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Nikki Haley Wins First Primary Heading Into Super Tuesday; President Biden to Deliver State of the Nation on Thursday; Benny Gantz to Meet V.P. Harris, Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan; Ukraine Downs Seven Russian Planes, Russia Kills Seven in Odesa; Thousands Pay Tribute to Alexei Navalny for Third Day; U.S. Vice President Harris Calls for Ceasefire in Gaza; Singapore Culture Minister Denies Rumors On Swift Concert Grant; Police Exchange Fire With "Unruly Crowd" Outside Atlanta; Ranches Coping With Path Of Destruction. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired March 04, 2024 - 02:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[02:00:00]

ROSESMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States, around the world, and streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead, Donald Trump's last remaining Republican rival picks up her first primary win of the year. But with Super Tuesday on the horizon, will Nikki Haley be able to make up any real ground in the U.S. presidential race?

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris increases pressure on Israel, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

And long lines in Moscow as hundreds of people continue queuing up to mourn Alexei Navalny and lay flowers at his grave.

Good to have you with us. And we begin here in the United States where a jampacked week of political events is about to unfold. Americans will cast crucial votes and hear a critical speech as they sort through the possible choices for the next president.

Among them is Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, who won Sunday's GOP primary in Washington, D.C. It's her first win so far. Super Tuesday is just a day away and all eyes will be on Haley to see if she can gain traction against Donald Trump.

Fifteen states and one U.S. territory will hold Republican primaries on Tuesday, and Democrats will hold contests too. One of those states is Colorado. Trump's name is on the ballot, even though the U.S. Supreme Court is still deciding whether he's eligible to serve. The high court could announce an opinion in the coming hours, but there's no guarantee.

Meantime, President Joe Biden is preparing to deliver his State of the Union address on Thursday. It comes at a crucial time as he's seeking to convince Americans to give him a second term. So, let's discuss this with CNN senior political analyst Ron

Brownstein. He's also a senior editor at "The Atlantic" and joins me from Los Angeles. Always great to have you with us.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITIAL ANALYST: Hi, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, a big political week ahead with Super Tuesday, the State of the Union address, and in the coming hours, the Supreme Court releasing an opinion that most legal experts believe will decide if Donald Trump stays on the ballot for Tuesday's Colorado vote. So, let's start with Super Tuesday. Could this crucial day of voting put an end to Nikki Haley's campaign despite her big win in Washington, D.C. and hand Trump the GOP nomination? How do you see all of this playing out?

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, it sure seems that way. I mean, she's, you know, she's been very careful to say that she was in the race until Super Tuesday without making any promises for what comes after. I mean, she has made a point. There is a portion of the Republican coalition, particularly among individuals who lean toward Republicans, college- educated voters, more moderate voters who are still resistant to Donald Trump.

It's probably around 30 percent of the party in kind of a neutral setting, maybe as high as she's been able to get as high as 40 percent in the states where she'll be able to spend time and money. I doubt that she's going to get much past that in many of the Super Tuesday states. There was a poll in Virginia that had her a little higher than that.

But I think, you know, the point is not likely to change. And obviously, her coalition is not big enough to actually beat Trump for the nomination. So, I suspect that she will conclude that there's really not much to be gained by going on, but we'll see.

She is obviously a very different candidate than she was earlier in the race when she went through very contorted gyrations to avoid criticizing Trump. She still doesn't go as far as Chris Christie or Liz Cheney, but she's certainly much more critical of him than she had been earlier. And she may want to continue to use the platform to do that.

CHURCH: And Ron, Thursday will be a big day for President Joe Biden as he delivers his state of the union address, highlighting his achievements and presenting his vision for the future. Can he convince voters, though, that he is able to tackle another term in office when he appears more vulnerable now than ever before, according to recent polls and more specifically, the poll of polls that has him behind Trump 48 to 46?

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah. You know, four high quality national polls out this weekend with a very similar portrait of where we are.

[02:05:00] Two of them with Trump ahead by four points nationally, two of them with Trump ahead by two points. He's ahead, you know, slightly. And I think even more importantly than the horse race, the head-to-head comparison, because it's not clear the voters are fully focused on the implications of a of a second Trump term yet. Are the findings about the approval rating for President Biden himself and the doubts about his ability to, you know, execute these duties for another term?

Three of those four polls had him below 40 percent in approval. There are -- we saw in 2022, there are a substantial number of Americans who will say that I am disappointed in Biden's performance. I am disappointed in the economy, but I still am going to vote for Democrats because I consider the Republican alternative to extreme, a threat to my rights, to my values, to democracy itself. But Rosemary, there's not an infinite pool of those voters.

And to go from an approval rating of 36 or 38 percent to a winning coalition in a presidential election requires a very large number of people to say, I don't like the job of the incumbent, but I'm going to vote for him because I like the alternative even less. He needs to begin improving his own standing with the public and certainly laying out a compelling agenda for what a second term might mean, which he's done very little of. At this state of the union would be an important step in that direction.

CHURCH: Yeah, because I mean, Democrats face a dilemma right now, don't they? With Joe Biden's age becoming an increasing vulnerability as well as his low energy. What do Democrats need to be doing right now to reverse the president's low approval ratings and how concerned is the party at this juncture with only eight months to go before one of the most critical elections in this nation's history?

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, I think the party's understatement to say the party is concerned. They don't have a lot of leverage over his decision, that's for sure. I mean, there is kind of no council of elders, you know, if there's anybody who's going to convince him that this is not worth doing, it's as someone else has said, it's probably someone with a Biden at the end of their name, even Obama might not have that influence over him, given that he told him, you know, unceremoniously not to run in 2016 and that didn't turn out so well for Democrats.

You know, I think there is a view in the Democratic Party, however, that beyond Biden, the party itself needs to be more aggressive in pushing at the vulnerabilities of Trump, which are still very real, even though they've been kind of overshadowed by the manifest vulnerabilities of Biden.

So, you know, I think there's a desire for the groups working on the various issues, remember, Trump might be vulnerable, abortion, some of his immigration responses, which has obviously been an issue that has been hurting Biden, to become more forceful in making a case against him. But there's not that much anyone else can do it.

Really is Joe Biden who has to meet the dual challenge of convincing people that he is physically and mentally up to another term, and that he has plans that will produce better conditions than voters, you know, believe they are experiencing now. Obviously, inflation is just overshadowing a lot of other positive developments in the economy. They can kind of highlight those positive developments and advertising in the key states.

But as long as necessities of life are costing 15, 20 percent more than when Biden took office, it's probably going to be the contrast with Trump more than selling Biden's record that it's going to get him over the top if he gets there.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Ron Brownstein for your analysis. Appreciate it as always.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you for having me, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, in Washington, a key member of Israel's war cabinet is set to take part in high level talks amid growing calls from the U.S. for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza. Benny Gantz is expected to sit down with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday and Vice President Kamala Harris in the hours ahead. But even as these meetings are set to kick off, Israel has decided to skip ceasefire talks in Cairo.

An Israeli official tells CNN that Israel is not sending a delegation to Egypt after Hamas failed to respond to two key demands. And a Hamas source says the group has its own sticking points. All this seeming to dash hopes of an imminent deal. Still, the U.S. is ramping up its push to address the dire situation in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The threat of Hamas poses to the people of Israel must be eliminated. And given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Joining me now is journalist Elliott Gotkine. He is in London. Good to see you, Elliott. So, what do we know about why Benny Gantz is in D.C., especially in light of the ongoing talks and ramped up pressure from the U.S. for a ceasefire?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Rosemary, as you say, Benny Gantz is a member of the war cabinet. So, he's one of the key decision makers when it comes to Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

[02:10:02]

And ostensibly, he's in the United States to convey Israeli messages, to advocate for Israel's war objectives of destroying Hamas and getting those hostages out of the Gaza Strip and allowing aid to go in. He's also going to be discussing the security situation in the north of Israel, where there is still daily tit-for-tat fire between the Iranian proxy Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and Israel in the north as well. And although that's been simmering, there are concerns, of course,

that that could still boil over into all-out war. So that's why he's ostensibly there to meet with V.P. Kamala Harris, Tony Blinken, Secretary of State, Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor, as well as other lawmakers and also pro-Israel lobby groups.

But according to Israeli media and even tweets from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's own ministers in his broader coalition government, Benny Gantz seems to maybe have gone a little bit rogue. He didn't go there with the pre-approval of Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is said to be fuming at Gantz's trip. The Justice Minister of Netanyahu describing Gantz as a Trojan horse on his visit to the United States.

And I suppose the big concern here for Netanyahu is that he may have been a bit outmaneuvered in the sense that poll after poll that has been done for Israelis ever since October the 7th and the Hamas-led terrorist attacks have shown that Benny Gantz is the most popular person in Israel to be the next prime minister and that if elections were held tomorrow, according to these opinion polls, his party would have more than double the number of seats that Netanyahu's party was.

And so, there are concerns, certainly from Netanyahu's camp, that Benny Gantz may be positioning himself for the day after elections happen and when perhaps Benny Gantz might be in charge and leading Israel as its prime minister. And I suppose from the United States' perspective, and they obviously won't say this publicly, there may be a sense that Benny Gantz is a man that they can do business with more so and more easily than with Prime Minister Netanyahu.

For a start, his position on the two-state solution is not as set in stone, if you like, in terms of being against a two-state solution as Prime Minister Netanyahu's. So, it's a bit more than, I suppose, just a friendly visit to meet with Israel's most important ally. Will there be any breakthroughs from this trip? I very much doubt it. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Elliott Gotkine joining us live from London. Many thanks.

And still to come, a significant show of support in Moscow as hundreds of mourner's flocks to the gravesite of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny for a third straight day. We'll have a live update.

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[02:15:00]

CHURCH: Ukraine's president says defense forces have shot down seven Russian military aircraft in the past week alone and 15 over the month of February. Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia is launching aerial attacks meant to kill as Ukraine's defense forces struggle with a significant shortage of artillery. He's pleading for U.S. military aid now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translation): This war must become hopeless for Russia, for the terrorists. And they must feel to the fullest extent possible that there is a force that destroys those who want to destroy life. We are capable of providing this. Each partner knows what is needed. The key is the political will to implement everything, to provide exactly the level of supply that will help. If this does not happen, it will become one of the most disgraceful pages in history, if America or Europe are defeated by Iranian-shod drones or Russian fighter jets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: On Sunday, six people were injured in massive Russian missile attacks on residential areas in eastern Ukraine. This police video shows a heavily damaged school in one of the towns that was hit. And the death toll from a Russian drone attack on Odessa Friday night has now risen to 12, including five children. President Zelensky says rescuers spent all day Sunday digging through the rubble, recovering bodies and searching for survivors.

Tributes are still pouring in for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny two days after he was laid to rest. Hundreds of mourners flocked to his grave in Moscow on Sunday and the pile of flowers reportedly stretched more than 500 meters outside the cemetery gate. Navalny died last month in a Siberian prison, sparking accusations he'd been murdered. The Kremlin has denied any involvement in his death.

The outpouring of support comes as President Vladimir Putin is set to secure another six-year term in an election with no real competition. And for more CNN, Sebastian Shukla joins us now live from Berlin. Good to see you, Sebastian. So, hundreds of mourners are queuing up in Moscow to visit the grave of Putin critic Alexei Navalny after many defied threats of arrest at his funeral on Friday. What's the latest on this show of support for the late opposition leader?

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: Good morning, Rosemary. Well, I think people have been queuing, hundreds of people haven't been queuing just yesterday and may go on in today, but been going and queuing throughout the weekend since Alexei Navalny was finally laid to rest. And people were just seeing those images from the weekend, somewhere underneath that pile of petals is Alexei Navalny's body, and the stream of people has been consistent since Friday.

We saw over the weekend his mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, who, of course, went on that huge, almost epic mission to get back her son's body, also visited again, you know, just to say again goodbye to her son and also to take in the crowds and the number of people that had come to pay their final respects to the late opposition leader.

But, Rosemary, of the weekend and one of the expectations actually was that the crackdown by police may have been a flashpoint. It could have been a lot more heavy-handed. We saw the dissent that came after Alexei Navalny died on the 16th of February.

[02:19:56]

We saw the authorities use heavy measures of detention to stop people just laying flowers at vigils across Russia, let alone at a burial site. There were no real signs of that this weekend and on Friday. In fact, the number of people detained has only been roughly 100.

But what that seems to show is that the authorities have decided that this is not the moment to send a real message to the Russian people. And I think some of that is due to the fact that there is a presidential election, as you just mentioned. Vladimir Putin is up for re-election again, of which he's largely expected to win.

The elections will take place at the end of next week. And I think that people used this moment to be able to use some form of dissent, to let off a little bit of steam. We heard chants of Navalny's name and we heard anti-war slogans. You think people saying things like, no to war. And that's very rare especially for it not to be followed by any form of arrests or crackdowns.

So, I think that we will continue to see this and there is a real message here that people thought with Alexei Navalny's death, this may be the extinguishing of the opposition. But on reflection and what we've seen over the weekend, I think that there is still that little kindling that people, liberal-minded people in Russia still want a better society. Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Sebastian Shukla joining us live from Berlin. Kamala Harris is suddenly in the forefront of the Biden administration's response to the war in Gaza. What she's saying about a temporary ceasefire and the push for more humanitarian aid. Back with that and more in just a moment.

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[02:25:00]

CHURCH: The Biden administration is pushing to address the dire situation in Gaza, an issue already looming large over this year's presidential election. And in the hours ahead, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is set to sit down with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz in Washington. The meeting comes amid an urgent U.S. push for more humanitarian aid and a temporary ceasefire in Gaza. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has details from Washington.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Vice President Kamala Harris forcefully called for more humanitarian aid to get into Gaza during remarks on Sunday. She said that people in the region were, quote, "starving" and also called conditions, quote, "inhumane." She also urged Israel to do more to get assistance into the region, saying that there were, quote, "no excuses."

This has been a situation that the vice president has been closely monitoring and has been involved in discussions about the humanitarian situation, as well as the day after planning for Gaza. But on Sunday, she took a moment to reflect on what is happening on the ground in Gaza, saying this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: What we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating. We have seen reports of families eating leaves or animal feed, women giving birth to malnourished babies with little or no medical care, and children dying from malnutrition and dehydration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, the vice president also called for an immediate ceasefire within the context of a deal that is currently on the table. That includes a six-week ceasefire that would allow for the release of the most vulnerable hostages. That includes the wounded, women and the elderly, and allow also for more aid to go into Gaza.

Now, all of those talks are still ongoing as U.S. officials try to get a deal across the finish line by Ramadan. All of this, of course, looming over the State of the Union address by President Biden that is set to take place on Thursday, as he grapples with this both abroad and domestically. Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.

CHURCH: Joining me now from Israel is Izi Srulik Kalvo, whose father is currently being held hostage by Hamas. Thank you so much for joining us at this difficult time for you and your family.

IZI SRULIK KALVO, FATHER HELD HOSTAGE BY HAMAS: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: So, what is your reaction to the latest hostage release and ceasefire negotiations in Cairo after news that Israel's delegation will not be attending?

KALVO: Well, obviously it's not good, but in my opinion, you have to talk, talk all the time. Whenever they let you, go and talk. We're not playing here. It's the life of 135 hostages over there that needs to be back home as soon as we can because they're dying there. It's almost five months now and there's no time for kindergarten games.

If there is a delegation, we should be there no matter what, even if we don't have something to contribute. The whole thing is -- it's weird for us to understand that from our side, it looks like we're not doing enough and we can say that what we see is that even your President Biden is doing more than our prime minister and we don't like it at all. We need help.

I mean, if it's not obvious, something is wrong here with the hostages' situation and how we deal with them. There are things that you negotiate and you play with. I'm not a negotiator. I never was and never learned that. They probably have their own moves. But if you look from outside, it seems that there are better things you can -- we can do. And I think that you as an American, I'm sorry to give it to you, to hand it over, but you should put more pressure.

Unfortunately, we didn't manage to do it. It's already five months. My father is there. Another 133 hostages are there. Their situation is not good. They're dying every day. We need to bring them home yesterday.

[02:30:00]

CHURCH: So, Izi, what message do you have for your government if they fail to make a hostage and ceasefire deal because it is the Israeli government that is not sending a delegation to these latest critical talks?

KALVO: It's all about a delegation. They can do whatever they think needs to be done. Again, they're professionals. I'm not. I just have my father over there.

But I can tell you my feet for the people I'm meeting here, and we're doing a lot. We're trying to do our best to help from all sides. We flew to Hague. We had the research in the Jerusalem now. We are doing whatever we can, but we are very, very uncapable of helping much.

So the message is not about not or yes, sending a delegation to Cairo. The message is right now, this is what you call the (INAUDIBLE). If there won't be any deal now, my personal belief, it will not happen never, because in the Ramadan, we will get into the Ramadan, which is the holiday you Muslims. Nothing will move.

And the time will pass. And things are going to change over there. But for (INAUDIBLE) will get into Rafah, which I think it's going to be a total disaster. But again, I'm not an expert.

So my message that government, to my government is put the hostages in first place, not in second. And then do whatever you can to bring him on. We can deal with Hamas later. First, we need to deal with our people that are still alive over there what Hamas did on October 7, when I was often, they would the things they did back then are slightly forgotten by the world. It happened five months ago.

And now, what they see is Gaza is bombed, Gaza is bombed. I can understand. It's getting tougher and tougher.

But don't forget what happened on October here when women were slaughtered, pregnant women was open and their babies was taken out, beheaded -- you know everything. I don't have to repeat them. It happened five months ago. People are starting to forget that.

We do not forget that, and we don't forget our parents our beloved one, that right now are in the tunnels over there in Gaza with almost no food and water, with all this situation. And they're not young. My father is 85 years old.

Imagine an 85 year old human being needs to survive five months in a dark, humid, no air, no water, no food, tunnel when he was not a soldier. He was taking from his bed. You got to get them home. So my message to my family and by the way, to you, to the American citizen again, I said, please help us.

We used to be the toughest in the neighborhood. It looks like we're not. We need help. And you can help us.

CHURCH: Izi Srulik Kalvo, we hear your message and hope a deal can be reached very soon. Many thanks for joining us. KALVO: You're welcome. Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: Haiti has imposed a state of emergency amid a wave of gang violence. That's included kidnappings, killings, and looting. A curfew has been imposed after two prison breaks over the weekend. The U.N. estimates some 3,500 hundred prisoners escaped from the national penitentiary in Port-au-Prince.

Officials say police confronted heavily armed individuals, but were unable to stop them from freeing the prisoners. The violence left several inmates and prison staff injured.

And we'll be right back.

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[02:37:12]

CHURCH: You are watching NASA's latest mission to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Falcon rocket lifted off Sunday night from the Kennedy Space Center onboard three astronauts from NASA and a Russian cosmonaut. If all goes well, they will reach the space station Tuesday and stay there until the end of August. Two earlier launch attempts were scrubbed due to weather conditions.

Singapore's culture minister is addressing rumors surrounding a grant to Taylor Swift's promoter to secure the only performances in Southeast Asia of her record-breaking Eras tour. It's an issue that's created some bad blood in the region.

So, let's turn to CNN's Kristie Lu Stout. She's been tracking this story from Hong Kong and joins us now.

Good to see you, Kristie.

So what's the latest on this controversy surrounding Taylor Swift's performance in Singapore.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, Singapore is neighbors are upset amid allegations that the city-state paid up to $3 million a show for an exclusive deal to secure Taylor Swift and her blockbuster Eras tour. And today, we heard from Singapore's culture minister who addressed parliament on the controversy and he said that the grant is not as high as speculated.

Now, let's walk through the timeline here. Now, last week, we heard from a lawmaker in the Philippines who called on his country to put the pressure on Singapore for an explanation. Joey Salceda said this, let's bring it up for you, quote: This isn't what good neighbors. He goes on to say it was at the expense of neighboring countries which could not attract their own foreign concert-goers and whose fans had to go to Singapore, unquote.

The allegations were first made public by the Thai Prime Minister, Srettha Thavisin, when he spoke at a business forum in Bangkok on February the 16th, and he said that Singapore paid Taylor Swift up to 3 million per show allegedly on condition of exclusivity, for a Singapore only arrangement in Southeast Asia. And Srettha also said this, let's bring it up for you, quote: If I'd known this, I would have brought the shows to Thailand, unquote.

Now, I want to add that we are awaiting comment from Taylor Swift's team, including her concert promoter. Now, Singapore said it did award Taylor Swift a grant to perform there, but it did not confirm the exclusivity clause.

And today, we heard from its culture minister Edwin Tong who made fresh comments about this controversial grant, saying this, let's bring it up for you, quote: There has been some online speculation as to the size of the grant. I can say that it is not accurate and not anywhere is high as speculated, unquote. And then citing confidentiality reasons, he didn't reveal the size or the conditions of the grant.

Now, this week, Taylor Swift is playing in Singapore. She's playing six sold-out concerts to some 300,000 fans there.

[02:40:01]

It's her only stop in Southeast Asia and Singapore is getting a massive economic boost here. According to an economist at Maybank, seven out of ten concertgoers are coming into Singapore from overseas and they're spending up to $370 million in the city-state.

Back to you.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Kristie Lu Stout, joining us live from Hong Kong.

Well, three decades after releasing his last pop album, Billy Joel is back with a groundbreaking music video.

(MUSIC)

His newest song, "Turn the Lights Back On", uses artificial intelligence to portray younger versions of himself. Joel looks represent the different periods of his career, like the "Piano Man" era and the "River of Dreams" era. In an interview Sunday with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, the superstar described the emotions he felt while watching the video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILLY JOEL, MUSICIAN AND CO-WRITER, "TURN THE LIGHTS BACK ON": Freddie came up to me with this idea of artificial intelligence and I didn't really know what he was talking about, but I did the recording, the video and when I saw it, it was kind of an out-of-body experience. I saw myself, you know, going through time and it was very moving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. For our international and CNN Max viewers, "WORLD SPORT" is up next. And for those of you in the United States and Canada, I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment. Do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:35]

CHURCH: Welcome back to our viewers in North America. I'm Rosemary Church.

Well, more now on one of the top stories we're following. The U.S. is preparing for Super Tuesday now, just a day away. And there's a spot of good news for Republican candidate Nikki Haley. She won Sunday's GOP primary in Washington, D.C. Her first win so far.

But Donald Trump gained more than double the D.C. delegates with wins in Idaho, Missouri, and Michigan.

Republican voters in 15 states and one territory will hold nominating contests on Tuesday, more than a third of the delegates necessary to clinch the GOP presidential nomination are at stake. Democrats in 16 states will hold contests as well.

CNN's Eva McKend has more details on Nikki Haley strategy heading into the week.

(BEIGN VIDEOTAPE)

EVA MCKEND, CNN U.S. NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Despite long odds, Nikki Haley continuing to crisscross the country and effort to connect with as many voters as possible.

A disciplined messenger, her message largely remains the same. She argues that she is the best person to confront President Biden in a general election, and she says that she is a unifying force that Republicans really need to appeal to as many voters as possible.

There is something to this argument when you show up at her rallies, like a rally she held in Vermont to the budget, you see Democrats showing up, independent voters, Republicans who say that they would rather vote for President Biden than support Trump in a general election.

Let's listen.

HOPE MARTIN, BRIDPORT, VERMONT RESIDENT: I just feel at this point, we need a change in government wholesale. I voted for Biden, I voted for other Republicans other times. I consider myself an independent and you know we need the next-generation up there. Nikki has good, solid values, her record is strong, she's got good experience as governor, as ambassador, and I think she issue in a new era for this country, desperately needed.

MCKEND: The problem for Haley, of course, is that some of these states are winner-take-all states and ultimately, this Republican contest is a delegate battle. Right here in Vermont, in Massachusetts and in Maine, where she's been campaigning. These are winner take all states and that means if she doesn't outright win, if she doesn't get above 50 percent, that means she's not awarded any of the necessary delegates.

Former president Donald Trump is on track to have the necessary delegates by mid-March.

Eva McKend, CNN, Burlington, Vermont.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: As a shutdown deadline looms in the United States, top lawmakers have unveiled six funding bills, setting off a race against the clock to pass them by the end of the week. Top Democrats and Republicans in both chambers back the package of bills which are a breakthrough for negotiators. Until now, lawmakers struggled to reach consensus. The package includes bills to fund government agencies until early fall.

Opening day at the Six Flags amusement park in Georgia turned into a shootout over the weekend. Police say officers exchanged gunfire with what they called an unruly crowd. Authorities now say a handgun has been found at the scene.

CNN's Rafael Romo has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is now looking into the shooting that happened Saturday night, here outside a Six Flags, the amusement park behind me.

According to police, Cobb County police department officers were called to assist the local security here because it was clear that they were not going to be able to control an unruly crowd of as many as 600 people, people that were running inside the park and getting into fights. And also, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation says that a several other fights broke out, as people were leaving the park and then the situation became even more chaotic.

Authority say that as police were leading these people out, trying to clear the area an unknown number of people started shooting at police, an officer responded with fire, and that's when a 15 year-old got a shot and is now in critical condition at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.

CNN has obtained video that shows how terrifying the situation got at one point. Let's take a look.

(GUNFIRE)

ROMO: We have also heard about what happened from Six Flags. A spokesperson said in a statement the following, it is incredibly disappointing. She said that our community is disrupted at public events throughout the region by groups of underage youth. There was police activity involving gunshots. We want to confirm there was no shooting at our property or parking lot. This took place on self- service road that is not owned or operated by Six Flags.

Earlier we had an opportunity to talk to a visitor from Alabama. He said that in spite of what happened, he was not going to change any plans about visiting the park.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That doesn't impact how I feel about it. Crime happens everywhere. I don't think its going to it happened. You're more likely in one place, in another, you know? It's just the chance of where you're going to be at that day.

ROMO: The shooting happened on opening day here at Six Flags, which is beginning its 57th a season. The park reopened on Sunday. And as far as we were able to see, it was business as usual.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Austell, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: No end in sight for the Texas panhandle, as the biggest wildfire in Texas history continues to decimate buildings, cattle, and livelihoods across the region. Conditions are expected to improve today as temperatures dip slightly, but will remain well above average. Containment has improved for the three major fires. As of Sunday, the Smokehouse Creek Fire has burned more than 436,000 hectares and is 15 percent contained. Both a Windy Deuce and Grapevine Creek Fires are 60 percent contained.

The fires are impacting the us beef supply. A Texas official tells CNN, the region produces nearly 30 percent of U.S. beef.

Camila Bernal shows how the fires have impacted the ranchers and the cattle. A warning though, parts of this story can be difficult to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHANE PENNINGTON, RANCH MANAGER, FIELDS/MAHLER RANCH: I'm guessing we may have found 50 dead so far. We're not find in many calves. So I know they burned up

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shane Pennington is the ranch manager at the Fields/Mahler Ranch in Canadian, Texas. This is also where he lives and raises his family.

As the largest wildfire in the state's history began to encircle the ranch, Pennington was forced to evacuate.

PENNINGTON: I wasn't scared of it. I was -- I was more angry, I guess, just 20 years of, you know, taking care of this and it could all be gone. I wasn't really fearful for the house. I figured it would probably be okay. I was more worried about the cattle.

BERNAL: For you, the hard decision was actually leaving?

PENNINGTON: Yes, yeah, and feeling like I didn't do enough to get them.

BERNAL: Local officials estimate thousands of cattle among area ranches will be lost to the Smokehouse Creek Fire, which has already scorched more than a million acres.

The state's agricultural commissioner, Sid Miller.

SID MILLER, TEXAS AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER: This fire was so intense, you couldn't get fire trucks anywhere close to the fire.

BERNAL: Pennington says he did not have time or a place to move the cattle.

PENNINGTON: A lot of them have been blinded by it. It burned their eyelashes, eyelids, everything and just burned all the hair off them. Their feet are coming off, their hooves. They're bloody, burned the rudders.

And, you know, even if they survive, it more likely they're going to get pneumonia. They're going to get sick. We've already had to put some better and let them suffer and just die, you know?

This is one little calf here. I don't know if he's going to be all right. His feet burned really bad.

It's extremely hard to see him suffering. I mean, they're just -- like I say, I've raised some of 'em since they were babies, you know?

BERNAL: State officials called the impact of cattle and crops catastrophic.

MILLER: We blessed over 3,000 head, which is a very small number that will double or triple easily. We've got cattle that were going to have to euthanize because of the damage to their hooves, their udders.

BERNAL: The ranch's owner says his cows bring in anywhere from $1,800 to $2,400 each, much of it for beef sales.

PENNINGTON: It's going to hurt the business extremely bad. So -- and it'll take years to recover because it takes years to put a cow herd together before they're productive and producing like they should be. And it all best to keep them alive, it's not to destroy them. And it's tough. It's really tough.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERNAL (on camera): And you see the hay here behind me. So many people donating hay, feed, water, and, look, we were told that some of these ranchers are maybe 25 miles away from the closest small town. But these volunteers will do everything they can to get all of this to them. That's what you're seeing here, a community coming together to help those most in need.

[02:55:00]

Camila Bernal, CNN, Borger, Texas. CHURCH: From fire to snow, parts of California are dealing with a massive snowstorm. The National Weather Service says more than seven feet of snow has fallen in parts of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Blizzard warnings remain in effect through the northern and central parts of the mountains.

And this was the scene in Lake Tahoe Sunday morning as the blizzard hit. In the coming hours, conditions are largely expected to improve across the West high wind alerts for more than 5 million people are set to end. Meantime, stay transportation crews are busy clearing the roads. The California Highway Patrol says many vehicles got stuck in the heavy snow.

As you can see in this video, incredible a volcano on an uninhabited part of Ecuador's Galapagos Islands is erupting, spewing lava into the night sky. The eruption started late Saturday, but the government says there's no threat to visitors to the islands the volcano also erupted in 2017, 2018.2022 geologists believe this eruption will be more powerful than previous ones.

An underwater exploration of the coast of Chile has led to the discovery of more than 100 new sea creatures. And here's some of the incredible video from the Schmidt Ocean Institute Expedition. Scientists identified deep-sea corals, glass sponges, sea urchins, and squat lobsters. The discoveries will all in an underwater mountain chain that stretches from Chile to Easter Island. During the expedition scientists used a robot capable of descending to depths of 4,500 kilometers. Unbelievable.

Thank you so much for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment. Do stick around.

[02:57:19]

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