Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Car Explodes In Western Berlin; 367 GOP Delegates at Stake Today; Cruz: Trump Is A "Disaster" But I'll Still Support Nominee; CNN Goes Inside Aleppo. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired March 15, 2016 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:31:25] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we have breaking news out of Germany. A car explosion in a suburb of West Berlin. At least one person we know has been killed. Senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen is live with all the breaking details on what we're learning. Obviously this is very early, what do we know?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is certainly very early, Michaela. The latest information that we're getting from the Berlin police department is they said that this happened at 8:00 am local time, so right in the middle of morning commuter traffic. They say this car, which was a silver station wagon, blew up right in the middle of the commuter traffic. One person was killed. The Berlin police, just a couple of minutes ago, confirmed to us that they are very sure that this was an explosive device that was either in the car or on the car. So they're not sure whether it was actually inside the vehicle or whether someone had maybe stuck it onto the vehicle. Again, one person has been killed at this point in time. You're seeing pictures from just a little bit earlier. At this point in time, the Berlin police says they have a bomb disposal squad on the scene, checking the car, seeing if there's any other sort of unexploded materials there. They created a wide security perimeter around the area, are urging people to stay indoors, to close their windows and to just stay inside. At this point in time, it's unclear whether or not this incident is terrorism related, they say. Alisyn --

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK. Thanks so much. Fred will stay on this story obviously throughout the morning and bring people updates. Meanwhile, back to politics. It's a critical Super Tuesday for Ted Cruz. Can the Texas Senator turn the GOP contest into a two- man race going forward? We'll ask one of his top aides about the plan next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:37:05] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Five big, big primaries on the GOP side, just crucial for this race for delegates. Ted Cruz is second behind Donald Trump in the delegate count. He's hoping by the end of the night that the Republicans will decide this is a two-man race with him and Trump and the others will be gone. We have Ron Nehring, national spokesman for Senator Ted Cruz's campaign, joins us now. Hey Ron, how you doing? When you're looking at your internal polling, Florida, Ohio, not really in the offer for you in terms of winning tonight. But what do you see happening in the other three states? What's your guess?

RON NEHRING, NATIONAL SPOKESMAN, TED CRUZ FOR PRESIDENT: Well I think that all of these states are very, very competitive for us. Senator Cruz was at five different events in Illinois yesterday. He spent a lot of time in Missouri and North Carolina, and I think that these states will be very, very important for the results tonight in helping to set the stage for that two-person contest that'll take us all the way through June and then the convention.

CUOMO: Set the stage. Let's unpack that a bit, shall we? The confidence is clear from Senator Cruz. He believes there's a path forward. It's hard, as an analyst, to see what that path is forward against Donald Trump. How do you look at it and say, OK, I see where we're going now. I see which states we're going to win, when you look at the path to victory, in quotes, it's frankly hard to see it. What do you see?

NEHRING: Well, as of right now, of course, Donald Trump has a small advantage in terms of the number of delegates. We have to get to 1,237 delegates before the convention and the first thing is to note that we're not for having some type of brokered convention where Washington insiders get to change the rules and pick who the nominee is. We really think that the voters should have that opportunity, and that includes voters from all 50 states, five territories, and the District of Columbia. I'm the state chairman in the state of California for the campaign. We've been organizing since August in anticipation of the possibility that it will go all the way to California and there are 169 delegates at that point. But clearly the elections today help to set that stage. And there's really a lull, only a handful of states that will vote between March 15 and April 15 and then we get into the Northeast primary in New York and then on to June. So this is a state by state process. It will be a delegate by delegate process, I would imagine, but it's going to be a two-person race between senator Cruz and Donald Trump and with Donald Trump having this hard limit. It's really hard for him to get above 35 or 40 percent. Every Republican in the country knows Donald Trump and the majority of Republicans don't want him to be the nominee and that's our biggest strategic advantage.

CUOMO: You have your own PR problems, though, within the party. You know this. You're a great guest on this issue because you worked for the RNC for a few years and obviously we remember you working with Governor Scwarzenegger. You know the party system very well. Ted Cruz isn't the most popular guy in the club, is he? How do you think that's shaping up now compared to Trump? Are you getting a change in perspective on Senator Cruz?

[06:39:57] NEHRING: Well, I think the fact that Senator Cruz did not go to Washington D.C. to become the most popular person among Washington insiders has served as a great strength. If you take a look at how he did in the state of Texas where he won his own state by 17 points, you compare that to where Marco Rubio is in his own state where he's not likely to win today at all, and I think that bodes very, very well for him. This is certainly not a year where Republican primary voters are looking for the most popular Washington insider in order to be our nominee. Republicans are thirsty for someone who will go to Washington, challenge the status quo, including challenging the status quo within our own party, to put conservative solutions into action. So that's another strategic advantage which Senator Cruz has.

CUOMO: You say brokered. The party people are saying contested. If it goes to a convention, are you concerned that Cruz doesn't come out of a convention?

NEHRING: Well, I think at the end of the day, Senator Cruz is at the center of where the Republican Party is, and that serves him very, very well. People can look at the numbers. We can see how weak Donald Trump is against Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee. Donald Trump has the highest negatives of any candidate of either party to seek the presidency in recent times. That is an extreme disadvantage that he would have as the Republican nominee. And that, Republicans will take a good, hard look at that, because Republicans, above all, we want to make sure that we offer an alternative to the status quo of seven, eight years of Democrat leadership under Barack Obama and a nominee in Donald Trump gives us president Hillary Clinton. It gives us a Democratic senate, and we lose the Supreme Court for 25 years. With the stakes that high, I think the Republicans will turn to someone who's been a reliable conservative leader, to someone who's demonstrated again that ability to challenge the status quo. Again, that's a strategic advantage for our team. Now how the convention comes out, ultimately, the nominee needs 1,237 votes. We think we're going to be in a strong position going into that convention.

CUOMO: Now, the one thing that gets a little tricky here in terms of understand is, despite that damning description of what Trump would mean, senator Ted Cruz has said on many occasions, he would support Ted Cruz -- he would certainly support Ted Cruz. He would support Donald Trump if he gets the nomination. How can he feel this way about the man and yet support him for president?

NEHRING: Well, Donald Trump is certainly someone who's shown himself that he's not the strongest contender that the Republican Party can put up for president. Look, I don't think this is actually going to be an issue because Donald Trump is not going to be the nominee of this party. So ultimately I think the nominee of this party is going to be someone other than Donald Trump and the only person who has that pathway to victory is Ted Cruz. So I think that's a hypothetical which we're not going to have to contend with.

CUOMO: All right. That's ambitious, looking at the delegate count right now, but as you said, it's a long way from over. Ron Nehring, thank you very much for your take on NEW DAY. Always welcome, sir.

NEHRING: Thanks, Chris.

CUOMO: Alisyn --

CAMEROTA: Chris, Sarah Palin had to rush home to Alaska from Florida yesterday after her husband, Todd, was in a serious accident. We have an update on his condition when NEW DAY returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:46:57] PEREIRA: Well Sarah Palin is back home in Alaska this morning. She's tending to her husband, Todd, after he was involved in a bad snowmobile crash. That incident pulling the former governor off the campaign trail for Donald Trump. Our Stephanie Elam is in Los Angeles and brings us the very latest on Todd Palin's condition and what exactly happened here. Hi, Steph.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela. Yes, a scary one for Todd Palin and the Palin family. What we understand is that this snowmobile accident happened Sunday night, and that that's where he was injured. He's in intensive care. We know that this is something that pulled Sarah Palin off the campaign trail, but at the same time, it's Todd Palin who has been racing these snowmobiles for quite some time. That, we know the organization that he races with has put out a statement as well saying that he was in a local hospital recovering, but when you take a look at what Sarah Palin has tweeted out or put on Facebook about his condition, she said that he has a broken and fractured ribs, a broken shoulder blade, broken clavicle, knee and leg injuries, and a collapsed lung, and she also said that he was undergoing surgery last night as well. She also said that, quote, thank you for your prayers for a speedy recovery. We as his wife and children appreciate your respect for our privacy during this time. Knowing Todd, once he's cognizant, he'll probably ask doc's to duct tape him up, he'll call it good, he's tough, end quote to that post. But this did pull her off the campaign trail. She was in Tampa there for Donald Trump but flew back to Alaska to be with her family. Alisyn --

CAMEROTA: That is a lot of broken bones. It will take a long time to be on the mend, even though he is tough. Thanks so much for that, Stephanie. Well, a stunning look at life inside rebel-held areas of Syria. A CNN crew risking their lives to go behind rebel lines for an exclusive report. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:52:23] PEREIRA: Russian war planes starting to pull out of Syria this morning, hours after President Vladimir Putin announced that he is withdrawing his troops. Putin says Russian forces have achieved their goal as the civil war in Syria approaches a somber five-year mark. CNN senior international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, recently went into rebel-held Syria where virtually no western journalist has gone for more than a year. She joins us now with her exclusive report. It's incredible the access you got and what you were able to witness.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Michaela. We managed to get into city of Aleppo. Aleppo has been bombed by the regime of Bashar al-Assad for four years and then by the Russians for the last four months, and there's only one road left to get in and out of rebel-held Aleppo. They call it the road of death, take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARD: You can tell when you're getting closer to Aleppo. The streets are pockmarked with the aftermath of fresh airstrikes. Berms of earth flank the road to protect the way from enemy fire. It's a dangerous journey to a city few dare to visit.

We now have to drive extremely quickly along this portion of the road because on one side, you have the regime and on the other side you have Kurdish fighters who are now fighting against rebel forces, and there are snipers all around here, but this is the only road now to get into Aleppo.

As you arrive in the city, the scale of the destruction is breathtaking. Stretching on and on, entire residential neighborhoods reduced to rubble. Aleppo was once Syria's largest city, a bustling economic hub, now an apocalyptic landscape. Russian war planes have bombed these areas relentlessly, allowing government ground forces to encircle the rebel-held eastern part of the city. Still, we found pockets of life among the devastation. A fruit market, huddled in the shadow of a bombed-out building, a line of people waiting patiently to collect water, now a precious resource here.

[06:54:44] This is basically what is left of rebel-held Aleppo after months and months of thousands of Russian bombs raining down on here. The streets are largely deserted, the buildings have been destroyed, and the people who once lived here have been pushed out. And the very few residents who are still here, who we've spoken to, have told us that they don't expect the situation to get any better. In fact, they're convinced it will only get worse.

70-year-old (ph) Suad has lived in this city for 40 years. Her grandson, Faruk, is a fighter with an Islamist rebel group, Ahrar ash- Sham. In all, nine members of her family have been killed in the fighting, including two of her three sons.

TRANSLATOR: They all died on the front line. We raise our heads high for them. God willing, they are in paradise.

WARD: What would it take for you to leave Aleppo?

TRANSLATOR: It is true there is shelling and Russian planes and Iranian militias and every day, there is a massacre, but it is enough for us to express our religion and our faith as free people without anyone stopping us. It is enough for us to fight as Mujahideen and defend our honor and our women.

TRANSLATOR: Should we leave our country and go to another country? No, this is our country, and we will remain in this until we die.

WARD: The people clinging onto life here feel that the world has abandoned them, leaving them only with God. Their existence becomes more precarious with every passing day, but surrender is unthinkable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Clarissa, we've told the stories of those millions and millions of refugees that have fled and left Syria. It's interesting for you to go to the place where they've been leaving from. That woman that you spoke to, what does she make about that mass exodus with millions and millions that fled for safety?

WARD: I think what was interesting talking to people who remain on the ground, you'd expect that they all want to leave, that they want to get out of the country, that they want to be safe, that they don't have the means or the money, perhaps, to do it, but actually, they're very committed to staying in Syria, to finishing what they started. And while they understand why so many people have fled the country, they also sort of feel that those people have, in a sense, forfeited their right to have a say in what happens in the future of Syria, and that's why you really have a problem. The longer this war drags on and the more radicalized the people who are staying on the ground are being bombed day in and day out become, the more they are the ones that are ultimately going to dictate the future of this country.

PEREIRA: The future, the fact that you're even saying that word, when you look at that, one would think there would be no hope for a future there, but there is. What is the sort of consensus and thought about what it would take to begin to rebuild that? I mean, the devastation is incredible.

WARD: I mean the numbers I have read are all over the place because it's so difficult to get a sense of how much it would cost, but certainly, what we do know is that the fighting is costing $4 billion in lost revenue for Syria, every single month. If it keeps going until 2020, we're talking about more than $1 trillion. Estimates before the Russian intervention in terms of rebuilding were nearly $300 billion. So you can imagine what they would be now. Now, at the same time, yesterday, we have this surprising news, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, suddenly announcing the Russian military is going to withdraw its forces. Could that be a silver lining? Could that mean an end to the aerial bombardment? We don't know yet. The devil is very much in the details as far as what this withdrawal will actually look like. But certainly, people like that 70-year-old woman, Souad, on the ground in Aleppo would absolutely welcome an end to the bombardment.

PEREIRA: You know, it's so important for these pieces of journalism to be shown to the world because oftentimes it's a headline and you don't see beyond it, but to take us into the streets and see what, as you said, clinging to life. What kind of life they have right now, is so important. Of course, you got incredible access. Thank you for bringing that story to us. She's going to be joining us this week with some more pieces from there. We appreciate it, thanks so much.

All right, as I mentioned, we'll have lots more of Clarissa's exclusive reports throughout the week. You can find out more at cnn.com/syria. We are following a whole lot of news this morning, including today's critical Super Tuesday contests. Let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is now effectively a two-person race.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Lying Ted goes, I've got to tell you, I'm the only one that can stop Trump.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We don't represent the billionaire class. We don't want or need their money.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Republican party is not going to allow itself to be hijacked.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are better than what we are hearing every night on television.

TRUMP: Remember the Democrats for Reagan? We have it bigger. It's Democrats for Trump. It's a bigger number.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to send a message to the country.

CRUZ: If there isn't a viable path, then it's time for a candidate to move on.

RUBIO: Do we really want to live in a country where everybody hates each other?

SANDERS: Let's make sure we have a huge voter turnout.