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Trump Outlines 'America First' Foreign Policy; Sanders Gears Up for Aggressive New York Campaign; Raids & Arrests Following Brussels Attack; Syrian Forces Recapture Palmyra from ISIS. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired March 28, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think the momentum is with us. I certainly would like to see a debate in New York.

[07:00:05] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Two key terror suspects still on the loose.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirteen new raids.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hundreds of protesters stormed a memorial chanting anti-immigrant slogans.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: The ancient city of Palmyra back under the control of the Syrian government.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is a symbolic and strategic gain for the Syrian army.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.

CAMEROTA: Good morning. Welcome back to NEW DAY. Chris is off today. Don Lemon joins us here in studio. We'll get you some more coffee.

Next stop, Wisconsin. The presidential candidates making their way to the Midwest, eyeing the next big prize on the primary counter. The war of wives continues. And of course, the war on terror dominating the conversation on the Republican side. Donald Trump threatening once again to, quote, "spill the beans" on Heidi Cruz, whatever that means, and outlining his America first foreign policy plan.

LEMON: That's on the Republican side. On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders coming off a stunning weekend trifecta, sweeping Hillary Clinton by landslides in Hawaii, Alaska, and Washington state. But is there any way that he can close the delegate gap on Hillary Clinton and capture the nomination?

Our coverage kicks off right now with the Republicans and Phil Mattingly. He joins us now live from West Salem, Wisconsin.

Good morning, Phil. PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Don. This is where

the Republican field is supposed to be focused, Wisconsin. One week from tomorrow, 42 delegates at stake. A crucial, crucial state for all three candidates left in the race. Instead, coming out of this weekend, there are a couple other things people are focused on: the continual battle with the wives, a potential lawsuit and Donald Trump's foreign policy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP (via phone): I don't think America is a safe place for Americans, if you want to know the truth.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Donald Trump claiming Americans are unsafe the day after laying out his controversial foreign policy world view in a lengthy interview with "The New York Times." He calls into question traditional U.S. alliances, including NATO, describing his approach as, quote, "not isolationist, but America first."

He says, if elected, he might stop buying Saudi oil unless they commit ground troops to fight ISIS and opening the door to the notion Japan and South Korea developing nuclear arms of their own.

TRUMP: He started it. I didn't start it.

CRUZ: Attacking spouses and children is off-limits. It has no place in politics.

MATTINGLY: This as he and rival Ted Cruz ramp up the war of words over their wives, Cruz slamming Trump for hitting below the belt.

CRUZ: He sends tweets attacking my wife, attacking Heidi. It is inappropriate; it is wrong. It is frankly disgusting.

MATTINGLY: The front-runner accusing Cruz of knowing about a super PAC ad targeting his wife, Melania, first.

TRUMP: Don't forget, I call him Lying Ted. I call him that, because nobody that I've known -- I've known a lot tougher people over the years in business, but I've never known anybody that lied like Ted Cruz.

MATTINGLY: Trump threatening on Twitter to, quote, "spill the beans" on Cruz's wife, Heidi, and again on Sunday.

TRUMP: There are things about Heidi that I don't want to talk about, but I'm not going to talk about them.

MATTINGLY: Cruz calling Trump's actions a deliberate distraction, coming down hard on a salacious story in the tabloid "National Enquirer," which earlier this month endorsed Trump.

CRUZ: He's pushing these attacks. And by the way, he's been pushing them for many, many months online. These are complete made-up lies. They're garbage. MATTINGLY: Trump also blasting Cruz for courting additional delegates

Louisiana's March 5 primary, issuing this threat on Twitter, quote, "Just to show how unfair Republican primary politics can be, I won the state of Louisiana and get less delegates than Cruz. Lawsuit coming."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: Now, Republican operatives are trying to figure out what the grounds would actually be for that lawsuit. I was emailing for one last night who said, "Look, this is how the game is played. You might not like the rules, but these are the rules."

Now, guys, what really happened here is Donald Trump had a slight lead in Louisiana when he won the state. He and Ted Cruz actually split delegates, 18 apiece. There were 10 that were left over, 5 to Marco Rubio, 5 that were unbound. Ted Cruz went in and worked to get those 10 delegates. And according to "Wall Street Journal," it looks like he has them. Nothing illegal about it.

Obviously, Ted Cruz's campaign willing to take a few jabs, as well. His national spokesman tweeting out last night, "Maybe your time is better spent reading the rules than sending hate tweets" -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Phil, thank you for explaining that procedure. That was actually digestible. Thanks for that. We'll talk to you in a minute.

Meanwhile, no letup in the Ted Cruz/Donald Trump feud. Joining us now to talk about this and Trump's foreign policy proposals is Trump's senior adviser, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Good morning, Sarah.

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, TRUMP SENIOR ADVISOR: Good morning, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Let's start with Donald Trump on foreign policy. He had this stunning 100-minute interview with "The New York Times." They published the entire transcript, which we've read. And he said a lot of things people consider sort of bombshells in there.

So let's start with what he was saying about he would be willing, it sounds like, to allow Japan -- places like Japan and South Korea to develop nuclear weapons so that the U.S. doesn't have to keep supporting them. Are we understanding that right?

S. SANDERS: You know, I think the main theme here and across the board with Donald Trump's foreign policy has been extremely consistent. Whether we're talking about immigration, whether we're talking about trade, or whether we're talking specifically about foreign policy. Donald Trump's overarching theme has been to put Americans first. And I think that he's putting all things on the table to help keep our country safe, borders secure. And that is his biggest focus. And I think we see that in every bit of foreign policy discussion.

He has put together an incredible team, led by Senator Jeff Sessions. And I think we'll continue seeing that foreign policy develop and grow as he talks with and meets with that group of leaders on a weekly basis.

CAMEROTA: But how does it keep the U.S. safe if more countries get nuclear weapons?

S. SANDERS: I think that the big thing is that we need some of these other countries to get some skin in the game. For far too long, the Obama administration has let everybody else walk free while America carries the burden for keeping the entire world safe. Not just America safe but the entire world safe.

CAMEROTA: Sure, but you mean nuclear skin in the game? I mean, sorry to interrupt, but you mean let other countries get some nuclear skin in the game? Because that has been the impression by keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of other countries, that is what keeps the U.S. safe?

S. SANDERS: Well, and I don't think necessarily advocating that we put nuclear bombs in the hands of everybody, again, the theme is and the point is, is that we need to look at all options and that we need to do, No. 1 in our top priority and our top focus time and time again has to be to put Americans first and to keep Americans safe. We need to look at different options in order to do that.

Clearly, what the past administration and what the Obama administration has done and what Hillary Clinton did as secretary of state didn't do that. And so we need to look at new things that, again, keep America safe and keep our country safe.

CAMEROTA: I want to also ask you about this war of the wives between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. They talked about it again this weekend. Here's what Donald Trump said about Heidi Cruz yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, there are things about Heidi that I don't want to talk about. But I'm not going to talk about them. I mean, you know, you could look, but I wouldn't talk about them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Sarah, what is he referring to?

S. SANDERS: You know, I don't know the specifics on that. I know that he's getting a lot of heat right now for allegedly pushing this "National Enquirer" story, when it's very well documented that this is a story that has been pushed for at least over six months by Rubio allies. I think that is a question that should go to them on the details of that.

And as far as what else he may be talking about there, you know, that's not something I know of at this point. What I do know is you're continually hearing attacks on Donald Trump about his war against women.

As a mother, as a mother, as a wife, the things that keep me up at night aren't whether or not some politician hurt my feelings. It's whether or not they're going to keep my kids safe, our borders secure, whether or not my kids go to school. They're going to come home, and they're going to be safe. And they're not going to be hurt or threatened or attacked while they're there. If they manage to go on and graduate from high school, they're going to be able to get a job. If they get a job, they're not going to be so burdened by this government that they can't succeed.

So those are the questions that I think keep most women up at night, not this back and forth and not whether or not somebody's feelings got hurt.

But whether or not our kids are going to be safe and whether or not they have the opportunities to succeed.

CAMEROTA: But Sarah, as his senior adviser, when Donald Trump says he's going to spill the beans on Heidi Cruz, would you be comfortable with that?

S. SANDERS: You know, again, my focus here is whether or not he's going to do those things. He's proven time and time again he's going to be a tough leader. And, you know, Donald Trump is a guy that's been hit with $67 million in attack ads. Everybody seems to leave that out. Where is the outcry over that? Why isn't anybody. He's been attacked relentlessly and ruthlessly and far more than any other candidate in the race on both sides. Nobody is talking about that.

And I think it's unfair to say that he can't respond, he can't hit back when he's continually and repeatedly being attacked on both sides of the aisle.

CAMEROTA: Well, it's just whether or not it's fair to hit back to a candidate's spouse, whether a spouse should be off-limits? And I wonder if you worry that this will affect his standing among women. Let me just pull up some of the latest numbers. This is the latest CNN/ORC poll from March 20. He has a 74 percent here unfavorable among women.

[06:10:09] Do you worry that, if this goes on much longer about spouse's wives, that that will get even higher?

S. SANDERS: I don't. And part of that, I think that, if you look back, the origin of where the fight of spouses, wives started, it wasn't with Donald Trump. His wife was attacked, and he's defending himself and defending his wife.

Again, I think it goes back to the question, when women step into the ballot box and they think about what keeps them up at night, it's not about whether or not somebody hurt their feelings. It's whether or not somebody is going to keep their kids safe, whether or not that person is going to fight, give their children opportunities, and whether or not their children are going to be able to go on and succeed in America.

And I think Donald Trump is the clear winner when you start asking yourself those questions. I don't think anybody thinks Hillary Clinton certainly is going to do a better job at any of those things than Donald Trump. He's one of the toughest guys in the race. And I think that's what women are looking for. And when it comes time to check a box or pull the lever, they're going to absolutely pick Donald Trump, because that's thing that keeps them up at night.

CAMEROTA: Sarah Huckabee Sanders, thanks so much. Great to get your take.

S. SANDERS: Thank you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Tomorrow night, the three Republican candidates will take part in a CNN town hall in Wisconsin where we will be talking about all of these many issues. This is just one week before the primary there. The GOP town hall Tuesday night, 8 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN. Tune in -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right. To the Democratic race. Now Bernie Sanders riding a wave of momentum following a three-state western sweep over Hillary Clinton this weekend. Wisconsin is the next big prize. Sanders is setting his sights on New York, saying that he's got what it takes to beat Clinton in her adopted home turf.

CNN's senior political correspondent, Brianna Keilar, live in Washington with more.

Hi, Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Michaela.

This was a very big weekend for Bernie Sanders, particularly because of the lopsided nature of these wins in these three western states. He's now calling for a debate against Hillary Clinton in New York state. The DNC at this point has debates in April and in May as to be determined. And there's nothing scheduled before New York. We know that the Clinton campaign has been a little reticent to want to do some more in debates in this case.

But what he's hoping to do, what Bernie Sanders is hoping to do is ride the momentum not only of this weekend but also of some other states that are favorable towards him into perhaps -- it would actually be a very stunning win in New York. But certainly trying to give Hillary Clinton a run for her money. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

B. SANDERS: Every vote is pivotal. We are now winning in state after state the Latino vote. We're doing better now that we're on out of the South with the African-American vote. We're doing extraordinarily well with young people, and we are -- we think we do have a path toward victory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, even with these wins over the weekend and perhaps some more wins coming Bernie Sanders' way, the math that you saw there in terms of pledged delegates really favors Hillary Clinton at this point. She's more than 200 in terms of pledged delegates, 200 ahead of Bernie Sanders.

And Don, we're talking about New York and Bernie Sanders having his eye on that. That's April 19. The next big thing we're watching is Wisconsin. This is on April 5. This is next week. And even at this point, talking to Clinton aides, they say, "You know what? Wisconsin probably favors Bernie Sanders."

So they're playing that expectations game, saying that Bernie Sanders may win there. Clearly trying to avoid a surprise upset like this on Michigan, which is a neighbor, of course, of this state coming up.

LEMON: Good stuff. Brianna Keilar in Washington this morning. Thank you, Brianna.

We have some breaking news to tell you about. The new airport security video -- there it is -- just released showing a Brussels airport bombing suspect who is still on the run. It is the first moving image that we have seen of the suspect in the light-colored jacket and hat. There he is right there, center screen. It comes amid more than a dozen weekend raids. Over three people now under arrest in the growing man hunt.

Our senior international correspondent, of course, is Clarissa Ward. She has the very latest from Brussels this morning.

Clarissa, good morning to you.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Don.

Well, Belgian authorities haven't again been giving any information as to why they are suddenly releasing this video now. This is the first time we are seeing moving images of the third airport bomber. By now, we've seen that still paragraph many times of him in that light jacket with the glasses and the hat. He, of course, had the largest amount of most powerful explosives that did not actually detonate, but the fact that Belgian authorities are now releasing this video does call into question whether they have, indeed, been successful in identifying them.

Now, we do know that there have been a number of raids. Three people are being charged today with participation in terrorist activities. And over the weekend, we learned that Belgian authorities arrested a man on Thursday who they're only identifying as Faisal C.

[07:15:12] Faisal C. reportedly being charged with terrorist murder, attempted terrorist murder, as well as participation in terrorist activities. The severity of those charges raising the question of whether he may have played a central role in these attacks.

And we're also learning today that the death toll has now risen. Belgian authorities say that 35 people have been killed. Another four people died in the hospital today. We know that four Americans are among the dead. Two have not been identified. But two are now known to be Justin and Stephanie Shults of Tennessee. They were taking Stephanie's mother to the airport when the blast hit -- Alisyn. CAMEROTA: That's just so heartbreaking to see all of those beautiful

pictures, Clarissa. Thank you very much.

Well, Russian President Vladimir Putin trying to take credit for what's being called a major turning point in the fight against ISIS. Syrian forces recapturing the ancient city of Palmyra over the weekend, delivering what the Syrian Army calls a, quote, "mortal blow" to the Islamic State.

Let's get more from CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon. She is in Istanbul for us. Good morning, Arwa.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And while the Russians may be justified to a certain degree in taking credit for the Assad regime's recapture, Palmyra is not necessarily this so-called mortal blow.

Now, the regime was able to take full control of the city and the ancient UNESCO site that is very close by. One that many were concerned would have been devastatingly destroyed by ISIS. We do know that ISIS during the year-long occupation that it undertook of Palmyra did, in fact, destroy a number of millennia- and centuries-old temples. It does seem at this stage that much of it is intact.

Russian airstrikes, hundreds of them pounding the area, which then allowed for the regime to advance. This is both a strategic victory, given Palmyra's location connecting homes to the east, with the ISIS stronghold to the west. But it is arguably much more of a symbolic victory, one that is sure to reduce the morale among Bashar al-Assad's forces but also one that is allowing the Syrian president to very brazenly say that his and Russia's strategy is working, as opposed to that of the U.S.-led coalition.

PEREIRA: All right. Thank you so much for that. We appreciate it.

Meanwhile, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban now claiming responsibility for a suicide bombing at a crowded park in Lahore that killed at least 69 people. That blast happening near a children's amusement park. Most of the dead are women and children. The group admittedly saying that it intentionally targeted Christians, many of them families celebrating Easter.

More on that new video of one of the Brussels terrorists -- terrorists on the run. How will this impact the investigation? And what about the manhunt for more terrorists involved? We're going to have more details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:22:18] LEMON: We're back, everyone. We're getting our first look at new video of the Brussels Airport bombing suspect, now on the run for nearly a week. Belgian federal police releasing this airport security video of the man. He's in the light jacket and that dark hat right there. Meanwhile, new raids and arrests across Europe over the weekend. So let's bring in now CNN international correspondent Clarissa Ward.

And also joining us is CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank. He's the editor in chief of "The CDT -- CDC Sentinel."

Clarissa, I want to start with you about this new video. What does this new video tell you about the investigation? What does it do with the investigation now?

WARD: Well, it's interesting, Don, because the Belgian authorities have not really given any reason as to why they have suddenly decided to release this video now. Previously, they had only released that still photograph. We've seen it many times now of the three airport bombers. The third one, of course, cutting a distinctive figure in that light jacket. He's the only one who did not detonate his explosives.

But it does raise the question with them suddenly releasing this video now, which is have they actually identified this man? Is it possible that they haven't identified him? And does it mean that he is still on the run? There had been a lot of speculation that possibly he could have been the same Faisal C. that they arrested last Thursday. But the fact that they're releasing this video would seem to indicate that is not likely and again, as I said, calling into question whether they've even identified him.

Paul, as I understand, you're hearing more about this man. You have some new information concerning the Brussels suspect?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: That's right, Don.

We understand that there are eight suspects still at large, the authorities believe, have a possible connection to the Brussels and Paris terror attacks. The day after the Brussels attacks, there was a security bulletin, an 11-page security bulletin, which was distributed amongst European security services.

CNN understands that one of those individuals has been identified as Niam Mohammed (ph), somebody that came into Europe with a -- probably a full Syrian identity card and was picked up by Saleh Abdeslam at a refugee center in Bonne, Germany, just a few weeks before the Paris attacks. He is considered armed and very dangerous.

We also have the identity of somebody else they want, a Belgian/Malian extremist, somebody who was part of Abdel Hamid Abaaoud's circle in Brussels, Abaaoud being the ringleader behind the Paris attacks.

And Niam (ph) actually traveled with Abdeslam in January 2014 to Syria to join ISIS, but then just a few months later, there was a picture that was distributed on Twitter suggesting that he had been killed in Syria. But now it appears the authorities believe he may have faked his own death to come back to Europe.

[07:25:35] LEMON: You're also learning about new details on how ISIS is coordinating attacks, plotting from even further away: al Raqqah, Syria. Tell us more about that. CRUICKSHANK: These are fascinating new details we're learning. This

comes from an interrogation of a French ISIS recruit who was arrested last summer and, again, cooperating with French authorities. And he describes a system set up by an ISIS that had European operatives communicate with one another and also with headquarters back in Raqqah. And an encryption tool that they put onto thumb drives, which they gave these operatives. They used one software tool called True Crypt to basically scramble the messages.

And then the idea is once the messages were encrypted, then they would share them on a file share system which is password-protected, and only a few ISIS operatives in Raqqah and Europe knew that password. It was a safe way, the believed, for them to communicate. Like a dead letter box is how they described it.

LEMON: First of all, you were in Syria. Is this something that you'd expect to hear on the ground there, as well?

WARD: Well, absolutely. I mean, I think that these young men, while they're not necessarily rocket scientists, are necessarily extremely sophisticated. I mean, one thing that Paul didn't mention is the reason they knew Abdeslam went to picked this Naim Hamid (ph) up from a refugee center in Germany was because they just looked at his GPS system. The rental car he was using had a GPS system. They were able to track all of his movements as long as he was in this car.

At the same time, most of these men are young. They're very web savvy. And so certainly in my experience, in Syria and communicating with Jihadis, both in ISIS and other groups, they are pretty smart about using the latest types of encryption software, whether it be a sort of PGP system, like Paul is talking about, or whether it be a messenger service like Telegram, like Wicca (ph), like Surespot. But certainly, they do whatever they can to try to mitigate the risks of their -- their conversations being monitored by security forces.

LEMON: Clarissa Ward in Brussels, Paul Cruickshank right here in New York, thanks to both of you.

And remember to join CNN's Chris Cuomo. He's going to return to Paris to investigate the terror that struck there. That CNN special report is Wednesday night, 9 Eastern right here on CNN -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right. Back to politics here stateside. Donald Trump continuing to take on Ted Cruz and his wife. The question is whose campaign will take the bigger hit because of it? We'll speak with Cruz's New Jersey state director next on NEW DAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)