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CNN This Morning

Trump Wins South Carolina Republican Primary; Nikki Haley Vows To Fight On Despite Losing In Her Home State; U.S. And Britain Carry Out Fourth Round Of Strikes On Houthi Targets In Yemen; Three Alabama Clinics Pause IVF Following Court Ruling; Alabama House Democrats File Bill Declaring Fertilized Human Egg Or Human Embryo Outside Uterus Is Not Unborn Child; Wave Of Attacks Hit Donetsk, Kyiv Overnight; Russia's War On Ukraine; As Third Year Of Conflict Begins, Ukraine Observes Somber Occasion; Donetsk, Kyiv Saw Wave Of Strikes Overnight; Israeli Negotiators Heading To Qatar; A.I. May Contribute To The Production Of Infinitely Clean Energy, According To Scientists; Critical Water Shortage In Mexico City; Trump Wins South Carolina Republican Primary. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired February 25, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: We all have to buy in.

AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: OK.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hey, I'm here for it.

BLACKWELL: I'm in.

WALKER: Fine.

WIRE: OK.

BLACKWELL: Deal.

WIRE: There we go.

WALKER: Gosh.

WIRE: You ready?

BLACKWELL: All right.

WALKER: What did I just do?

BLACKWELL: Coy, thank you.

WIRE: Yes.

WALKER: Thanks, Coy, really.

BLACKWELL: Next hour of CNN This Morning starts right now.

WALKER: I mean, when you fill out those brackets, do you really know what you're doing or do you just kind of like, oh, this looks nice. So this kind of looks good?

BLACKWELL: Sometimes. Sometimes I know, sometimes I pick the schools where I had friends who went there.

WALKER: That's what I'm going to do.

BLACKWELL: Sometimes I'm like, upset, random. I'll just choose a school that I don't -- that no one else thinks will win and see what good hair goes.

WALKER: I have to choose on personal preference still, that'll be fun.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to CNN This Morning. It is Sunday, February 25th. I'm Amara Walker.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Thank you for joining us.

Here is what we are watching for you. Warning signs for Donald Trump, even as he wins another primary this time in South Carolina. The number suggests a new problem facing Republicans in November.

WALKER: Plus the ripple effects of Alabama's bombshell court ruling on IVF. Where will families in that state turn when they're seeking out the procedure for having children?

BLACKWELL: A breakthrough combining two of the world's newest technologies. Scientists say artificial intelligence could be the key to unlocking unlimited clean energy.

WALKER: And a crisis in one of the world's biggest cities as millions of people in Mexico City face the prospect of running out of water.

It was the result many predicted, but not the one Nikki Haley wanted to see. Just minutes after the polls closed in South Carolina last night, Trump was declared the winner of the Republican primary in the Palmetto State.

And take a look at this. This one wasn't close. Trump's overwhelming victory last night in Nikki Haley's home state gave him even more of a decisive lead over the former governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley.

BLACKWELL: But Haley made it clear that the loss would not push her out of the race anytime soon. She pledged to campaign through Super Tuesday primaries next month. CNN's Alayna Treene is live for us this morning from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

So what does the primary tell us about how things stand? How is the race different today than it was on Friday?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, it's different in the eyes of at least the former president's campaign, Victor and Amara. Donald Trump's decisive win in South Carolina, the state where Haley was twice elective governor, has really all but ended the primary, even as Nikki Haley insists that she plans to keep battling on at least in to next month. And I can tell you from my conversations with Donald Trump's campaign, of course, they were very happy to celebrate his win last night, but they also are hoping that that resounding win, especially following the overwhelming victories Donald Trump saw in the first three early nominating contest will help not unite not just Republican voters behind Donald Trump, but also those holdout donors that they've been courting, as well as really put more pressure on Nikki Haley to bow out of the race.

Now, last night in South Carolina, Donald Trump was very different in his remarks than he was in past victory speeches. Unlike in New Hampshire, where he used his remarks to sharply critique Nikki Haley, he was a different person. He really spent his time talking about a general election. He was very congratulatory, and he didn't mention Nikki Haley's name once.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now there's a spirit that I have never seen. We ran two great races, but there's never been -- ever, there's never been a spirit like this. And I just want to say that I have never seen the Republican Party so unified as it is right now.

NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In the next 10 days, another 21 states and territories will speak. They have the right to a real choice.

ALL: Yes.

HALEY: Not a Soviet style election with only one candidate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Victor and Amara, I can tell you that even though Donald Trump and his campaign are very excited and confident about their chances moving forward, that last line from Nikki Haley that you just heard there is still something that is gnawing at Donald Trump. He has grown increasingly frustrated and annoyed with Haley behind the scenes for sticking it out in the race as long as possible.

And I just really quickly as well just want to bring your attention to something I've been hearing from Trump's team behind the scenes. We know that Donald Trump, for weeks now, has already begun his general election messaging, but I'm told that his campaign is really trying to pivot now from a campaign apparatus strategy to the general and looking for November.

That means more conversations about how to win over those critical battleground states like Michigan, Arizona, Georgia, as well as how to continue to help his fundraising efforts. And I think we're going to continue to see those plans take shape in the course of the next couple weeks.

Victor, Amara?

[07:05:10]

BLACKWELL: Alayna Treene for us there in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Thanks so much.

Joining me now is Catherine Lucey, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. Catherine, good morning to you. All right, so Trump is one- four, which means Haley has lost or been among the losers when there was a larger field for the first four. 21 over the next 10 days, as she says. No expectation she'll win those. What's the argument after losing 25 contest? I'm wondering what is on the other side of this for the Haley campaign?

CATHERINE LUCEY, REPORTER, WALL STREET JOURNAL: Well, certainly, Haley wants to stay in at least two Super Tuesdays. She's been very clear about that. And you've heard her just say that she thinks voters deserve a choice. I mean, one thing you have to think about is, what is her political future?

Obviously, a decisive loss in your home state is not a great thing, but I think that she is, you know, trying to position herself as an alternative in the party, and that is something that she could continue to keep doing.

And for now, she is well funded. So, that is another reason that she continues to keep going. She has really tried to set herself up as a alternative for independent and moderate voters arguing that she is a better general election candidate. And so I think you're going to continue to see her make those arguments.

But, yes, the path to the nomination for her does not really seem to be there. But I think that there is interest -- and with enough Republicans for now that they're going to keep funding this idea that she provides this alternative to Trump.

BLACKWELL: Yes, she raised more money in January than former President Trump did, even as he went on that run of wins. Listen to a portion of her speech in South Carolina about the margin, about the voters that she did win in South Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALEY: I'm going to count it. I know 40 percent is not 50 percent. But I also know 40 percent is not some tiny group.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: She did lose, but she's not wrong there for a former president with almost the entire Republican establishment in the state behind him to lose two out of five voters. What's the message to the Trump campaign?

LUCEY: I think this is a really interesting thing to think about when you look to the general. And if you, you know, assume that, you know, Trump is obviously the likely general election candidate for the Republicans, you know, Haley is picking up a lot of support still.

And I think one area to look at in particular is her appeal to moderates and suburban women who, as we know, can be a key voting bloc in deciding a general election. And what she's doing right now in South Carolina and will presumably continue to do in Super Tuesday dates is reminding those voters of what they don't like about Donald Trump.

So that is a real issue for him going forward. She's out there really sending a message to those people about his policies, about his rhetoric. And that could create issues for him going forward.

BLACKWELL: Yes, as Alayna said, that the campaign hopes now to pivot to the general election. From the Trump perspective, the Trump angle of those numbers, how does he pivot to the general when he's not reckoned with those voters that she keeps reminding of the chaos that comes with Trump, as she says?

LUCEY: Well, certainly, I mean, you sort of saw some of that last night. He didn't talk about Haley. He referenced Biden. I think they're going to see a lot more of him in key battleground states. And I'm sure, you know, one of the messages he will try to put to some of those voters is an economic one. You've heard that from him before.

The Biden campaign certainly already has really turned their attention to Trump for some time. And what they will be doing is -- what Haley has been doing is really trying to remind those voters of the chaos of the Trump administration, raising concerns about his policies and the statements he's making, his legal issues and so forth.

BLACKWELL: So there is now within the RNC, this question, this fight over, will the party pay for the legal bills for the former president as he continues this fight and they go through a leadership shuffle? The former governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour, has offered a resolution that he knows will not pass that says that the party should not do that.

Take us inside that and what this means for the RNC as they're so far behind the DNC as it relates to fundraising. How this could impact not just the race at the top, but down ticket.

LUCEY: Well, fundraising is an issue. You know, the DNC has has had really strong fundraising so far as had Biden and Trump's legal fees are sizable. I mean, so -- and those aren't going to go away.

[07:10:08]

I think we'll have to see how this particular thing plays out. As you said, it's not clear that there's support for this particular effort. But, you know, those money concerns will continue to be an issue, I think, going forward, and we'll have to see how Republicans, you know, unravel this.

BLACKWELL: Catherine Lucey, thank you so much.

And just a reminder, starting tomorrow, CNN This Morning has a new start time during the week. Watch Kasie Hunt starting at 5:00 a.m. Eastern tomorrow. She'll be joined by West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin.

WALKER: All right, now to the Middle East and the latest effort by the White House to protect vulnerable ships in the Red Sea, U.S. and British warplanes attacked more than a dozen Houthi rebel sites in Yemen. CNN's Oren Liebermann has the latest.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. and the U.K. carried out another round of strikes, coalition strikes, against Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday night, Yemen time, after a number of recent attacks from the Houthis have hit ships associated with the U.S. and the U.K.

In this case, the U.S. and the U.K. struck 18 different targets across eight different locations. Those targets included weaponry used by the Houthis, underground storage facility for that weaponry, radar sites, and more. The goal here, as it has been now for several months, is to try to degrade and disrupt the ability of the Houthis to attack commercial vessels.

These attacks carried out by aircraft and perhaps other assets as well. In this statement, we saw from the coalition that took part in this, that includes the U.S., the U.K., Canada, the Netherlands, Bahrain, and others. It specifically lists some of the ships that were hit recently, including the Rubymar. That's a ship associated with the U.K. that's now anchored in the Red Sea.

It is apparently the first ship whose crew had to be rescued and abandoned ship because it was struck by a Houthi attack. It has now left an 18-mile oil slick as it poses an environmental hazard and sits there because U.S. officials say it's not safe enough to go rescue it because of the threat of more attacks from the Iran-backed rebel group.

Part of the challenge here is that U.S. officials have acknowledged the ongoing strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, the attempts to degrade their weaponry and take some of that away, have been unsuccessful and haven't changed the Houthis direction here. They continue to launch these attacks.

And what makes it difficult is that the U.S. doesn't have a great sense of how much more weaponry and equipment the Houthis have. That's because Iran continues to try to resupply them.

Still, the Biden administration has made clear, as has the Pentagon, that if the attacks on commercial vessels in one of the world's most critical waterways continue, so too, will the U.S. strikes and the U.K. as we now hear, see this fourth round of coalition strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

Oren Liebermann CNN at the Pentagon.

WALKER: All right, still ahead, so many would-be parents in Alabama are in limbo this morning after several IVF fertility clinics pause their services following that state Supreme Court ruling. Do they have any options in the state left or do they have to look elsewhere? Now that frozen embryos will be considered children.

Plus, could one cutting edge technology be the key to unlocking another cutting edge technology and maybe solving one of the biggest problems facing our planet? That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:17:32]

WALKER: ?Alabama lawmakers say they are scrambling to protect dozens of IVF families whose dreams are on hold because of a recent state Supreme Court ruling. The state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children and would be protected under Alabama's wrongful death of a minor act.

The decision prompted fertility clinics to pause treatments because they could be held liable for destroying them. The result has been heartbreaking for people on a path to finally become parents. And now state legislators are working on proposals to prevent an embryo from being recognized as an unborn child until it is implanted in the uterus.

With me now is Dr. Mamie McClean, she's a reproductive endocrinologist and fertility specialist. And the court's decision does not prohibit IVF, but this is obviously a huge hurdle. Doctor, I appreciate your time.

Your fertility clinic is one of the few that is now pausing IVF treatments as a result. I've been through IVF. You know very well the pain and the challenges that many of these couples have faced for such a long time before they turned to IVF. And I know, you know, you're one of the few physicians who give these couples hope.

I can only imagine that this --

DR. MAMIE MCLEAN, REPRODUCTIVE ENDOCRINOLOGIST AND FERTILITY SPECIALIST: Yes.

WALKER: -- decision was difficult. Tell me about how you arrived at this decision to stop treatment temporarily.

MCLEAN: It was a decision that took place over, gosh, two to three days since we found out about the ruling on Sunday morning. It was made in consultation with multiple lawyers, including a specialized reproductive lawyer, as well as our IVF lab management team.

So the decision was made after many hours of conversation. And it was told to us that the legal implications of continuing IVF treatments and frozen transfers was simply too great for both our embryologist and our clinics to continue.

WALKER: Tell me about those liabilities and concerns. Is the concern that perhaps if an embryologist accidentally, I guess, drops a Petri dish, they could be charged criminally?

MCLEAN: Well, it's even more complicated than that. In the IVF lab, most embryos don't progress to be healthy embryos that can be transferred or frozen. So now, will we be held liable? Will our IVF lab be sued because our -- the embryos didn't develop?

[07:20:02]

Next, not every embryo survives thaw for transfer. That's a part of human biology and reproduction. Our patients understand those risks, but could we be held liable if what is part of normal biology happens? Those are the larger questions that we have.

WALKER: You must have had such a fulfilling career seeing these families desperate, and then being able to help them realize their dreams. What has it been like for you personally? And what has the reaction been from some of your patients? It must be just so emotionally challenging.

MCLEAN: It has been an incredibly challenging, emotional, tumultuous week. What strikes me the most is seeing the pain on my partner's faces as they have to talk to patients of theirs that they've taken care of for years and canceled their treatments.

We -- the patients who should have had embryo transfers last week should be having their pregnancy test at the end of this week. So make no mistake, there are going to be fewer pregnancies and fewer babies in my state because of this ruling.

WALKER: Why not take the route of just, well, I guess, you know, telling patients, why don't you just store, you know, your embryos longer? Have you given that advice to some patients?

MCLEAN: Well, you know, frankly, that's our only option.

WALKER: Yes.

MCLEAN: If we're not able to provide the transfers in the state and now the two largest shipping companies that move embryos from state to state, they're no longer servicing my state. That means that my patients who had hoped to take their embryos out of state for transfer or storage no longer have that option available to them.

WALKER: Wow. So this is going to also lead to higher costs then for patients. because it costs a lot of money to store these embryos, right?

MCLEAN: Absolutely. Higher cost, higher stress level, and fewer babies.

WALKER: So then what does your future hold? Because, you know, is this a temporary hold? What are you watching for?

MCLEAN: We are so hopeful that the Alabama legislature will make this right. We've heard very encouraging words from the top Republican and Democratic legislatures, but we remain worried. We understand now that there are two groups that oppose these potential bills, and so we simply can't sit by. We've got to keep working and advocating. We understand that the House speaker and the state legislature received an email every two minutes on Thursday from patients and constituents asking that this be overturned.

WALKER: What is your message to the patients there in Alabama who basically have had their dreams dashed and are now sitting there in limbo, not knowing what their future holds?

MCLEAN: Right. Our patients are brave, they're resilient and they're angry. So I want to continue to tell them to please call your legislature, call your parents, call your friends, call your grandparents. We've got to keep the pressure on to both advocate and then help make our legislature aware of how bad this ruling is for our state and our families.

WALKER: We only wish you the best. Dr. Mamie McLean, thank you very much for your time.

BLACKWELL: Still ahead, Ukraine is now in its third year of war with Russia, and it does so dangerously low on ammunition and equipment. We're live in eastern Ukraine.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:27:18]

BLACKWELL: Ukraine fights off a wave of a missile and drone attacks on the second anniversary of Russia's war. According to the Ukrainian police, Russia launched a massive attack on the Donetsk region overnight, hitting residential buildings and a train station. At least one person was injured.

WALKER: And in Kyiv, the military downed a number of Iranian-made drones. No casualties were reported there.

Now, in just a few hours, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to address his country as Ukraine enters its third year of fighting. CNN's Nick Payton Walsh joining us now from southern Ukraine. Nick, what are we expecting to hear from Zelenskyy?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, trying to both sounds, I think that there's potential for Ukrainian success and remind everybody of quite how they've held off the third largest army in the world for the last two years. But also as his officials have been echoing in the hours before him, quite how dire the situation is for Ukraine in terms of Western aid, not arriving on time.

His defense minister saying that about half of the committed Western aid arrives late, emphasizing that commitments do not mean deliveries. That's something we keep hearing again and again in the press releases. You hear out of Western capitals aren't necessarily matched in terms of timely delivery of urgently needed weapons.

And also to his prime minister saying how they hope this year for about $11.8 billion from the United States. Remember, $60 billion held up by a Republican-led Congress who haven't even taken it to the vote yet and may not even do so when they come back from recess at the end of this year.

So a complex message he has to sound, keeping morale high as we enter the third year here with a very dire situation, frankly, on the battlefield, but also at the same time make it quite clear to the West that they need the help immediately.

Across the front lines here, a series of pieces of bad news, frankly, over the last week or so. Since last weekend, Avdiivka, a town over which there'd been months of fighting essentially fell to the Russians when Ukraine chose to withdraw and not expend limited resources in trying to hold it.

We've now heard reports that neighboring villages may have fallen to the Russians. Near where I'm standing in Robotyne, that's a key village that was taken as part of the summer counteroffensive. One of very slight gains they had during that billion dollar NATO-backed push that didn't really get anywhere. Pressure on Robotyne apparently as well, and multiple other points along the front line.

And so, we enter into a exceptionally complex third year here for Ukraine. They are lacking in Western aid since December when it was clear it would not be arriving at the pace expected. That's had a stark impact on morale. That's now translating into ammunition shortages, towns, territory, lives lost by Ukraine.

[07:30:03]

They have a crisis, I think, of their own personnel, it's fair to say, debating whether they're going to draft another half million men to bolster their ranks here. That's a complex political decision for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He needs to keep morale high, as I say, but also, they are losing people at a rate that they don't publicly disclose. But it's clearly from anecdotal evidence pretty stark indeed.

On the other side, we have Russia, who are after, I think it's fair to say, an appalling initial invasion and desperately incompetent first year, they managed to hold the counteroffensive back last year, it seems. Very minimal gains from Ukraine despite the resources expended on. At the same time, their economy appears to be weathering sanctions. And they appear to be able to continue to field almost, it seems, limitless troops to the front line, who are often expended, according to most reports we hear, in appalling tactics, causing extraordinary casualties on the Russian side.

But yet still, that persistence, as I say, is paying off in a limited fashion. Some Western analysis suggests a breakthrough is unlikely, but we simply don't know quite how these two sides are going to fare as the weather warms up and improves in the months ahead.

So, a very complex moment indeed and a realization, I think, in that stream of European leaders that we saw going to Kyiv yesterday to stand next to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, from Canada as well, simply saying, we're with you. That hasn't translated into the material aid they need. And frankly, without the U.S. bulk of cash, that vast resources, the United States are managing to throw into this fight that's really kept Ukraine afloat over the past two years now, it's looking a very pessimistic future this year for Kyiv.

A lot of resilience. A lot of brave souls lost over the past two years for Ukraine. But it does appear to be, as we enter into the third year, probably the darkest, darkest moments they have seen yet back to you.

BLACKWELL: Nick Paton Walsh for us there in Zaporizhzhia. Nick, before we let you go, let me ask you, you talked about the morale fight within the ranks, within the Ukrainian military. Talk to me about the Ukrainian people. Are they struggling to keep morale as high as those -- as the government, as the military is?

WALSH: Yes, I mean -- I don't wish to speak for the entirety of Ukraine in one sentence. But I think it's fair to say that as we see month after month coming back here, there are more pessimistic conversations between Ukrainians about exactly where this is going.

But bear in mind that a lot of this is not an optional thing. They don't really have the choice to suddenly, tomorrow, make a peaceful settlement with Russia and it all stops. Russia's goals are essentially the domination and subjugation of most of Ukraine. Maybe not all of it territorially, but certainly in a place like this, close to the front line.

The idea of Russia taking over means the families of soldiers, anybody affiliated with the Ukrainian government, their lives could be in peril. And so, I think it's a very existential choice for most Ukrainians, not something they really get to mull as a series of, you know, comfortable options. Victor.

WALKER: Yes, it's been such an intractable war. And Nick Payton Walsh, appreciate you covering it there from the very beginning. Thank you so much.

And just into CNN, an Israeli official says, his country is now sending a negotiating team to Qatar as it pursues a hostage deal with Hamas.

BLACKWELL: The talk center on a similar framework, trading hostages in exchange for a pause in Israeli military operations in Gaza. Now, pressure has been growing on Israel's government for a deal from the families of the hostages. Axios was the first to report this latest development and reports that the delegation would have a limited mandate, and that the talks would be technical.

WALKER: And this comes after an Israeli delegation, including the director of the CIA and Israel's Mossad, joined talks with Egyptian and Qatari negotiators in Paris on Friday. Qatar and Egypt serve as intermediaries between Hamas and Israel, which do not talk directly to each other. Hamas hasn't made any public comments on the Paris talks or any future meetings yet. We will have a live report on this next hour from Tel Aviv.

Up next, could artificial intelligence be the solution to clean energy? We'll discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:38:49]

BLACKWELL: A giant balloon that federal officials were tracking across the Southwest has now left U.S. airspace. Officials say, it was probably a hobby balloon, not a threat. Here's what we know about the balloon. It was 50 feet tall, carrying a two-foot cube. NORAD initially sent fighter jets to check it out before they monitored it via a radar. This one was smaller than the Chinese spy balloon shot down last year.

How about this for a nice landing? A single engine plane had to make an emergency landing on a small road in Florida after only making it about six miles. Now, the pilot says, he barely got off the ground before his engine died. Fortunately, he was alone, walked away uninjured. The FAA is investigating this landing.

A small city in England is a lot lighter of breathing a sigh of relief as a cliche after an unexploded World War II bomb was safely removed from a local yard. There's video of it being dug up in Plymouth, England last week. The neighborhood was evacuated so the bomb could be transported in the back of a truck. Now from there, it was loaded onto a boat, and taken out to sea and detonated. No one was hurt.

[07:40:00]

WALKER: A.I. could soon be doing more than political deepfakes and your kid's homework. It might be the key to solving the climate crisis by helping to make limitless clean energy. Now, that is according to scientists from Princeton, who say they have found a way to use artificial intelligence to potentially make nuclear fusion more stable.

Joining us now is Princeton University Associate Professor Egemen Kolemen. Good morning. Appreciate your time. Let's get very basic here before our viewers and myself turn to Google and, you know, type in nuclear fusion, what is it? Explain. What is nuclear fusion, first of all?

EGEMEN KOLEMEN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Well, nuclear fusion is the main source of energy in the universe, in our solar system as well. The stars are run by fusion energy and so is our sun. So, if you look at all the energy in the world, maybe wind or solar power, it's generally starting from a fusion energy at the center of the sun.

So, what we try to do is bring that sun on Earth and put it in a small reactor. So, make a small sun in a reactor and use that energy to produce 24/7 energy that's clean.

WALKER: Oh, interesting. So then where does artificial -- art -- artificial intelligence, how does it play a role then?

KOLEMEN: Well, we want these reactors to be running 24/7 without any stop. And as you might imagine, if you put a son in a small magnetic cage, we use magnetic fields to stabilize it, it might have some instabilities. And what artificial intelligence allows us to do is predict if there's going to be any instabilities and control the reactions that are occurring, the fusion reactors, so that we can stabilize it and have a reactor that can operate without any downtime. And this allows us to make reactors cheaper and not have any breakdowns.

WALKER: So then how close are we then to fusion becoming a reliable source of energy on a larger scale?

KOLEMEN: Well, right now, there is a couple of reactors that are built to show that we can harness more energy than we put in. One is either in France, where U.S. is a part of, and there's some companies, the private companies that are building it.

And hopefully we'll show this capability of producing that energy from magnetic fusion in the next few years. And once we have that, we have to start building reactors and put them on the grid, and hopefully that can happen within a couple of decades, is my guess.

WALKER: So then if this is successful, I mean, what would that mean for climate change?

KOLEMEN: Well, the biggest issue, obviously, when we -- because of the climate change, we don't want to use fossil fuels because they're greenhouse emissions. So, we want to produce renewable and -- energy. But the problem with solar and wind is that you cannot have them all the time. They have down times when the sun is not up or when the wind is not blowing. So, it's very important to have a steady source of energy. And nuclear fusion allows us to do that.

It can operate anywhere in the world. It can -- even if there is no sun or wind. And it allows the grid to be stable because having too much renewables on the grid have been problematic until now. And going forward to 2050, we want to have zero emission grid, net zero grid, and fusion can be a great source of stable energy 24/7 in that grid.

WALKER: Are there any downsides to nuclear fusion energy?

KOLEMEN: Well, as a fusion scientist, I would say no. But generally speaking, we don't use any resources. So, we're just using hydrogen and water. So, we -- unlike coal or fossil fuels, we don't use anything in there. We do have produced a very small amounts of nuclear waste, but it's nothing like the fission reactors that you're used to.

The main problem is that right now it is not cost effective. So, we're trying to make sure that we can reduce the cost and make these reactors economically feasible. So, I think -- I would say that's the main issue, is how to bring the cost of it down and make it real as an industry.

WALKER: What is one thing you wish people would understand about this technology before we let you go?

KOLEMEN: Oh, well, if you think about it, like I said, the fundamental energy of the universe is fusion. And if we think long term, long enough, we won't obviously have any fossil fuels to burn, even if we wanted to. And if you want to have a civilization that's growing, people are thinking about going to other planets and maybe to other stars in the universe. And for that, literally, the only way we can do that is with fusion energy in the long, long term.

So, this is something we have -- we will accomplish, now we have to, but we will accomplish. The question is, are we going to do it within the next decade or two so that we can help with the climate emergency or are we going to do it later, maybe in 100 years.?

[07:45:00]

So, I have no doubt that in the future, fusion will be the main source that we use because that's the source that -- of energy that runs the universe.

WALKER: Egemen Kolemen, I think you will make it happen within your lifetime. I'm sure of that after talking to you. Thank you so much for your time.

BLACKWELL: Still ahead, one of the world's biggest cities could be just months away from running out of water. We'll explain why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Mexico City is one of the world's biggest cities, most populous, nearly 22 million people there and it could be just months away from running out of water.

WALKER: CNN's Gustavo Valdes explains how the water crisis is compounded by climate change and decaying infrastructure.

[07:50:00]

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GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lorena Cruz (ph) knows she's breaking the law every time she pulls water from this underground reservoir.

She says, it is a miracle the city tank has water, and without it, the whole neighborhood would suffer because they have got no running water for over a month. And the city, she says, still wants them to pay for the service.

Lorena and her neighbors are not the only ones struggling to find water for their basic needs. All 21 million residents in Mexico City's metropolitan area are experiencing shortages, in part because of a severe drought. Mexico's capital gets its water from two sources, a system of reservoirs known as Cutzamala and underground aquifers.

Raul Rodriguez Marquez, director of the Consejo Consultivo de Laua, a civic organization promoting water conservation, says their reservoirs are at historic low levels, well below 40 percent capacity, and the aquifers are over extracted. Part of the problem has been drier than normal rain season that typically run from May to August. And expert say, the situation can worsen for the city built over a lake bed before the Spaniards arrived five centuries ago. Some experts warned the city could run out of water this summer on what it's been called day zero.

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador dismiss those claims. Calling them an attempt from the opposition to influence the presidential election in June. And said his government is working to get more water to the city.

The city's mayor assured residents that the water supply is guaranteed. But frustrated residents have taken to the streets in protest, and many neighborhoods depend on water delivered by trucks, some paid by the government, many paid by local residents.

Maria Herminia Collins (ph) says, each truck costs about $200 and it's just enough for 20 days of water for a handful of families if they use it wisely and recycle. Like using water from washing dishes to flush toilets.

But the lack of rain is not the only reason experts say Mexico City is suffering from water shortages. A study by Universidad Autonoma de Mexico shows that 40 percent of the water supply is lost due to leaks. Some because breakage of pipes during the frequent earthquakes. Some because the city still relies on pipes over a hundred years old.

Rodriguez Marquez says that instead of investing to improve the infrastructure, the money spent on water project has decreased for many years.

VALDES: We contacted Conagua, Mexico's National Water Management Agency, and they declined our request for an interview. They also declined to answer the written questions we submitted about the water supply levels and the state of the infrastructure.

VALDES (voice-over): For now, the government will continue to rush on distribution and continues to call on its citizens to conserve the precious liquid, forcing residents to patiently wait for water to come their way or get what they need whenever they can.

Gustavo Valdes, CNN, Atlanta.

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BLACKWELL: Gustavo Valdes, thank you for that story.

All right. His wife had cancer, and he had a baby with his girlfriend, all while running for president. Hear the story of John Edwards affair on "United States of Scandal with Jake Tapper".

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was very shocking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a man I was willing to vote for as president.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why would he do a thing like that?

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR AND HOST "UNITED STATES OF SCANDAL WITH JAKE TAPPER" (voice-over): Why would he do that? He had to know that his personal failures would detonate his political career. Yet he still seemed to believe that he was destined to transform the United States.

TAPPER: And it wasn't just him. So many smart people surrounding him accommodated his lies, believing that the ends justified the means. This story is 15 years old, but it burned so many people, including many staffers who still work in politics and refuse to talk about the scandal to this day.

TAPPER (voice-over): John Edwards isn't talking either. And his ex- wife, Elizabeth, sadly died in 2010. Thankfully, I was able to find answers and understanding in Kentucky. Sitting and talking with someone who wants, fairly or not, was the most infamous woman in the United States, Rielle Hunter.

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BLACKWELL: "United States of Scandal with Jake Tapper" airs tonight at 9:00 on CNN.

WALKER: All right. Still ahead, South Carolina voters spoke with a resounding voice in the state's Republican presidential primary, they want Donald Trump. That's next.

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[07:59:37]

BLACKWELL: Good morning. Welcome to "CNN This Morning". It is Sunday, February 25th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

WALKER: And I'm Amara Walker. Thank you so much for being with us this morning. Here is what we are watching for you. Another primary, another win for Donald Trump, but dig into the numbers and there are concerns about the GOP frontrunner's chances in November.

BLACKWELL: Plus, a partial government shutdown is less than a week away unless lawmakers can find a solution, but as we know, time is running out.

WALKER: And Israel is working out the details of a hostage deal with Hamas. Can the two sides agree to a deal that could spare the people of Gaza?