Return to Transcripts main page

New Day Saturday

Deadly Police Shooting Sparks Protests; Two Arrests In Boris Nemtsov Murder; Five Dead, Eight Injured In Mali Attack; ISIS Pushed Out Of Key Iraqi City; Ferguson's Mayor: Let Due Process Play Out; Malaysia Flight 370: One Year Later; Airlines Move to Better Track Planes; Jeb Bush in Iowa; Dress Viral again in New Campaign

Aired March 07, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Two developing stories we're following this morning. What you're looking at there are protests in Madison, Wisconsin overnight after a deadly police shooting of an African- American teen by a police officer.

JOE JOHNS, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: And in Russia, two suspects have been arrested in connection to last week's murder of opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Joe Johns in for Victor Blackwell.

PAUL: We're so glad to have you here, Joe. And I'm Christi Paul. Of course, 8:00 on the dot. We begin with that police shooting out of Madison. Protests overnight after an officer shot a 19-year-old African-American teen.

Now investigators say he tried to attack the officer. So, what you're looking at are the demonstrations that took place later. People are shouting black lives matter. Police saying the officer was responding to a call, actually to several calls, that a man was jumping in and out of traffic. And that's when this incident began. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF MICHAEL KOVAL, MADISON POLICE: Once inside the home, the subject involved in this incident, the same one that had been allegedly out in traffic and had battered someone, the same subject then assaulted my officer and in the context of mutual combat in that sense. The officer did draw the revolver and subsequently shot the subject.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Now the Division of Criminal Investigation has already been brought in to investigate the incident, but I want to bring in reporter, Kristen Barbaresi right now. She is with our affiliate, WKOW, on the phone with us from Madison.

Kristen, thanks for being with us. I understand you arrived on the scene shortly after the shooting. What did you see? What did you experience?

KRISTEN BARBARESI, WKOW REPORTER (via telephone): Well, when we got to the scene there were upwards of 20 squad cars on scene. We've quickly started to hear that it was an officer involved.

Actually one of our state representatives, Representative Kris Taylor, she was actually across the street at a gas station. She heard the shots fired. She was told to get down. She then came over to me and told me that that this was an officer involved shooting.

We then began to see protesters gathering as words spread that this was a black 19-year-old that had been shot and killed by an officer.

PAUL: So what do we know about why the officer went into the house? I mean, can you walk us what we know happened?

BARBARESI: So, the police chief has told us that originally they got calls that there was a person causing a disturbance in the street running in and out of traffic, acting unsafe. As officers were responding to the call, the police chief tells us that the call was upgraded to a disturbance inside this apartment.

When the officer arrived on scene, he says he heard a disturbance in the apartment. He actually forced entry into the apartment. The police chief says that the officer was knocked down, sustained a blow to the head and that's when he pulled his weapon and did shoot the teenager.

PAUL: So when you say a disturbance, I saw the word battery, they suspected there was some sort of assault or battery going on?

BARBARESI: The information that we've gotten is that earlier this subject was involved in a battery according to the police chief, but it's unclear if it was a battery that was the disturbance going on in the apartment when officers arrived.

They haven't elaborated on what that officer heard or what that disturbance was inside the apartment when the officer forced entry. We don't know details about that disturbance.

PAUL: OK, yes, certainly very early in the investigation. Kristen Barbaresi, appreciate your insight. Thank you for being with us.

BARBARESI: Thank you.

JOHNS: Now let's bring in Cedric Alexander. He is the president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, also a member of the White House Task Force on 21st Century Policing.

So obviously still too early to say what's happened in this particular situation. But as we see across the country, situations like this developing, creating tensions between the police and the community, tell me about what your task force was able to glean, would be the best way forward to try to resolve and defuse situations like this.

CEDRIC L. ALEXANDER, WHITE HOUSE TASK FORCE ON 21ST CENTURY POLICING: It was the president's task force and I just happened along with ten other really extraordinary people to be part of that task force and that process as well, too.

Let me say this, Joe. If any one goes and pull up, go to 21st Century Policing, interim report, pull down that report, take a look at it, what you're going to find is six pillars that are in there that go everywhere from police trust to police wellness, how do we develop trust in relationships in communities across this country.

Because there's a very apparent obviously clear suggestion that many communities across this country don't trust their police departments. But one thing we're very certain about is that we have to have police.

JOHNS: So it's dialogue first or --

ALEXANDER: It's having that opportunity and many police departments do it well across this country. There are some that struggle still, but yes, it is opening up that dialogue, having an opportunity to sit down to talk so that when you have issues that do occur in your community, oftentimes that meaning that the leadership in the community, the law enforcement leadership, criminal justice leadership, can sit down and resolve.

But when there is a community, atmosphere and environment of mistrust that may have been long standing, so any time you have an incident that is of question, it start to create pause in the mind of citizens, what you have is often what we've seen very much of the last number of months.

JOHNS: So this police chief up in Wisconsin, he did get out in front of it. You see him in front of the camera talking about it almost immediately as opposed to waiting for a series of reports to come in.

ALEXANDER: That is critically important that any time that you have an incident involving a particular police-involved shooting it's important that the leadership of that department get out front and tell the community as much as they can about the incident.

But of course, we also have to be mindful and respectful of the fact, too, that you do not want to compromise the investigation by revealing too much information before all the facts are in.

PAUL: You know, one of the things that we noticed in this protest was we saw signs that were ready made. Some of them, they were not handwritten. One of them said, stop the racist killer cop. This was just hours after this incident happened.

And I'm wondering how do we -- how do we bridge that gap and help people understand or make sure that everybody's voice is heard? Because clearly, this is not Ferguson, this is early in this investigation, but Ferguson has resonated obviously with a lot of people.

We've got the dialogue. You said we've got the police chief coming out. Is there anything else that can be done to make people feel like their voices are heard? Isn't that what they want? They want to feel like somebody heard them.

ALEXANDER: Absolutely. Communication is basic and fundamental. Frankly, that's the first thing that has to happen. But unfortunately, you take a community like Ferguson. There has clearly been no relationship between that community and that police department or its criminal justice system for that matter.

They find themselves in this awkward position that they are in. And what I will continue to say is that if we take a look, if you take a look at those recommendations that have been put forth and for the public across this country, to take a look at and police departments as well, too.

It's an opportunity to get from that report a number of recommendations and action items that we all can put into place.

PAUL: It is an opportunity. Yes.

ALEXANDER: Absolutely.

JOHNS: Cedric Alexander of Noble, thanks so much. Good to see you.

PAUL: Good to have you here. Thank you so much.

Listen, we want to tell you about this other developing story we're watching this morning, arrests in the assassination of Boris Nemtsov just one week after the Russian opposition leader was gunned down in the heart of Moscow. Russian state media reporting two suspects have been detained now.

JOHNS: Nemtsov is one of President Vladamir Putin's most vocal critics, he was shot in the back steps from the kremlin. Surveillance video captured his assassination while he was walking over a bridge with his girlfriend.

Let's get right now to senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance, he joins us from Moscow. Matthew, what's going on there?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a flurry of excitement I suppose at this news, which was announced on national television by the head of the FSB, the main security service in Russia, that two people, two men, had been detained on suspicion of involvement in the killing of Boris Nemtsov which took place on Friday night as you mentioned, as he was walking home from a meal with his girlfriend.

They had been named, they are said to come from the north caucuses region of Southern Russia, which is a long way from Moscow, but it's a very restive region, a number of conflicts, Chechnya at the heart of them. And the fact they are from the north caucuses isn't necessarily an indication that the killing was linked to the caucuses.

There are lots of guns for hire there as we've been hearing and as we've been reporting. Of course, Vladimir Putin for many opposition figures in Russia is ultimately responsible for the death of this kremlin critic if not directly giving the order, then at least for creating an atmosphere in Russia in which kremlin critics are killed.

Certainly we've spoken to family members, the daughter, Zhanna Nemtsova, 30 years old. She is the daughter of Boris Nemtsov, bereaved daughter. She had very little faith authorities would get to the bottom of her father's killing. Take a listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: Do you have faith that the authorities will bring those responsible to justice?

ZHANNA NEMTSOVA, BORIS NEMTSOV'S DAUGHTER: No. It's a short answer. No. I don't believe in that and I think that it's now we have -- Russia has crossed the line because after this murder and people will be frightened to express their views, which contradict to their official standpoint.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: Well, Zhanna Nemtsova there speaking to me earlier, also saying that she holds, again, this idea she holds Vladimir Putin responsible because he is the leader of the country. She said, and this was a bare faced murder in the heart of the Russian capital.

JOHNS: So no doubt a lot of suspicion there about whether these suspects are the suspects, but we'll learn more about that in coming days. Matthew Chance in Moscow, thanks so much for that.

PAUL: ISIS pushed out of a key city in Iraq. It's a huge victory some say. However, there is concern by some with the fact that Iran was helping Iraqi forces. We'll discuss the potential repercussions there.

JOHNS: Plus, the president along with thousands of other people planning to commemorate the historic Selma marches, we'll speak with Georgia Congressman John Lewis, who was one of the marchers attacked 50 years ago on Bloody Sunday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: It's 15 minutes past the hour right now. We're so glad to have you here. The French embassy in Mali is warning its citizens this morning, be on alert. This is following a deadly shooting at a bar in the Mali's capital. It killed five people, eight people were injured.

I want to show you this new video. It's just coming in. That is the bar that's been roped off by police yellow tape. According to hospital officials the dead include a French citizen, a Belgian, three Malians. It's not known yet who is responsible, but Malian forces have been battling Islamic militants in northern Mali for years.

JOHNS: Now there has been a big blow to ISIS, Iraqi troops recaptured a town Friday on the southern outskirts of Tikrit. This victory in Aldur is seen as a key step toward actually pushing ISIS out of Tikrit, but Iraq did not do it alone. They got help from Shia militia with the military and artillery backing from the Iranian government.

PAUL: That part makes a lot of people uncomfortable there, so let's bring in CNN global affairs analyst, Lieutenant Colonel James Reese. Colonel, we thank you so much for being here. Why is Iran getting involved in the fight against ISIS now?

LT. COL. JAMES REESE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Good morning, Christie. Good afternoon from Baghdad. The bottom line is the Iranians feel they are here to help the Iraqis who were their neighbors destroy ISIS. They have a religious background, as many know from Shia, predominantly Shia.

And they feel they are here to do the same thing the Americans are, they have Special Forces, advisers and assistance teams on the ground supporting the Iraqi military as well as the Iraqi militia forces to destroy ISIS.

PAUL: I'm wondering, do Iranians see this war in Iraq and the instability as an opportunity for them in terms of their influence in that region?

REESE: Yes, they do. There's really two ways of looking at it. Tactically, several people, even General Dempsey, the chairman of Joint Chiefs said it's probably a good thing to have the Iranians on the ground assisting.

Unfortunately, at the strategic or national level, this could be catastrophic for some of the countries in the region, like the Saudis, or the majority Sunni countries. That right now is everyone trying to figure out which strategically, doctrinally or nationally, they want this end state to look at with Iran in the mix. But at the end of this, Iran could be the big winner in this whole region.

PAUL: Yes, General Martin Dempsey, you mentioned chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff said this week that he is concerned about ethnic cleansing in Iraq at some point. Do you all there have that same fear?

REESE: You know, Christi, I followed Ben Wedeman to Tikrit yesterday. And it was just -- I was very impressed with the PMU, the People's Popular Movement Unit, along with the Iraqi police and some of the military forces we had. They were very motivated.

They were helping both sides discussing about Shia and Sunni, and I did not see any, and I spent years here fighting and have seen some of the conflict and I was very impressed.

PAUL: Yes, ISIS is kind of a catch 22. You can't negotiate with them. They have proven to be really difficult to squash, particularly in the social media and recruitment aspects as well. Do you believe -- are you confident that defeating ISIS is truly possible?

REESE: I do. And I think, again, the forces we saw the other day, again I was very impressed with the way they secured for the Iraqi veterans out there, the old Route Tampa that went north out of Baghdad all the way to Mosul. They had that secured very well. Now it's like a ghost town while we traveled north to Tikrit, because really, everyone had moved out of the area. And we only saw a few shepherds along the way. But the Iraqis have done a great job in securing it.

And right now they are trying to do mop up operations and take the rest of Tikrit, which ISIS has pretty much left the foreign fighters and put the sniper teams out, which will cause the Iraqis to take time to clear the city which could take some time.

PAUL: Well, Lieutenant Colonel James Reese, so appreciate your insight and service. Take good care there, sir. Thank you.

JOHNS: Still a lot of domestic news to tell you about, the mayor of Ferguson, Missouri speaks to CNN, hear what he's saying about the Justice Department's blistering report on widespread racial bias against African-Americans. And could the city's police department be disbanded?

Plus, families of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 are still, still clinging to hope. Why we could learn new details about what happened to the Boeing 777 later today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: It's 23 minutes past the hour. New this morning, the mayor of Ferguson, Missouri speaking to CNN, since the latest fallout over the Justice Department's scathing report that found widespread and discrimination by Ferguson Police against African-Americans.

JOHNS: Two police officers have now resigned. The city's top clerk has been fired over racist e-mails that were detailed in the report released last week. This is video of one of the officers who resigned. The report followed all of the protests and riots after last year's shooting death of an unarmed black teen Michael Brown by a white Ferguson police officer.

PAUL: CNN's Nick Valencia joining us now to talk more about this. So Nick, what have we learned about the moments leading up to this shooting?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christi. This Department of Justice report, teaches us a lot. We learned a lot including that physical evidence does not support the mantra hands up don't shoot, that made famous by Mike Brown supporters. It goes on to say that initial widely circulated witness statements

including that of Dorian Johnson who was with Mike Brown at the time of the shooting may not have been true. Even still, to your point, this Department of Justice report also found a pattern of unconstitutional policing and perhaps even discrimination.

CNN's Sara Sidner, who has essentially made Ferguson her second home sat down with the mayor of that city and asked him pretty point blank questions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If the police department is still here, is there any sense from your part that you say you know what, this is going to get shut down. We're going to let the county come in or the feds --

MAYOR JAMES KNOWLES, FERGUSON, MISSOURI: Absolutely not.

SIDNER: No chance.

KNOWLES: No.

SIDNER: So you think this is fixable, you're willing to try to fix it.

KNOWLES: The Justice Department said it's fixable. Our harshest critics said it's fixable. I will definitely agree with them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Now that was Mayor James Knowles from the city of Ferguson. It's a slightly different message from what we heard from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: We are prepared to use all of the power that we have to ensure that the situation changes there. And that means everything from working with them to you know, coming up with an entirely new structure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does that include dismantling the police force?

HOLDER: If that's what's necessary, we're prepared to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: If that's what's necessary dismantling the police force all options are essentially on the table. The divide in Ferguson is just as big as ever with Mike Brown supporters saying that this latest DOJ report is intended to demonize the victim.

Now the police union had in Ferguson saying its community at fault for not listening to the facts and the evidence. That's why the police and the community seemingly can't see eye to eye -- Christi.

PAUL: All right, Nick Valencia, appreciate it.

You know, hours from now we could learn new details about what happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, why search crews haven't found a piece of wreckage. Hopefully we'll get some updates as to where they do stand.

JOHNS: That's absolutely right. And tonight, we could finally hear from Hillary Clinton, her first public comments since this private e- mail controversy sort of spiraled out of control. What is she going to say? What does she need to say? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: It's one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history. What happened to Malaysia Airline Flight 370? And later today we can get some clues. Officials are expected to release an interim report on their initial findings.

PAUL: And tomorrow marks one year since the Boeing 777 vanished en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. In all 239 were on board and so far not a single piece of wreckage has been found.

I want to bring in CNN's Anna Coren. She's live this morning from Kuala Lumpur. I'm wondering Anna, is there any early indication as to what is going to be in this report?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes Christi. We don't know. And everyone here in Malaysia very eager to obviously learn what is in the report, expected to be 600 pages long. We know it's coming out 3:00 p.m. local time on Sunday. This of course coincides with the one-year anniversary of the plane's disappearance.

Families telling us that they are infuriated about the timing of the release. They feel that it's insensitive and completely inappropriate. But what we can tell you about the report, it is independent. It's been made up of seven air accident and investigation organizations from the U.S., the U.K. Australia, China, as well France, Inmarsat, Boeing, as well as Rolls-Royce have also participated. So we will find out the technical details into the latest in the investigation.

Now, the families also concerned about the search. We know that it's under way in the southern Indian Ocean, 1,000 nautical miles off the coast of Western Australia. There are about 40 percent through this priority search area. Families, however, believe that if this area is completed by May, which is what authorities are saying, and nothing is found, there is no plane debris in that priority area, that the search will be called off. Now, I pushed this with the transport minister here in Malaysia, take a listen to that conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIOW TIONG LAI, MALAYSIAN MINISTER OF TRANSPORT: We will rely on expert as we see that. We have the expert team guiding us. So as a government we would like the expert view before we can decide further.

COREN: But is Malaysia committed to continue searching for MH-370 if it's not in the priority zone?

LIOW: We'll listen to the expert view. I say we are guided by the experts.

COREN: But Minister, you're not answering the question.

LIOW: I'm saying that because if the expert views that it is not this area then the expert could tell us where it is.

COREN: You believe that the plane will be found by May?

LIOW: Yes. Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: So, obviously Mr. Liow, the transport minister here in Malaysia, deflecting as to whether Malaysia will commit to a search. You have to remember, $120 million from Malaysia and Australia has been put into this search. That money will be exhausted by May. It will be up to the international community as to whether they want to continue searching for MH 370.

But as far as the chief executive officer of Malaysia Airlines is concerned he believes that the search must continue because the world deserves to know what happened to MH 370 -- Christi.

PAUL: Well, the families certainly, you're right, deserve to know what happened to their families. And in terms of aviation I think people want to be confident in the planes they fly and the people who are commanding them.

Anna Coren -- thank you so much. We appreciate it.

JOHNS: Now, even before that report comes in, many people say it's clear from what happened to Flight 370 that better tracking of planes is needed. The International Civil Aviation Organization is proposing that airlines get position updates from the aircraft on long haul flights every 15 minutes instead of 30 to 40 minutes which had been the norm. The proposal is being tested by Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Let's bring in Captain Christopher Budde. He's the operations officer for the Seventh Fleet. He's aboard the USS Blue Ridge off the coast of Japan. How much do you think this tracking system is overdue?

CAPT. CHRISTOPHER BUDDE, OPERATIONS OFFICER, SEVENTH FLEET: Given the changes in aviation, particularly the expansion of transcontinental routes, it probably is overdue. But the technology hasn't always been there. Satellite band width to send those updates certainly had to come down in cost significantly before airlines could make it viable.

JOHNS: This tracking system is expected to be in place by November of next year. And the simple question there is, if it's such a long time coming, why is it taking so long to actually institute the change?

BUDDE: Well, to understand on long haul flights there is no way to communicate with the ground particularly over the ocean. So, it cannot be done by regular line of sight radios like a cell phone, for example. So it's got to go via satellite.

And setting up a worldwide satellite system for this does take some time. It's a bit of a technological problem as well as setting up channels, setting up who's going to get that information, how it's going to be relayed around the world. It just takes some time to do.

JOHNS: You took part in the search for AirAsia Flight 8501 that went down in the Java Sea in December, and you sent us some of the images of the navy divers, the sonar that was used. Tell us a little bit more about that search you did there and whether your experience with Flight 370 helped you in this newer search.

BUDDE: Well, first I'd like to emphasize that the United States did not organize that search. That was the U.S. Navy, the United States Seventh Fleet, supporting the Indonesian government who did a fantastic job of organizing that.

Now, the lessons learned from that we took from MH 370 into the latest disaster, were some changes to our military sonar equipment, to allow us to process at a frequency that at very close range can hear black box pingers.

We also kind of took the lesson away to get equipment moving into this theater a little faster. We don't keep, for example, tow pinger locators with the operational fleets. So getting equipment moving, getting it staged onto a ship and out to the search area was a good lesson we took away from the last time around.

JOHNS: The common sense question that started about a year ago with Flight 370 and continues to this day is, why aren't all airliners using GPS to track planes? And why are they just using radar? Do you think that will ever change? Why is it the way it is right now?

BUDDE: Well, all airliners do use GPS for navigation. So ground controllers using -- in order to use a GPS position from an aircraft, would have to have the radio link with the aircraft relaying that position that aircraft is generating from GPS. So as I said earlier it gets into the technological requirements of establishing a worldwide satellite-based network to move that information around.

And you think it's purely technological and it wasn't pilots objecting to the notion?

BUDDE: I honestly couldn't see why a pilot would object to the notion of being able to more accurately track their aircraft. But I'd have to defer to an airline pilot for anything further on that.

JOHNS: Got it. Thank you so much Capt. Christopher Budde. Good talking to you.

CNN's Richard Quest will be going through the report when it is released and we'll have him up here tomorrow morning.

For more on how you can help those affected by the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 check out CNN.com/impact.

PAUL: Potential Republican presidential candidates in Iowa and a lot of people looking straight at Jeb Bush. We have the details for you. Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: 43 minutes past the hour. Within hours we could hear from Hillary Clinton regarding that

e-mail controversy that's swirling around her right now. The former secretary of state is expected to speak at the Clinton Global Initiative university conference in Miami tonight.

So the questions have been increasing steadily as to why Clinton used a personal e-mail account rather than a government one when she was running the State Department. Now, remember, she did get on Twitter Wednesday night at 11:30, saying that she wanted the public to see her e-mail. Some top Democrats are breaking their silence now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: I think Hillary's great. I think she'll you know, she's already said she wants the e-mails out. What do Americans care about? Good paying jobs, a good country, good family -- all that stuff isn't going to matter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't think it's going to hurt the prospects --

SCHUMER: I don't think it's going to hurt her prospects -- no.

MARTIN O'MALLEY (D), FORMER GOVERNOR OF MARYLAND: Openness and transparency are required of governing in the modern age.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Possible presidential rival Jeb Bush says he thinks it's baffling Clinton used a private e-mail and a home server for official state business.

JOHNS: Potential Republican candidates for president are in Iowa today for the agricultural summit. CNN executive political editor Mark Preston is there in Iowa also. Mark, gearing up for 2016 and I know they talk more than just about agriculture. What's happening up there today?

MARK PRESTON, CNN EXECUTIVE POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, you know Joe, oftentimes when we talk about Iowa we talk about the social conservative vote. But this morning and throughout the day we're going to hear from nine potential Republican presidential candidates. They are going to talk about something you don't often hear them talk about -- agriculture issue, immigration, trade, GMOs -- issues that presidential candidates don't often talk about on the stump but that are very important here in Iowa including the issue of ethanol which is the additive added to gasoline.

You know, the American Petroleum Institute and the gasoline folks don't want to see ethanol added. It's an added expense. But here in Iowa it's a very big issue. So today we're going to hear a little Q and A, Joe, presented not by journalists but by very wealthy businessmen and agriculture businessmen here who will spend 20 minutes with each presidential candidate. They'll ask them what they all think about these issues -- Joe.

Jeb Bush making his first appearance in the state for the 2016 cycle -- how's he being received?

PRESTON: Well, I'll tell you, we saw him last night, his first appearance last night. He did a fund-raiser for a congressman here. He did a little Q and A himself probably about 15 or 20 minutes. Afterwards he spent a lot of time kind of working the room, taking selfies, you now, shaking hands.

But I got to tell you during his Q and A he was very critical of the Obama administration. He was also critical of Hillary Clinton. He said that the state of the United States right now when it comes to national security it's a lot worse off than it has been. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), FORMER GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA: We have new threats that didn't exist just a decade ago -- cyber security, these threats of terror, defending the homeland and protecting while we protect civil liberties we need to continue to be engaged to make sure that no attack takes place in our own country.

There's a lot of things that we need to restore. This president and by the way, his former secretary of state have let us down in this regard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PRESTON: And there you have Jeb Bush just last night talking about the state of the United States when it comes to national security. A lot of questions about whether he is going to run for president, Joe -- I think it's fair to say that it's very likely he will seek the Republican presidential nomination.

JOHNS: So we're about a year out from the caucuses now and it's certainly important for all of the potential candidates who are there. But it also says something about the potential candidates who are not in Iowa right now, doesn't it?

PRESTON: Right. You know, this is the running of the gauntlet, so to speak. There's going to be a lot of these forums going forward. But I have to tell, we're looking at over a thousand people that are coming here on a Saturday morning throughout today to hear what the candidates have to say.

It's a good way for the candidates who have decided to come to make inroads, to talk about issues that are important to Iowans, the ones who can't make it certainly will be at a disadvantage. I got to tell you the question is going into next year will Iowa be competitive in the sense will we see all the Republican presidential candidates making a play here.

In the past we've seen the more centrists Republicans decide to skip Iowa. I think this time around that might change -- Joe.

JOHNS: It's very interesting. Skip Iowa, go straight to New Hampshire or something. So we'll see what happens there. Mark Preston, thanks so much to you.

PAUL: Remember that dress, yes, the dress, it's back again but not in the way that you're thinking about it. It's quickly going viral, thanks to an ad campaign. And a lot of people calling this downright powerful. We'll show you more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Blue and black, white and gold -- the dress is going viral again but in a completely different way. It's the focus of a new ad campaign that brings attention to domestic violence.

Editorial producer Nadia Bilchik joins us now because she spoke to the creator and the people behind this ad. I did not know it was the people of the Salvation Army.

NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITOR PRODUCER: Correct. So Karen (inaudible) who's the public relations officer for the Salvation Army gets a call on Thursday afternoon from an ad agency that she's never heard of. And they say to her, we've got an ad that you may be interested in.

She takes a look at this ad, this image and says it's so in keeping with our campaigns to combat sexual abuse, domestic violence, sex trafficking which is so prolific in South Africa. She says I absolutely love it. They say right, you have 45 minutes to give us your logo. It's going to print tonight.

The next morning it was in the "Cape Times" and she says she got calls from all over the world because the picture went completely viral.

PAUL: There it is.

BILCHIK: There it is. You can see it really brings about the discussion about domestic violence, about abuse and she said sex trafficking. Then I spoke to the creator of the ad who had contacted her. So let's hear from Weehan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WEEHAN MEEHOLZ, IRELAND DAVENPORT AD AGENCY: The fact that us over here in South Africa who have actually created the movement (ph) -- have actually been part of the global movement, the social network and the on line community, being able to just do something that feels so important and so right. We believe in being able to do portraits like this. We've done work for South Africans against drunken driving, the environment. And now Salvation Army where we wanted to give back and especially the creative juice from the team that just came to life so beautifully to be able to do something different. Something (inaudible).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: You notice the black and blue there, obviously in the ad is on her. The bruises on her body -- that's the black and blue they speak of. This is going viral all over the place. Not just in South Africa. What does this ad campaign cost?

BILCHIK: Absolutely nothing. It cost the Salvation Army nothing, and the advertising agency only used volunteers, so the girl in the picture is in fact a woman who works for the agency. They even got the makeup artist to donate the makeup. They got people to donate time.

Because it got people so intrigued when that picture came out is this black and blue, is this white and gold, they said all of this buzz about a seemingly meaningless conversation -- what if we could create this about something meaningful. And so they created this remarkable ad which, up until this morning had millions and millions and millions of hits on social media and just continues to be looked at.

But they Photoshopped the dress on, they couldn't find the dress, gold and white dress -- they photo shopped her in terms of that. And just had a whole lot of people come together and really speak about the discussion, I know you were speaking about No More. But the discussion about domestic violence, about abuse.

In fact the Salvation Army have a shelter in South Africa and they're hoping that this ad will result in that kind of conversation and donations. And Karen said to me, if that picture just results in the awareness of one woman or one situation, you never know what the ramifications are.

PAUL: Right. And it's done its job. And you're right, "No More", "No More" week starts tomorrow on March 8 to bring awareness to domestic violence.

Thank you so much -- Nadia.

BILCHIK: Thank you.

PAUL: We appreciate it. They made that dress something substantial, didn't they? We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Here are stories we're following.

PAUL: Police are investigating what caused a medical helicopter to crash late last night in Missouri. Take a look at the pictures that we're getting. The chopper went down on the parking lot of St. Louis University Hospital, killed the pilot. The pilot's identity has not been released and no patients, employees or hospital visitors were injured.

JOHNS: Police say a dean at a Boston high school shot execution style one of his students. Suffolk County assistant district attorney says 55-year-old Shawn Harrison was running a marijuana distribution ring. Harrison allegedly hired the teen he is accused of shooting to sell weed for him. The 17-year-old victim is expected to survive. Boston public schools say Harrison has been fired. PAUL: And former Vice President Walter Mondale is in the hospital

now. Mondale, now 87, was admitted to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota after he was diagnosed with the flu. Former President Jimmy Carter said Mondale is doing well. Remember Mondale served as VP under Carter between 1977 and 1981. He later ran for president but he lost to Ronald Reagan.

JOHNS: A dolphin trainer from Spain that was supposed to working in Atlanta's Georgia aquarium is missing. Authorities are searching for the 59-year-old Jose Luis Barbero on the resort island of Majorca where he currently works. Barbero's employment at the Georgia Aquarium was put on hold when a dark grainy video surfaced that many say show Barbero and other trainers abused dolphins.

That's it for us. We'll see you back here at 10:00 Eastern time in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PAUL: Here's SMERCONISH.