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At Least 19 People Killed in Pakistan University Attack; Sarah Palin Endorses Trump for President; Major Snowstorm Targets Mid- Atlantic, Northeast; Michigan Governor Apologizes for Flint Water Catastrophe. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired January 20, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Chris, only 25 miles between that school, the army public school hit in Peshawar in late 2014 and this university in Charsadda. Now, we know that the attackers, four of them, it's now said, seemed to have used grenades to gain entry. A lot of violence seems to have been contained in two blocks of the university. And security forces' response slowed by the intense fog that's been enveloping that institution.

[07:00:19] This stuck out in exposed farmland. We tried to use aerial surveillance. Now we are told in the past hour and a half, that the clearance operation is over. The death toll amongst those inside the university seems to be 19, and then after that, the four attackers themselves.

That is obviously devastating for their loved ones but less than it could have been in the case, given there are 3,000 students and 600 staff. So a swift enough response, it seems, from those security forces and yes, you mention who's behind this. Well, there's a claim of responsibility from one Taliban leader in Pakistan, Umar Mansoor, the man behind the Peshawar attack, too. But confusingly, an official statement also from the Tekrik-i-Taliban Pakistan -- that's the official Pakistani Taliban -- saying they're not behind it, condemning it, in fact, saying it's not quite according to Sharia, Islamic law.

So in the days ahead, we'll find, perhaps, who's behind this. It's said to have been a response to Pakistani security operations in those same tribal areas. The Pakistani public got behind that after the deadly massacre in Peshawar 13 months ago, and now yet another attempt to use educational institutions as a way to inflict a toll on innocent civilians in Pakistan by the Taliban -- Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Nick, as you know all too well, they can call it whatever they want. At the end of the day it's just about murder. Joining us now is CNN terrorism analyst and editor in chief of the terrorism study journal, "CTC Sentinel," Paul Cruickshank.

Paul, let's start with a little bit of a macroview of this part of the world. I've spent plenty of time there. It seems, although we hear Pakistani forces are being tough, they're breaking down, it seems that these groups all too often can launch on any scale they want and get anywhere they want and do something like this. What's the reality? PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, the reality is that

these groups have been weakened significantly in the last 13 months in Pakistan, in the Pakistani tribal areas. The Pakistani military has hit them hard. They are reeling to a certain degree. And that's why we're seeing them lash out with these attacks.

That Peshawar school massacre in December 2014 was also in response to Pakistani military operations. So these operations being launched to avenge the strikes, the operations by the Pakistani military to send a message, stop hitting us so hard.

But clearly, these groups still have a certain amount of resilience in the northwest part of Pakistan in the tribal areas. Some of these militants have also now been pushed out into Afghanistan from those tribal areas, Chris.

CUOMO: Now, when we're talking about the northwest frontier provinces, there is this odd layering of authority right here in the U.S. or in Europe. You think you are a designee of the sovereign: France, Belgium, the United States. Not there, especially in this part of Pakistan.

Most of the people there identify with tribe first. The military often has to ask for permission in one way or another to go into areas. How does that complicate this fight?

CRUICKSHANK: Well, particularly in the tribal areas of Pakistan, it has complicated the fight. It has been difficult at times for the Pakistani military to go in. There has been a certain amount of support in some of these areas for the militants, militants who are part of the same tribes.

But we have seen a significant amount of progress in this last year by the Pakistani military. And that's why these militant groups are lashing out here, Chris.

With this sort of conflicting claim of responsibility, you've got one commander, Mansoor, who has just got off the telephone with our local reporter, Salim Massa (ph) in Pakistan, saying, "I was responsible for this."

And the main group, they actually sanctioned it, but they're going to deny it for political reasons. That's what he essentially has said now to CNN. The Pakistani Taliban having their cake and eat it, that Peshawar attack back in 2014, even al Qaeda criticized them for carrying out that attack. They may have carried out this attack and then denied it. Confusing, I know, but all part of the local dynamics in Pakistan.

CUOMO: Also not known for straight-line moral standard. But what would be the perverse notion of righteousness in an attack like this? How is it justified on any level to these minds?

CRUICKSHANK: No. 1, just pure revenge against the Pakistani military, against the Pakistani state. No. 2, they don't believe in any kind of secular education, that

people should just get a religious education, should go to madrassas and, therefore, people in their view aren't proper Muslims, in their view, who are getting this kind of education. So they see it as a potentially legitimate target, Chris.

Even though we've seen these two attacks, which really, you know, play to anyone's sensitivities, because there are so many kids and innocents involved, Pakistan, how does it size up in terms of relative stability in the region?

[07:05:20] CRUICKSHANK: I think Pakistan is relatively stable right now. The military has made significant strides against the Jihadis in the tribal areas. There's, of course, still some support within the Pakistani intelligence establishment for the Afghan Taliban. They make a distinction between the Pakistani Taliban and the Afghan Taliban.

But relatively stable right now, always concern about the relationship with India that that could flare up, that there have been some of the Pakistani militant groups launching attacks in India, like Lashkar-e- Taiba back in 2008. If you see another one of those kind of attacks, you could see renewed tension on the subcontinent, Chris.

CUOMO: Interesting commentary on the state of play, relatively, that you have two schools attacked in such a small time period, and you have the place is seen as relatively stable, given the rest of the environment in that part of the world.

Paul Cruickshank, thank you as always. Appreciate it -- Mick.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. To our other top story, a big boost for Donald Trump. Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin throwing her support behind Trump just 12 days before the Iowa caucuses. Will it help get Trump win -- let Trump win over skeptical evangelicals and Tea Partiers? CNN political reporter Sara Murray live in Norwalk, Iowa, where Trump and Palin begin campaigning together this morning -- Sara.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Michaela, it is an open question whether a Sarah Palin endorsement could help change people's minds. But it could certainly help motivate Republican voters to turn out for Donald Trump, and when the race is this close in Iowa, you don't want to take any chances.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA PALIN, FORMER VICE-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Are you ready to stump for Trump?

MURRAY (voice-over): Sarah Palin is back. Center stage and throwing her support behind Donald Trump.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to give them hell. MURRAY: Nearly a decade after the conservative firebrand rallied

raucous crowds as John McCain's 2008 running mate, Palin is taking on a new mission, shoring up Trump against some of his rival's most potent attacks. And Sara Barracuda came out swinging...

PALIN: Are you ready for a commander in chief who will let our military do their job and go kick ISIS ass? No more pussyfooting around.

MURRAY: ... slamming GOP leaders...

PALIN: They've been wearing just political correctness kind of like a suicide vest.

MURRAY: ... and reassuring Iowa voters that Trump, a former Democrat, is a true conservative.

PALIN: Oh, my goodness gracious. What the heck would the establishment know about conservativism?

MURRAY: Palin even casting the businessman as a populist who just happens to be a billionaire.

PALIN: Yes, our leader is a little bit different. He's a multibillionaire, not that there's anything wrong with that. But it's amazing. He is not an elitist at all.

MURRAY: Yesterday, Trump pressing pause on his primary battles...

TRUMP: I'm going to be non-confrontational today for a change.

MURRAY: ... to relish his celebrity endorsement.

TRUMP: This is a woman that, from day one, I said, "If I ever do this, I have to get her support."

MURRAY: As Cruz ended a tough day on the trail with a double whammy, losing Palin...

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Regardless of what Sarah decides to do in 2016, I will always remain a big, big fan of Sarah Palin.

MURRAY: ... and facing new attacks in Iowa as Governor Terry Branstad, a Republican heavyweight, said Cruz needs to be defeated.

GOV. TERRY BRANSTAD (R), IOWA: He hasn't supported renewable fuels, and I believe that would be a big mistake for Iowa to support him.

MURRAY: It's a jab Cruz says was to be expected.

CRUZ: Look, it is no surprise that the establishment is in full panic mode.

(END VIDEOTAPE) MURRAY: Now we're expecting to see Sarah Palin with Donald Trump this morning in Iowa, as well as later this afternoon in Tulsa, Oklahoma. One of the questions about how effective this endorsement will be is how often will we see Sarah Palin? Will we see her out stumping regularly for Donald Trump? Will we see her doing interviews and defending him, continuing to defend him about some of these attacks about his conservatism. And that, I think, is still an open question -- Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK. Sara Murray, thanks so much for all that material. We can bring in now CNN political commentator and host of CNN's "SMERCONISH," Michael Smerconish.

Good morning, Michael.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: OK. So we just saw Sarah Palin in full campaign mode. She trotted out lots of old and new Palinisms. What do you think her endorsement does for the Donald Trump campaign?

SMERCONISH: I think it's significant. And it's part of a trifecta of good news that Trump has had. Let's give him his just props. He had a very good debate performance. Now he picks up this endorsement, plus the influence of Governor Branstad. I think it's creating momentum in his favor at precisely the right time.

[07:10:05] Alisyn, I don't know what kind of influence she has left in the Republican Party. I went looking for data and really couldn't find anything recent. But whatever sway she still holds, I think she holds in Iowa among evangelicals. She is the original anti- establishment candidate. There are so many similarities between the two of them, gender aside. So I'm not really surprised by this, but it's a big coup.

CAMEROTA: Well, Ralph Reed says that he knows how much weight and cachet she holds -- her endorsement holds. He, of course, the chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition. He said, "Palin's brand among evangelicals is as gold as the faucets in Trump Tower. Endorsements alone don't guarantee victory, but Palin's embrace of Trump may turn the fight over the evangelical vote into a war for the soul of the party."

So for evangelicals, it sounds like this could tip the scales.

SMERCONISH: I don't know that minds are going to change. I think that the real influence of a Palin endorsement is in getting people to come out in less than two weeks on a cold night and invest two to three hours of their time, because now it comes down to the ground game. They're within the margin of error in most of the polls that I see. It's a function of who can drive their vote to actually show up that night.

CAMEROTA: You know, Ted Cruz is arguably more conservative than Donald Trump. So why didn't Palin endorse Ted Cruz? SMERCONISH: I think, as I reflected on not only issues but

personalities. I mean, I watched that whole presentation. It was hard not to yesterday, last evening. And I note the similarities between the two of them. I mean, they have a celebrity quotient, an anti-establish fervor to them. They overlap on many issues, each of them referencing Palin and Trump, you know, wants to run against "the man," whomever those might be who are in power.

I don't think it was a strict issues calculation. I had the opportunity to interview Governor Palin recently in Las Vegas at one of the CNN debates and asked her about the field. And she spoke warmly of both Cruz and Trump. That's why I wasn't so shocked.

But I don't think it came down to issues. I think it came down to gravitas and a vibe that she felt from Trump that she wasn't getting from Cruz.

CAMEROTA: As you know, Governor Terry Branstad of Iowa has made an appeal there to vote for anyone but Ted Cruz. This is over ethanol. Do you think this will have a big impact?

SMERCONISH: I thought this was the real surprise yesterday. I mean, again, a feather in the cap for Donald Trump to get the endorsement of Sarah Palin. But it seemed like out of nowhere Governor Branstad injected himself into this. He's been around for a long time, as you've noted throughout the course of the broadcast. He's not seen as a partisan player in a situation like this.

And so I think that this was the real gift that Trump picked up yesterday. Branstad apparently won't come out and endorse, but frankly, he doesn't have to, because Iowa is a two-person race.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about the Democratic side for a second. Because the latest CNN polls show Bernie Sanders running away with New Hampshire. Let me just put these up. He's now getting 60 percent to Hillary Clinton's 33 percent. Is this a New Hampshire anomaly, Michael, or is this indicative of a larger worry for Hillary Clinton?

SMERCONISH: Well, is it an anomaly for both New Hampshire and Iowa? Because although you point out correctly that he's running better in New Hampshire than he is in Iowa, he's doing extremely well in both states. And the question is whether he could sustain momentum.

CAMEROTA: Somebody just tripped over a cord somewhere.

CUOMO: Censorship.

CAMEROTA: Exactly. That's right. We appreciate Michael Smerconish being here. Let's get over to Chris.

All right. We want you to know we have a big event coming up. Next Monday night in Iowa, it's going to be seen only here on CNN, of course. It's one week before the Iowa caucus, right? So we're going to have Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Martin O'Malley, all going face-to-face with who matters most: the voters in Iowa. It's going to be a CNN Democratic presidential town hall, live from Des Moines. I'll be there to moderate. It's the final pitch for all the candidates before the first votes are cast. Real people with real problems. They get to look at these candidates in the eye and say what will you do for me? That is next Monday night at 9 p.m. Eastern, live only on CNN -- Mick.

PEREIRA: Another big event that was sort of inevitable, winter finally flexing its muscles. A big storm is about to dump snow from eastern Tennessee to the tip of Maine. Meteorologist Chad Myers has a look at the latest forecast. How much, when? Oh, my goodness.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A lot, and with wind and blizzard conditions. And it happens on Saturday, Michaela.

The first part of snow now coming through Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky. But we're watching a storm system just developing in the Rocky Mountain states. By tomorrow, it starts to get into Oklahoma and Kansas and then the Gulf Coast states.

And by Saturday, it' really is pounding the northeast.

So let me move you ahead all the way till tomorrow into Friday and finally Friday night. It begins to snow in D.C. Friday about 8 p.m. Not snowing in New York City yet. But the low is on its way up to the northeast. And that snow will go all Saturday long.

Heavy snow. I'm talking 14 inches of snow, maybe 20 in D.C., 10 to 14 in Philadelphia. Likely 10 inches in New York City and much less. Maybe zero to 1 in Albany. There will be a quick transition to nothing to the north. But what also is going to go on with this snow, heavy at times, heavy for 24 hours, will be the wind.

Look at the wind gusts. By Saturday afternoon, New York City 40. Between the buildings, 60. Philadelphia almost 55 mile per hour wind gusts with the snow blowing sideways. You may never see 10 inches of snow on the ground, because there will be a 6-foot drift right next to the bare ground. It is going to be a brutal nor'easter. We'll talk about that at 8 a.m..

CAMEROTA: I don't understand why winter lasts so much longer than summer. The math doesn't add up.

PEREIRA: It didn't really start until today.

MYERS: It's your latitude.

CAMEROTA: Is that what it is?

PEREIRA: It's a latitudinal problem. OK.

CUOMO: You heard him. It's your attitude. You've got a terrible attitude.

CAMEROTA: I have a terrible winter attitude, but I have a great summer attitude. Nobody is happier in the summer.

CUOMO: You are all about summer. It does give you a chance to show off all those tattoos you have.

CAMEROTA: Sun's out, guns out.

CUOMO: Wow.

CAMEROTA: You know?

PEREIRA: There's a hash tag.

CUOMO: And I'll tell you, I was shocked. Remember that first one, that weird French poem?

PEREIRA: Read what's there.

CUOMO: Michigan's governor is now apologizing for the contaminated water crisis in Flint. It is still going on. There is no past tense. It is right now. How do they plan to do that? We're going to talk to a Michigan senator about it, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK SNYDER (R), MICHIGAN: To you, the people of Flint, I say tonight as I have before, I am sorry and I will fix it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: But it hasn't been fixed. That was Michigan's governor apologizing, talking to the people of Flint, for the enormous health crisis that's been going on for years.

Lead-contaminated water. Not the only problem facing Michigan. In Detroit, teachers are staging sickouts, 83 public schools closing for the day because of what the teachers say are desperate situations. President Obama heading to the Motor City today. We have Senator Debbie Stabenow, Democrat from Michigan, joining us now.

It's good to have you, Senator. Very hard times in your home state. President Obama going to Detroit to talk about the automotive resurgence there.

SEN. DEBBIE STABENOW (D), MICHIGAN: Right.

CUOMO: Is that a little off message, considering the grave hardships in that state?

STABENOW: Well, first ever all, Chris, we have seen a great turnaround in the auto industry, and that's the good news. But what is happening in Flint is really outrageous.

And you're right on. It's not done. It's almost been two years.

And since the very beginning, when people complained about the smell, the taste of the water, EPA did testing; and the governor attacked the EPA for being wrong. Then a Flint pediatrician found out there were higher lead levels in

children. They attacked the pediatrician.

And it was only, finally, after there was great public attention on it, that they even took this seriously at all.

And today, you still can't drink the water. You can't bathe your children. One gentlemen said, you know, you can't take a shower in bottled water. I'm still trying to make sure every low-income mom who's mixing baby formula is not doing it in that dirty water, even though I've got a commitment since last fall to make sure every mom has ready to feed formula, there's been no sense of urgency on behalf of the state to make sure that moms know this. So this is really outrageous.

CUOMO: Well, look, you know, it's easy to say now, right? Now it's all over the place. Now it has to be owned. The governor saying he's sorry.

The problem is that you have all these lawyers and people getting together to sue, because you should have known. It should have been there, and you have President Obama going to talk about the automotive resurgence.

Isn't it true that, not until GM said, "We can't use this water. It's rusting our parts" was there anything addressed publicly. And only then, GM got switched to a different line, and the Flint people had to keep still drinking the same water. How do you justify something like that, Senator?

STABENOW: You don't, Chris. There's no way to justify any of this.

And I have to say, in this particular case, every single person who made a decision, every single decision was made by the governor in this state government. Every single one. And you're absolutely right on this.

Now, there were people that put forth the testing information this summer to try to get it out there. The pediatrician, others talking about it, all of us that were going to them and saying what do you need? There's a problem here, let us help. No sense of urgency whatsoever.

Now, right now, even though that -- we're glad the president is in Michigan, but I'm going to be leaving after talking to you to go meet with the point person he's put in charge from Health and Human Services and the mayor of Flint so that we can focus on what we can do federally, but it doesn't take the place of the fact that the state government has the legal and moral responsibility.

They just announced over a half-a-billion-dollars surplus in the state. And there's not a major commitment to making sure dollars go to fix this quickly. And it's -- I continue to be stunned as we look at the slow walking of the state on this.

CUOMO: Look, it's always easy to point fingers, especially in the aftermath.

STABENOW: There's a lot to point right now, I have to tell you.

CUOMO: I understand that. But, you know, also, the federal government had a big hand in this. They did testing early on. They came up with obviously wrong conclusions. The question...

STABENOW: They came up with right conclusions, and the state rejected it.

CUOMO: No, but in the time line -- in the time line, you had the feds saying that the water was OK to drink. And let me tell you, if the feds did believe it wasn't safe to drink, I don't know why they didn't make that information public.

But let me ask you. When did you find out, Senator? When did this come to your desk?

STABENOW: This came last summer as I was talking with community leaders. We went to the state. Everyone assured us and assured the people in the community that this was safe.

[07:25:08] And then meeting with the pediatrician in September when it became clear to me that, in fact, higher lead levels were there for children, I immediately went into action to make sure that low-income moms were not mixing their baby formula with this water.

I went to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to get a commitment early to be able to bring in extra dollars for ready-to-feed formula. In the fall the state said that everybody had ready-to-feed formula who wanted it. They had no sense of urgency. They weren't doing any outreach on this.

I spent the entire fall trying to deal with what is the only thing that can be done to mitigate what is happening to these children, and that's better nutrition. Because once the lead is in your body, it never leaves.

CUOMO: Right. But that's -- look, that's the best you can do. Lead poisoning is horrible; it's pernicious. We all understand that. You've got to change the pipes. That's what everybody's saying right now.

STABENOW: No question.

CUOMO: You switched them back onto the Detroit water system. The federal government did not declare this a disaster. It's an emergency but not a disaster. So that means they're not going to get as much resources. You have to change the pipes. It's really expensive. You can't even put floors on your schools. Despite the automotive resurgence, the money is not getting to where it needs to be, is it?

STABENOW: Chris, we have a situation where state government is controlling all of those issues you're talking about. We'll back them up and support them.

But the new pipes, they can make the decisions. They fund and control the drinking water revolving loan fund.

You're absolutely right. It needs to be new pipes. Unfortunately, right now, this is something that is supervised, owned, operated, administered by state government, as it does -- as it is in most states.

We want to support them. This is not about just passing the buck. It's about getting to the place where decisions are made so we can fix this for the families of Flint.

So I'm going to be there. We're all going to be there to do everything we can to help. But if the state will not step up and do what needs to be done financially for this community, it's not going to happen.

So we've got to push for a sense of urgency and more than just lip service and handing out bottled water. You're absolutely right. In the end, it's about the pipes. It's about the pipe going to the home, not just the main line. And it's a major infrastructure effort that needs to go on to fix this.

CUOMO: Well, to be sure, Senator, it's got the attention of everybody who matters now, certainly the media. This is not going to go away. We'll be there every step of the way. A state -- U.S. senator has got a big voice and big jurisdiction. We look forward to seeing what you do. We'll stay on this.

STABENOW: Absolutely. Absolutely.

CUOMO: Thank you, senator.

STABENOW: Thank you.

CUOMO: Good luck to you and the people of Michigan.

STABENOW: Thank you.

CUOMO: Mick.

PEREIRA: The family of a freed American prisoner are eagerly awaiting his return to the U.S. after being released by Iran. One his close friends joins us with reaction, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)