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Taliban Claims Responsibility for Kabul Attack; Ecuador Earthquake Update; New York Primary Today; Mediterranean Migrant Rescue; Saudi Arabia 9/11 Questions Persist; Human Trafficking Examined. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired April 19, 2016 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[03:00:00] ERROL BARNETT, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: The Taliban claiming responsibility for a deadly terror attack in Afghanistan's capital.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: Plus, rescue crews are searching frantically to find any remaining survivors of the devastating earthquake in Ecuador.
BARNETT: And in just a few hours, New Yorkers head to the polls to vote in what have become critical primaries, crucial to everyone's campaign.
CHURCH: Hello and welcome to our viewers from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.
BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. Thanks for joining our second hour of CNN Newsroom.
And the latest now on the deadly explosion in Afghanistan's capital just a short time ago.
BARNETT: Afghanistan's health ministry now says several people are dead and over 200 are wounded. The Taliban are claiming responsibility for the suicide truck bombing and attack there in central Kabul. In a statement they say that a bomber drove a truck to the gate of the government's intelligence agency around 9 a.m. local time.
CHURCH: Then other attackers entered, opening fire on the building. And witnesses are telling us they're still hearing gunfire from the area.
Journalist Sune Engall Rasmussen is in Kabul and joins us now live via Skype. So, let's talk about the fact that it appears this is still ongoing, that gunfire is being heard. What more are you hearing on that aspect?
SUNE ENGALL RASMUSSEN, JOURNALIST: That's what I'm hearing as well. But it is difficult to confirm because the security forces have cordoned off the entire area around the bomb site.
But I'm also hearing that the attack is still ongoing, which makes this casualty number that you've mentioned in your intro a little bit uncertain as well because we don't know how many victims might still be in the area and can't be evacuated. But over 200 injured is a very high casualty number, even for Aghanistan.
CHURCH: And let's look at the security aspects of this. Why did it appear to be fairly easy for the Taliban to get entry to this building?
RASMUSSEN: Well, there are many theories of why the Taliban are able repeatedly to conduct this kind of attack inside the city. There is a ring of fear in certain -- around certain areas in the center of Kabul, as they call it. But also just leading into the city there are the city gates where cars are supposed to be checked.
Now, they're not always checked for explosives. It has something to do with maybe lack of personnel, shoddy inspection, but also corruption. The Taliban have been known to pay police to be able to enter the city with explosives. And this is right in the heart of Kabul. So, it's not often an attack of this size takes place in the heart of Kabul. It has unfortunately happened before.
CHURCH: And of course we're talking about the government's intelligence agency. When it scores a target like this, what does that do for the public relations machine of the Taliban?
RASMUSSEN: Well, this is something the Taliban will use as a propaganda victory that they're able to target. They say it's the intelligence services. We don't have that confirmed from the government yet. But the fact is it has 200 people wounded. A lot of them are very likely to be civilians. And that's also what the average afghan will know, that there's 200 people injured.
Well then, the Taliban must have killed a lot of civilians. And last year was the most bloody of the bloodiest years for civilians in Afghanistan since the war started. So, the Taliban might use this as a propaganda victory, but I think a lot of average Afghans will know that there's a lot civilian collateral damage in this attack.
CHURCH: And that is the big concern here, isn't it? When we talked about the security issue there people must be very worried because it doesn't look like the government is doing very much when it comes to trying to protect people from these sorts of attacks.
RASMUSSEN: Well, the government is doing what it can, it says, but these attacks, we have to look at it in the context of the political circumstances right now in Afghanistan. There is political deadlock and there has been for two years since the -- or a year and a half since the government came into power. And people are very frustrated.
And you can see there in the number of people that are leaving Afghanistan. Afghanistan was the second largest source of migrants and refugees to Europe last year, 200,000 people arrived in Europe. And that's not counting the people who never make it to Europe. So, a lot of people are leaving, and security is one of the main factors that are driving people out of the country. CHURCH: Yes, it is a real concern. Sune Engall Rasmussen, thank you
so much for joining us, bringing us up to date on this breaking news. We appreciate it.
[03:04:58] BARNETT: The death toll in Ecuador has risen to 413 since Saturday's earthquake. That's another big jump as response teams clear the debris. The combination of rain, road damage, and power outages are making the rescue and relief efforts there even harder.
CHURCH: Firefighters in Manta had to get resourceful. They cut a hole in the ceiling of a collapsed building to pull out three people. There are nearly 15,000 soldiers and police officers already deployed to help, but more are on the way to the devastated coastline.
Rafael Romo has the very latest.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the city of Pedernales a ray of hope. Rescuers pull a 7-year-old girl from the rubble nearly 27 hours after the earthquake hit. In the coastal city of Portoviejo, one of the hardest-hit areas, relatives of the victims pleaded with the Ecuadorian vice president.
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"They are still alive," this man said, pointing to the mounds of rubble all around his neighborhood. Moments later, a woman breaks into tears, saying she badly needs help. In Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest and most populous city, rescue crews and passersby join efforts to pull out people in a car under a collapsed bridge.
"The situation is very serious but we will recover from this," President Rafael Correa said. The only thing we can't recover are the lives that have been lost. The sorrow is immense.
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THOMAS HOLLYWOOD, CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES DIRECTOR: The situation is grave. Six provinces have been declared as an emergency. Two of the provinces most hit are Esmeraldas, Manabi which are located along the coast. These are poor and vulnerable areas of Ecuador.
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ROMO: The 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Saturday just before 7 in the evening. People were shopping at a busy supermarket in Guayaquil when the floor began shaking and they had to run for their lives with merchandise falling off the shelves and lights going off.
This is Ecuador's deadliest earthquake since 1987, when a 7.2 magnitude temblor killed about 1,000 people.
Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.
BARNETT: And there are similar scenes of devastation in Japan. The death toll there from two earthquakes on Thursday and Saturday now stands at 44. CHURCH: Yes, more than 1,000 people are injured. Rescuers are
battling aftershocks as they search for survivors.
CNN's Matt Rivers has the latest from one of the hardest-hit areas.
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Over three days now since the Saturday earthquake in Kumamoto, Japan, where we are right now. And this kind of damage is still what we're seeing here on the streets. You can see this car is completely covered by the rubble here.
This was a house as of yesterday when we were here this house was actually still standing more or less. It actually had fallen into the street. But as part of the cleanup process what crews are doing now is identifying structures that are no longer usable. And so they're demolishing them.
So, throughout the day yesterday, what you saw were crews here actually knocking down this home and pushing it off of the street. And that really is the focus now moving forward, is the cleanup effort. You've got demolitions like this, and then the next steps will be trying to return -- restore power to this area and to get running water going again because really that's what you're going to need here in order to get people back in their homes.
Tens of thousands of people even though it's been some three-plus days since this earthquake, they are still remaining in shelters for fear of going home. Because in addition to the amount of work that still has to be done in terms of clearing this rubble the other thing that's happening is consistent aftershocks.
We felt one last night here, local time, that registered 5.8 magnitude. It was really, really intense. And that is the kind of thing that is making people nervous here moving forward and preventing them from going home at this point.
And so, even though it has been more than 72 hours since that latest earthquake there's still a lot of work to be done here in Southwest Japan.
Matt Rivers, CNN, Kumamoto, Japan.
BARNETT: So, voting starts in less than three hours in New York's primary. And if the polls are correct it should be an easy win for republican Donald Trump.
CHURCH: Democrat Hillary Clinton is expected to beat Bernie Sanders even though a new national poll shows the two candidates in a tight race.
CNN's Brianna Keilar reports.
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HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I need your help tomorrow.
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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are making their final push in New York.
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CLINTON: New York had my back, and I always tried to have your back. And I will again if I'm so fortunate enough to be elected your president.
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KEILAR: The Clinton camp is feeling bullish while Sanders, once talking up his chances in New York, is now tamping down expectation on CNN.
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[03:10:00] BERNIE SANDERS, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One of the disadvantages we have as you know, is under New York state law independents cannot participate in the democratic primary. We usually win the independent vote 2 to 1, so we're kind of spotting Secretary Clinton a whole lot in that regard.
KEILAR: But if Clinton's lead in the polls in her adopted home state has her dancing in the streets, Sanders has nearly eliminated her lead nationally trailing by only two points within the poll's margin of error. Sanders has been hammering Clinton for her ties to Wall Street and wealthy donors.
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SANDERS: We don't want their money. We're going to do it a different way.
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KEILAR: Saturday his supporters made the point a different way. Throwing money at Clinton's motorcade as she arrived at a $33,000 a head dinner hosted by George and Amal Clooney. The actor agreeing with Sanders on the role of money in politics but making a veil jab at the Senator for focusing more on his own fund-raising and not other democrats running for re-election.
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GEORGE CLOONEY, ACTOR: It is an obscene amount of money. The sanders campaign when they talk about it is absolutely right. But the overwhelming amount of money that we're raising is not going to Hillary to run for president. It's going to the down ticket. It's going to the congressmen and senators to try to take back congress.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Wolf Blitzer.
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KEILAR: As the democratic primary battle reaches a critical moment, Saturday Night Live poked fun at Sanders this weekend for his lack of specifics on how he would fulfill a major campaign promise with a guest appearance by a sequential New Yorker, Elaine from Seinfeld.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But how exactly are you going to break up the big banks?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once I'm elected president, I'll have a nice shirts in the White House gym. Then I'll go to the big banks. I'll sit them down. And yada, yada, yada, they'll be broken up.
CLINTON: Well, 1250.
KEILAR: And dinged Clinton for her stance on raising the federal minimum wage.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said 12 and/or 15.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's not true.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, it is not!
Yes! Yes, it is!
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KEILAR: Bernie Sanders says polls are underestimating his support here in New York. The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll has him trailing Hillary Clinton by 17 points. But polls would need to vastly underestimate his support in order to deliver for him the size of margin that he would really need for a big win to viably continue his campaign beyond New York, because he is trailing Hillary Clinton by more than 200 pledged delegates.
Brianna Keilar, CNN, New York.
BARNETT: Joining me from New York is CNN political commentator Angela Rye. She's a democratic strategist and former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus. Angela, thanks for joining us today.
What do you make of this new national poll taken by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal, which finds Hillary Clinton is only two percentage points ahead of senator Bernie Sanders nationally, 50 percent to 48 percent, essentially a statistical tie? What do you make of that?
ANGELA RYE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think it's very interesting given the fact that so far, Hillary Clinton's math is not aligning with what folks are calling Bernie Sanders' momentum. So, while Bernie Sanders has done very well in the last eight states, of course he's won eight of the last nine contests, these numbers would be on par with that.
However, the trouble is the mathematics when it comes to delegate count and of course the super delegate count, it's not in alignment at all. So, I think it's a real interesting poll because it certainly doesn't tell us where we are right now as it relates to the overall delegate count on the math.
So, what that would tell me is there are folks who are liking Bernie that are not turning out to vote for Bernie. Hillary Clinton just like Bernie Sanders has some ground to make up with different types of voters. So, with Hillary Clinton, she has a major issue with younger voters.
Bernie Sanders in some polls beats her, particularly the exit polls, beats her 80 to 20, 80 percent to her 20 percent.
BARNETT: Yes.
RYE: And of course, Hillary Clinton is beating her with those same margins when it comes to African-American voters. So, they both have some ground to make up and they both are going to need each other regardless of who wins the nomination.
BARNETT: But where do you feel we should be at this stage in the race? Should Bernie Sanders still have his eyes set on the nomination or should he now be looking for a second best option, perhaps a change in caucusing rules, so more independents can participate in the nomination process? Something more long-standing like his legacy. Or is that too soon?
RYE: Well, I think a couple things. One is that's up to Bernie Sanders' campaign to decide. I'm certainly glad that he continues to be in the race. It makes our side of the equation a little more exciting. And nothing can beat the reality show of the Republican Party right now.
But I would certainly say that I am glad he's in the race. He's made his imprint already. I think his legacy is clear. Wall Street has become a key focal point of this particular election.
[03:15:01] Middle-class and low-income voters have become a key focal point of this election, and that would not be the case if Bernie Sanders was not in the race talking about citizens united and its impact on campaign financing in the election.
What wages should be. He's talking about $15 an hour. What the impact of Wall Street has been. And of course, again, talking about black voters and other people of color. We were hit the hardest with that particular crisis, with the mortgage crisis.
So, he's been speaking issues -- speaking to issues that a lot of folks in this country wouldn't be hearing from if he hadn't been in the race thus far. So, it's very important that he's here.
BARNETT: And some people complain he's only been striking this one note. But it resonates and it continues to resonate nationally. Who knows? New York may have another surprise in store for us. We shall see.
Angela Rye, CNN political commentator. Thanks for joining us today from New York. Thanks. I appreciate it.
RYE: Thank you.
CHURCH: Israeli police are investigating a rush hour bombing in Jerusalem. But they're holding back on calling it a terrorist attack. We will explain in a live report.
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DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: I'm Don Riddell with your CNN World Sport headlines.
Leicester City have been the story of the Premier League season so far but it's not of yet. And Tottenham have issued a very clear statement of intent. Leicester dropped two points on Sunday. In response, Spurs put four past stoke city. The irresistible Harry Kane on top form again curling in the opening goal in the first half before the floodgates opened in the second.
Kane got two as did his terrific England teammate Dale Alli Spurs reduced the gap on Leicester to five points.
We're just months away now from the Rio Olympics. And assuming you can afford it you want the Olympics in your country as a way of promoting yourself to the world. What you don't want is for that spotlight to pick out everything falling apart. But that is the predicament Rio could find itself in.
Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff is in the midst of an impeachment process and if Brazil's Senate votes in favor of impeachment, then Rousseff will have to stand aside for 180 days while charges against her are investigated. The games are now just 109 days away.
It is award season in sports and Monday saw the Oscars of sports, the Laureus Awards being held in Berlin. The tennis world provided the big winners. Both Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams won three Grand Slams in 2015 and they were recognized as Laureus sportsman and woman of the year.
And that is a quick look at your sports headlines. I'm Don Riddell.
[03:20:01] BARNETT: The relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia is coming under renewed scrutiny with a bill that would allow 9/11 victims' families to sue the kingdom. Saudi Arabia's denied any involvement in the 2001 terror attacks. Still most of the plane hijackers were of Saudi descent.
CHURCH: And suspicion about Al Qaeda's ties to the kingdom is fueled by a portion of the 9/11 commission's report on foreign involvement in the attacks that remains classified. The White House is threatening to veto the measure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PRESIDENT: This is not just a
bilateral U.S.-Saudi issue. This is a matter of how generally the United States approaches our interactions with other countries. If we open up the possibility that individuals in the United States can routinely start suing other governments, then we are also opening up the United States to being continually sued by individuals in other countries.
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CHURCH: And Riyadh warns it will sell off billions of dollars of U.S. assets if the bill passes.
BARNETT: And as Nic Robertson reports, the tension over the legislation comes as Mr. Obama heads to Saudi Arabia this week.
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OBAMA: I am honored to be in the timeless City of Cairo.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Two thousand nine and just in office. President Obama came to Egypt.
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OBAMA: We meet at a time of great tension between the United States and Muslims around the world.
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ROBERTSON: Talks of reshaping U.S. relations with Mideast nations. The crowds loved him. Less than two years later, the same city, his host, president Mubarak overthrown in the Arab Spring uprising. How Obama responded to the fall of his allies set the tone of his relationship with the region since.
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NAWAF OBAID, SAUDI STRATEGIC ADVISOR: It wasn't so much that they fell. It was how the U.S. went by it. And that's what really is the beginning of this schism.
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ROBERTSON: A schism that grew to rupture with the U.S.-Iranian nuclear deal. The Saudis were furious.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They believe that Barack Obama has sold them at the altar of his own rapprochement with Iran, their arch-enemy.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTSON: In response to all this, Saudi Arabia has ramped up its
armed forces, overtaking Russia to become the world's third largest defense and security spender. And last year, formed a 34-nation Sunni Muslim coalition to follow Saudi's lead.
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As a result of their mistrust of Barack Obama, the Saudis has now adapted a more muscular foreign policy. They are on the attack in Yemen and other places. And they're trying to counterbalance Iran in the region. The Americans really have lost control.
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ROBERTSON: Where they need control the most, solving Syria, Saudi's new king is a very impatient ally. He wants Assad gone now and Iran's influence removed.
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OBAID: Is that course going to change now if there's a new president that's more amenable to Saudi interest? I don't think so. The ship has sailed.
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ROBERTSON: But for all the strains, both sides still need each other. Saudi Arabia needs U.S. weapons. Obama wants regional stability. His time in Riyadh will not be about divorce but easing the estrangement.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
BARNETT: Israeli police are calling a bus explosion during the evening rush hour Monday in Jerusalem a deliberate act. But the Israeli president and prime minister aren't hesitating in calling the blast a terrorist attack.
CHURCH: The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released these photos allegedly showing people handing out candy to celebrate the blast. Hours after the incident, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to settle the score.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We will locate those who prepared this terrorist bomb. We will reach those who dispatched them. We will also reach those who stand behind them.
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BARNETT: Oren Liebermann joins me now from Jerusalem with more on the explosion. Oren, what are we learning about the how and why of this blast?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's where the investigation is focusing now. Police say they're moving towards the belief that this, yes, was indeed a terrorist attack. That leaves a big question. Who planted this bomb?
We've seen a number of Palestinian militant groups praising the attack, saluting the attack, but not claiming responsibility. That's the focus of the investigation now. How did a bomb get on an Israeli bus, and who put it there?
Israel is investigating what appears to be a brazen rush hour bus bombing. The explosion ripping through this city bus, another bus nearby, and a private car in Jerusalem just before 6 in the afternoon as people were coming home from work.
[03:25:06] Ambulances converged on the scene to treat the dozens injured in the attack. Thick black smoke rose into the skyline, visible for miles. Sharp contrast to the bright orange flames coming from the buses.
"There is no doubt this is an attack," says police commander Yoham Halevi. "You're asking whether we know the identity of the one who put the explosive charge, whether we know someone left it or blew himself up. We have two very seriously wounded whose identity we don't know yet. So, we won't now say something that is wrong or not accurate."
Police blocked off the major road in both directions for investigators trying to figure out how the charge got there and who set it off. Late today, Hamas on Al-Aqsa TV praised the attack but didn't take credit for it.
Many here say the devastation could have been far worse. Luckily, the nearby bus that caught on fire was empty.
And condemnation of this attack is pouring in around the world from Bernie Sanders to the Canadian Prime Minister to Nickolay Mladenov, the U.N. coordinator for the Middle East peace process here in Jerusalem. And they didn't hesitate to call this a terror attack.
Now it's up to police where the investigation goes. Again, how did the bomb get on an Israeli bus. That's a fundamental question. And Errol, more importantly, who put it there?
BARNETT: Oren Liebermann, live for us in Jerusalem this morning, 10.26 there. Thanks, Oren.
CHURCH: Well, Brazil is less than four months away from the opening of the Olympics in Rio. But the political crisis there is raising fresh concerns about the games. The details ahead.
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BARNETT: A very warm welcome back to those of you watching from around the world. This is CNN Newsroom. I'm Errol Barnett.
CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. It is time to check the headlines for you at this hour.
The Afghan interior ministry spokesman tells CNN at least one armed attacker has been killed in what is still an ongoing police operation after a suicide truck blast in central Kabul.
The health ministry says several people were killed and more than 200 wounded in the explosion. The Taliban are claiming responsibility for that attack that targeted the government's intelligence agency.
BARNETT: About 214 migrants including 64 children were rescued from boats in the Mediterranean and brought to Italy on Monday. An aid agency says they were from several African countries and it's believed they left from Egypt.
The death toll from Saturday's earthquake in Ecuador has jumped to 413. Neighboring countries are sending aid, supplies, and manpower. But the damage is making it difficult to reach those in need. Rescue teams are racing against time to save anyone still trapped in the rubble.
BARNETT: The quakes in Japan over the weekend and the landslides that followed have led to some strange formations in the quake zone.
Our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now to talk about these landslides a major issue in the recovery effort. But I understand it's done more.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. Absolutely And we're seeing cracks or fissures that are forming some of these areas. And it's really fascinating. And it's a process known as liquefaction. You've got to keep in mind with the incredible amount of stress that took place during the shaking, the initial shaking of course, the landslides that followed suit, the soil, the strength that it took is actually allowing the soil to loosen significantly and behave like liquid. It's called liquefaction.
You get these fissures that open up. And we have footage drawn for this from Japan, the geospatial authority that will show you appear on the screen that shows exactly what transpired across this region of Japan. The aerial perspective with the landslides in place, and again, as this occurred you see the cracks right there opening up in a pretty extravagant way when it comes to how far it expanded across this region with these fissures in place.
And again, it becomes a very dangerous scenario as the soil begins to act like liquid and of course, some of the roadways begin to buckle as well. So, significant damage across a widespread area in parts of southern Japan. And again, you see these landslides take place that are of course, the result of earthquakes.
And we know the soil itself saturated from recent rainfall across this region. As this all plays out for you, you notice what happens in the maps in motion. If we can advance them for you we'll show you exactly what has occurred in this region. The land of course it collapses, then you get fissures that form from this tremendous threat that's laid down on the surface of the earth there.
So, that's precisely what happened across this region of Japan. But I want to show you what transpired across the United States in the past 24 hours. The City of Houston has taken on an incredible, incredible amount of water.
In fact, just west of the city of Houston go out toward some of the western suburbs. Some of these places are picking up 400 to almost 500 millimeters of rainfall in a matter of just a few hours. In fact, look at Houston's 447 millimeters of rainfall in 24 hours.
If you're watching this from Istanbul, Turkey, we appreciate you doing so. It would take you almost an entire year to get the amount of rainfall that occurred in Houston, Texas. So again, it shows you the significance of this. And what's impressive about this, go back the last four months. Houston had only picked up a little over 200 millimeters of rainfall.
On Monday, they brought in over 250 millimeters alone. This is what really led to what is now been known as five fatalities across this region. We know some 1200 water rescues took place as well across the City of Houston and major cancellations. Five hundred flights canceled, 100 flights were delayed as well over this area in what was just a tremendous rain event.
In fact, one of the wettest days Houston has seen since 2001 when a tropical storm made landfall across this region. So, a very, very heartbreaking area for parts of Houston.
BARNETT: It is soaked and there's more rain to come. So, brace yourselves, folks. All right, Pedram, thanks to you.
CHURCH: Thanks, Pedram. I appreciate it.
Well, in less than four months, the world will focus on Brazil as it hosts the 2016 Summer Olympics. The International Olympic Committee says it is happy with preparations now underway.
BARNETT: But a political crisis is undermining stability there in the country. The lower house voted overwhelmingly Sunday to impeach President Dilma Rousseff. Now the Senate is deciding how to proceed and plowing through a massive pile of impeachment files. Some 34 volumes, in fact, with roughly 12,000 pages.
Shasta Darlington has more on the impeachment which the president describes as an attempted coup.
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff speaking out for the first time since a crushing defeat in the lower House of Congress where lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to push forward with her impeachment.
They accuse her of breaking budgetary laws to hide a budget deficit. Rousseff told journalists at the presidential palace on Monday that she hadn't committed any crimes or broken any laws.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[03:35:00] DILMA ROUSSEFF, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (TRANSLATED): The acts that they accuse me of, they were practiced by other presidents in the republic before me, and it wasn't characterized as being illegal acts or criminal acts. They were considered legal. Therefore, when I feel injustice, it's because with me I was treated like no one else was treated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DARLINGTON: Now, there's no doubt that Rousseff is a very unpopular leader. She's got an approval rating down near 10 percent. Thanks in large part to a prolonged recession, to a corruption scandal that has implicated many in her own party.
But when speaking to journalists, Rousseff pointed out that she herself hasn't been implicated in the corruption scandal or accused of socking away money in Swiss Bank accounts. She accused those driving the impeachment effort of really carrying out a coup d'etat, especially since so many of the lawmakers behind this effort have been accused of the very same crimes.
And she said she's going to fight it the same way she fought the military dictatorship back when she was a young guerrilla.
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ROUSSEFF (TRANSLATED): In my youth, I faced the dictatorship with conviction, and now I face with conviction a coup. A coup that is not only a traditional coup from when I was young but unfortunately, this is a coup that is traditional of my maturity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DARLINGTON: In the meantime, the impeachment motion moved on to the Senate on Monday. The opposition only needs a simple majority for it to be approved there, in which case an impeachment trial would be launched.
Rousseff would be force to step down for 180 days to defend herself. All this could happen as early as May, while Brazil gears up to hold the Summer Olympics in August.
Shasta Darlington, CNN, Brasilia.
BARNETT: Now a shake-up in Donald Trump's campaign team just hours before the New York primary has taken place. His national field director has resigned, replaced by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's campaign manager.
CHURCH: Yes. It's not likely to have much impact on the vote in New York, where protesters interrupted a Trump rally in Buffalo Monday night.
CNN's senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta reports.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: One day before the New York primary, Donald Trump wants the voters to know how much he loves his home state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look at the other
folks that are running, they couldn't care less about New York. We do care about New York and we care about New York a lot. And we care about New York values.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And how much he hates the Republican Party system for picking a president.
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TRUMP: We have a system that's rigged. We have a system that's crooked.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: At just about every turn, Trump is warning the GOP of the consequences of denying him the nomination if he's ahead in the delegate count but just short of the magic number needed to win.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You're going to have a very, very upset and angry group of people at the convention. I hope it doesn't involve violence. And I don't think it will. But I will say this. It's a rigged system.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: For weeks, he's seen delegates slip away to Ted Cruz in places like Wyoming where party insiders and activists pick the winner. And even in states where the real estate tycoon has won like Georgia, some delegates are pledging their support to Cruz if Trump fails to win on the first round of voting at the July convention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The fact that you're taking all these people out and whining them and dining them, nobody does that stuff better than me. I just don't want to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Trump's fight with the GOP is escalating into a new war of words with Cruz. In a tweet, Trump suggested the RNC is in on the scam saying lying Ted Cruz can't win with the voters so he has to sell himself to the bosses. Cruz is hitting back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TED CRUZ, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald is not a complicated man to understand. He doesn't handle losing well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Trump is sending a message to RNC officials. If he's the nominee, buckle up. He told the Washington Post he'd like to put some showbiz into the convention. But Trump is also looking ahead to the general election, meeting with his diversity council to improve his standing with minority voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I say Donald you say Trump. Donald!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Despite his recent struggles, Trump is poised to go on a roll over the next couple of weeks. Polls show he could pull off a clean sweep of New York's 95 delegates at stake. And then the calendar stays in the northeast, where Trump could put some serious distance between himself and Ted Cruz and John Kasich.
Jim Acosta, CNN, Buffalo.
CHURCH: Joining me now from New York is republican strategist Brian Morgenstern. He also supported Marco Rubio's campaign for president. Thank you, sir, for talking with us.
BRIAN MORGENSTERN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: My pleasure.
CHURCH: Well now that your man is out of the race, who are you backing and what impact do you think the New York primary will likely have on the race going forward?
MORGENSTERN: I am unaffiliated. I am not supporting any particular candidate. I'm an observer. But the New York primary, it's fascinating to be a part of it when it actually matters. Because this is rare.
[03:40:01] Obviously, the first time in a generation at least that both parties' primaries matter. It looks like Trump is the man to beat this year on the republican side. It looks like he will win the lion's share of the delegates. That's going to help him in his argument that he's the only one who can get to the critical number, 1,237, which secures the nomination.
So, New York will be helpful to him on his journey there. It will still leave room, however, for the other candidates to keep chipping away and make sure that he doesn't get that number so that there could be that contested convention coming up in July where who knows what's going to happen.
CHURCH: Yes. Indeed. It's interesting that you almost say it's a fair to comply there but there seem to be some questions now about whether Donald Trump is going to be able to reach that required delegate count of 1,237.
He appears concerned about that himself. So, what's going on behind the scenes with some delegates apparently shifting to the Cruz camp? And given that apparent trend, is it possible that Cruz could be the republican nominee in the end?
MORGENSTERN: Well, what's happening is the delegate selection process is different from state to state. So, in some states delegates are elected and bound to a candidate. In other states it's sort of a combination of processes. There are caucuses. There are county conventions.
It really depends on the locality as to how the delegates are selected. And what the Cruz campaign has done, which is very shrewd, is found delegates to run in whatever way that their local authorities elect their delegates and be loyal to the Cruz campaign even if Trump wins that jurisdiction in the event that there is a subsequent ballot.
If Trump does not get that critical number, on the first ballot so that there will be subsequent votes, Cruz is betting he'll get delegates to switch from Trump's campaign to his because he knows where their real loyalties lie once they become unbound. And so, this is really shaping up to become quite an unpredictable battle in Cleveland come July.
CHURCH: Brian Morgenstern, thank you so much for being with us.
MORGENSTERN: Thank you.
CHURCH: We appreciate it.
BARNETT: A mother in Vietnam is breathing a sigh of relief. She was reunited with her daughter, who escaped her traffickers in China. But other girls aren't so lucky. That story just ahead.
[03:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: The CNN Freedom Project is dedicated to shining a light on human trafficking and ending modern-day slavery.
BARNETT: Border police have saved five Vietnamese girls who they believe are being trafficked into China.
CNN's Alexandra Field has the details, plus an emotional reunion between a mother and her daughter, who escaped her traffickers.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yantina's (ph) daughter found a way to save her own life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (TRANSLATED): Sometimes I thought that she'd never come back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: She fought to get home to Vietnam, escaping the traffickers who held her in China where they planned to sell her as a bride, a country where the long-standing one-child policy has left a shortage of women.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (TRANSLATED): If I saw the person, I'd want to kill him.
FIELD: Officials are trying to fight the problem by training border guards to spot potential trafficking victims before they cross the border. As we're out here filming on the Vietnamese side of the Chinese border, local officials tell us they've just picked up five girls who they believe were being trafficked.
The girls have been led some 300 kilometers across the country, but border guards intercepted, grabbing them before they crossed the river that would have taken them into China. The girls are 14 years old. The suspected trafficker is under arrest. She's a neighbor from the girls' village.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, girls.
FIELD: Because of their age we won't identify them. But they tell me they went willingly with the woman. They didn't understand the consequences.
And none of your parents knew you were leaving? An outreach worker explains they were lured with lies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They also promised each girl if they went 10 million, which is about $600.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you'd stay for a year or two and they'd help you to get back?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: In reality, many of the women who find themselves in China will never return.
How difficult is it to find the women once they've been taken to China and how much cooperation are you getting from the Chinese authorities in terms of locating these women and actually returning them to the border?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN TUONG LONG, LAO CAI SOCIAL VICE DEPARTMENT HEAD (TRANSLATED): Because of the cooperation between the Vietnamese and the Chinese police we have found and caught trafficking rings. We found women far inside China at brothels where they're forced to become sex workers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: Trafficked women who aren't found in raids have to find ways of getting out on their own. Some of the women who did live at the shelter run by the Pacific links foundation. Some of them tell us they were able to contact their families from China but they couldn't get help from police because they didn't know where they were.
They're living together finishing schools, working on new schools, thinking about what they could do in the future and talking about their past. They hope women will learn from it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: Where you grew up. Your mother. Hi. I'm Alex. Coming home isn't easy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (TRANSLATED): Many people look at me differently, think I am a bad girl, that's why I was tricked.
FIELD: All the girls we spoke to at the border know they're lucky they were able to come home. They don't know how many didn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Alexandra Field, CNN, Northern Vietnam.
BARNETT: Just highlighting a few of the lucky girls who make it home. For more on this story and how you can report suspected cases of human trafficking, just head to cnn.com/freedom.
[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JAVAHERI: Weather watch time across the Americas. A historic day across portions of Texas, where over 500 flights were canceled out of Houston airports there on Monday afternoon. An incredible pattern of wet weather. And still some residual rainfall left in the forecast over this region.
But the amount of rainfall that came down pretty remarkable. We're talking 250 to 400 millimeters, anywhere from say 12 inches up to 17, 18 inches in a few spots in a matter of just 14 to 24 hours. In fact, you look at the historic levels of the gauges there across this region, river gauges, all but normal here as we quickly see a spike right there into the afternoon hours. And the water levels are gradually beginning to recede.
But again, this pattern has really led to some tremendous devastation across portions of eastern Texas over the past several hours. And we do have some scattered thunderstorms still left in the forecast in Dallas at 24 degrees.
Chicago into the teens. And the heat is on around British Columbia. Vancouver warms up to a nice balmy 21 degree afternoon. Notice we do have a little bit of snow showers left across portions of the Rockies. That storm exits. We do have some wet weather coming in. So, the western U.S. and western Canada also began a cooling trend in the coming couple of days.
Now to the south we go. Temps across portions of St. Managua into the upper 30s. Cartagena also around 31 or so degrees. And Caracas some scattered thunderstorms around 32. And speaking of thunderstorms, do have some of those in the forecast in southern Brazil.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Check it out. Athletes from around the world ran in the Boston marathon on Monday. It has been three years now since dual bombings killed three people and injured hundreds more near the finish line.
CHURCH: Yes. Many people suffered life-changing injuries, including Adrianne Haslet, a young woman who lost most of her left leg that day.
Our Anderson Cooper has been following her recovery as she took on the race that took her leg.
ANDERSON COOPER, AC360 SHOW HOST: This was Adrianne three years ago. Resilient against terror and tragedy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADRIENNE HASLET, BOSTON BOMBING SURVIVOR: I feel like somebody has come along and said oh, we're not going to let you do that anymore, and now I can -- I'm going to prove them wrong.
COOPER: Her first priority before running the Boston marathon was to return to the dance floor.
HASLET: Go check it out and see what's going on.
COOPER: She agreed to document her journey to first walk and then dance again in a series of videos for 360. They would form the backbone of our documentary on Adrianne Called "The survivor diaries."
HASLET: So exciting! Stand up for me.
Does it hurt?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. She's standing on her own.
COOPER: Through her own eyes we saw her triumphs and her struggles with both physical and emotional scars.
HASLET: I just want to go to bed like a normal person, like without taking my leg off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Her first tentative steps into the dance studio just months after the Boston bombings eventually led to her first public performance at the annual Ted conference just a year after the attacks. She received a standing ovation.
[03:55:03] (CROWD CHEERING)
Six months ago, Adrianne decided it was time to face one more hurdle head on, to make good on that promise to herself to run the Boston marathon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HASLET: This race is not just about those that are on the track. It's about the people that are standing there brave, showing that we are all Boston strong still three years later. And I couldn't thank them enough for that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: You're looking at Adrianne Haslet, her prosthetic limb.
And today, buoyed by the people of Boston she battled through nearly 10 hours on the course to finally cross the finish line.
Anderson Cooper, CNN.
CHURCH: Stories just like that that just inspire.
BARNETT: Yes.
CHURCH: And U.S. President Barack Obama congratulated Adrianne on Twitter, writing, "Terror and bombs cannot beat us. We carry on. We finish the race."
BARNETT: We can all be Adrianne strong now. That's an amazing story.
Now, nature routinely puts on a pair of dazzling light shows known as the Aurora Borealis and the Aurora Australia. But it's not often we get to see them like this. Check it out.
CHURCH: Yes. NASA released a new time lapse video of the dancing lights shot from the International Space Station. The light shows happen when electrons and protons in the earth's magnetic field collide with neutral atoms in the upper atmosphere. Wow.
BARNETT: And they released this in HD, we get to see this. Absolutely awesome. Something positive as you go about your day.
CHURCH: It's really bright. Fantastic colors there. And thanks for watching CNN. I'm Rosemary Church.
BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. Please do connect with us on Twitter anytime. It's great to hear from you.
CHURCH: Yes. And the news continues with Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong after this.
BARNETT: See you.
[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
