and evil in our DNA. Can a bad guy be changed by grafting good-guy memories onto his brain? Scientists call this memory transfer. While some experiments have been done on rats, it remains the stuff of science fictions. But it is the focus of a new movie called "Criminal."
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: They stuck Billy in my head. I've got a scar, see? All the stuff that he knew, all the stuff that could do, I've got it all scramble the up inside me.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: It's irreversible.
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VAUSE: Ryan Reynolds plays the good guy, the CIA agent who has the information to save world, but when he is killed, the weird side is played by Tommy Lee Jones, transfers his memories to a bad guy Kevin Costner, a totally ruthless killer with zero empathy. The bad guy begins to change.
Ariel Vromen, the director, joins us from New York.
Ariel, thanks for being with us.
Where did the idea come from for this movie?
ARIEL VROMEN, DIRECTOR: The writers, obviously. My cousin wrote the script, and he gave me the script. And then afterwards, I read it and I tried to look what I can do with it. I got intrigued with it. Here's a guy who's going to find the feeling of love for the first time, and he's going to have to save his new family out of memories and skills from somebody else.
VAUSE: And that's the big twist here, isn't it, how Kevin Costner's character begins to change. This is what takes this movie in a different direction from the typical action film.
VROMEN: Yeah. I have a weird sympathy to these characters. I enjoy seeing people progress into their new them. And so a movie with action and emotions and feelings, it's something that I remember loving when I was a kid in the '70s. And I try to, you know, recreate it in "Criminal."
VAUSE: You go to the movie and there's often a message that the writers and directors are trying to get out there. What is the message that you want people to take away after they sit down and watch this movie?
VROMEN: That's a good question. I think now we're living in a time where so many antagonists, so many enemies in the world are making our lives so difficult and we're afraid of so many things. We need to look sometimes on those people, what we call the bad guys, and understand that there is, there's humanity behind them. There is something bigger in life being a human being, and not just what they believe. In a sense, we are who we are because of what we remember. If we can alter that consciousness and alter those memories, I think we can find compassion in those people that we call enemies or people that we're afraid of.
[01:55:35] VAUSE: Maybe we need a bit of empathy for everybody at the end of the day.
VROMEN: I guess everybody wants love, isn't it?
VAUSE: Yeah.
Hey, Ariel, great to speak with you. Thanks for coming in.
VROMEN: OK. Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: And you're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. Don't forget to come back tomorrow. I'm John Vause.
The news continues after a short break with Rosemary Church and Errol Barnett. Thanks for watching.
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[02:00:09] ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: The Taliban gains ground in Afghanistan. Why some former soldiers have switched sides to help them.
