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Hillary Clinton to Announce Presidential Run on Sunday; How Polls Look for Hillary Clinton; Marco Rubio to Announce His Presidential Run; What Happens to Afghans Who Helped the U.S.; Update on Illinois Tornado Devastation. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired April 10, 2015 - 13:30   ET

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


[13:29:55] BERNICE KING, DAUGHTER OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: And I think we have to sit down and talk about what are the changes that we can make? The first thing is, I believe our nonviolence 365 education and training, which is my father's philosophy and methodology of non- violence, can be very helpful because, at the end of the day, we all have to see ourselves as part of a greater human family and rid ourselves of these hierarchical structures. When the badge is no longer on them, when they go home at night, they are human beings as well. And the people they are encountering are human beings and a part of their family.

So how do we change the mindset as we approach -- it's ironic to me because I've looked at certain incidences where every time there is an encounter, it seems this way, that with a non-black citizen, that there's hesitation to fire. And it seems with African-Americans, there's always not just one shot but multiple shots. That's disturbing. And that is indicative of a deeper problem that we must begin to sit down, talk about, be honest about and make some of the changes that were suggested in the task force report, the 21st century task policing report that came out of Washington.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Reverend Dr. Bernice King, the daughter of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, CEO of the King Center in Atlanta, thank you so much.

KING: Thank you.

BLITZER: And thank you, once again, for inviting me to co-emcee your King Center dinner.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: It was a great honor to participate in that event.

KING: Thank you very much.

BLITZER: Still ahead, Hillary Clinton jumped into the presidential race in 2008 with a weekend announcement on her website. Now word coming that the former Senator, the former secretary of state is planning to make her big announcement on social media this coming Sunday. Why now? Why on a Sunday? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [11:35:35] BLITZER: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting from Washington.

The wait is now over, the wait for Hillary Clinton's big announcement. We've learned that the former first lady, the former Senator from New York, the former secretary of state, will officially join the 2016 presidential race on Sunday. And she'll do it in a videotaped message.

Let's bring in Brianna Keilar, our senior political correspondent; and Gloria Borger, our chief political analyst. They're both joining us from New York today.

Brianna, what do we know about this expected announcement?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: She's going to do it, Wolf, on a video that she has already taped. And this is going to be released by social media. And after the announcement, she is off for some early state travel that we are going to see in the days following this announcement on Sunday. First we understand she will go to Iowa. And this is key because she did not fare well in Iowa in 2008. She came in third, behind Barack Obama, but also John Edwards. So this is a way for her to go to Iowa, try to show some humility and also according to some of her advisers, show that she's trying to campaign aggressively for this nomination even though at this point he is far and wide the front-runner and will be the only declared Democratic candidate. Also there's the question of, what's her message? We know that "The Huffington Post" got their hands on the epilogue to the paperback of her book. That gives us a glimpse of things. She talks in there about becoming a grandmother and how that affected her rationale for whether she wanted to run or not. She basically says she wants kids to have equal opportunities. And she certainly wants all children not just her granddaughter to be able to fulfill their god-given potential. That's her message looking to the future which is so key in an election. What is forward looking about what the candidate thinks?

BLITZER: She's got to learn from the mistakes she made back in 2007- 2008 in Iowa, the first contest, the Iowa caucuses.

Gloria, back in 2007, she declared she was running for president on a Saturday. I guess just before President Bush's state of the union address. That was also in a taped message. So why is she doing it this Sunday? What's the story behind the timing of this?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I was just on the phone with a senior Clinton adviser who said, look, why not Sunday? Sunday is a day that you kind of have to yourself mid afternoon, social media traffic is quite heavy on Sunday evenings. They believe that barring any large news events, she could own the news cycle. We know that Marco Rubio is going to declare on Monday. As Brianna points out, she'll already be on her way to Iowa. So there was sort of a sense of kind of, why not, when are people going to be able to have some time to take a look at this video? Everybody knows who Hillary Clinton is. She's got to reintroduce herself not only to Iowa but to the American people. And as Brianna points out, that's got to be with a message. But it's also got to be as a candidate who believes that even though she's largely unopposed, she's got to earn this nomination. And her advisers tell me she'll do it one-on-one, voter by voter. What better place to start than Iowa. And having people eyeball you in a very personal way at home on their devices?

[11:44:12] BLITZER: Both of you guys will be really busy in the coming weeks and months watching what Hillary Clinton is up to, Other Democratic candidates, assuming some serious ones do emerge, to challenge her, and a lot of Republican presidential candidates as well.

Gloria, thanks very much.

Brianna, thanks to you as well.

Up next, we're going to take a little bit more of a close look at Hillary Clinton's positions in the polls, what her kickoff means for the campaign.

And Florida Senator Marco Rubio is getting ready to make his big announcement on Monday. Will his timing put him in a little bit of a hole before he even gets off the ground? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Let's get back to our reporting about Hillary Clinton's upcoming campaign announcement. She's now expected to make it official with a videotaped message on Sunday. Here are the latest CNN/ORC poll numbers from last month. You can see Hillary Clinton holds a substantial lead over the field of potential Democratic challengers nationwide. She also comes out ahead in theoretically match-ups against the likely Republican challengers declared and undeclared nationwide.

Joining us now from New York, our senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny. Here with me in Washington, our CNN senior political reporter, Nia-Malika Henderson.

Jeff, you wrote last week about this new Clinton campaign strategy, a softer focus, less big events. Is that why she's releasing a video online instead of having a huge rally where other presidential candidates launch their campaign?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: That's one of the reasons. The biggest reason is control. An online, taped message, which she has already recorded this week, really allows her to give a very controlled message. And by social media, it allows a lot of people to read it. So they break through the mainstream media and allow her supporters across the country on Facebook and other forms of social media to read it. But what really is more important is what's happening after that. She's going to be traveling to Iowa and to New Hampshire. And she's going to begin that conversation. But I think that the message, what she says is more important. And even more important is how she sort of deals with some of those Democrats who aren't sure where she stands on Wall Street, aren't sure if she's progressive enough. Her message is important. But it's the questions from voters that will be the most important moment of her travel next week.

[11:45:10] BLITZER: Nia, as we were talking in 2007, she announced in January 2007, exactly one year before the Iowa caucuses, the New Hampshire primary. Now it's already April, so a little less time that she'll be an announced presidential candidate.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: A similar format because she announced in January 2007 with a video, talked about wanting to start a conversation. And when she starts those conversations, this will be the first version of this Hillary Clinton that we'll see interacting with voters. This Sunday's announcement will allow her traffic on social media and also will allow her to set the table for the week, no, ma'am -- dominate the Sunday shows. She's not excited to campaign for president. Who would be? It's a grueling thing. So it's a bit of a shorter time frame, I think, if you look back at 2007. And also I think allows them -- if you look at some of the polls, some of her numbers are softening. Some voters have issues about her in terms of whether or not she's trustworthy.

BLITZER: She's already put together a huge, huge staff, a lot of pros out there.

Jeff, we know there are two Republicans formally announced, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul. Marco Rubio, the Senator from Florida, is supposed to announce on Monday. Does Hillary Clinton's announcement on Sunday sort of take some of the momentum, some of the air out of his big announcement?

ZELENY: Sure, it takes a little bit of his thunder away. But he is not preparing to announce until Monday evening actually in Miami. I was talking to one of his advisers and supporters earlier today. They said they like this match-up just fine. He's an image of the future. And they say she's an image of the past. But this is not going to be a split-screen event. We've been expecting this for a long time. We knew that the former secretary of state was going to jump in. So she's kind of operating in her own universe here in terms of time and attention she's getting. But she'll be traveling to Iowa and New Hampshire next week. So it's more than just this social media message on Sunday. But, sure, she sucks a bit of oxygen from Senator Rubio. But we have Jeb Bush that we are expecting in May. And Hillary Clinton will have some competitors on the Democratic side. Martin O'Malley is in Iowa this evening getting a bit of a head start. She'll have some competition on this. They say that's how she prefers. We'll see.

BLITZER: He's the former governor of Maryland, Martin O'Malley.

ZELENY: that's right.

BLITZER: And Bernie Sanders is thinking about running, the Senator from Vermont.

Jeff Zeleny, thank you for joining us.

Nia-Malika Henderson, the newest addition to our CNN political team, welcome. Good to have you on board. HENDERSON: Thank you so much, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, great. We'll also have a lot of fun coming up with these campaigns.

After the break, a very different story we're covering. Many Afghanis provided help to U.S. troops at the height of the military action in Afghanistan. So what happens to them now, now that so many, almost all U.S. troops, about 10,000 there, they've left? What's going on? We'll have an update.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:51:09] BLITZER: American troops were targeted in a Taliban suicide attack in Afghanistan today. The car bomber attacked a NATO convoy near the city of Jalalabad in north eastern Afghanistan. That's the same area that saw the killing of an American soldier earlier this week. No American troops were hurt in today's attack. At least three Afghan civilians were killed.

Right now there are around 10,000 U.S. troops left many Afghanistan down from 100,000 just a few years ago.

Our Nick Paton Walsh takes a closer looks at the challenges for people who are being left behind after backing up the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CROSSTALK)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Caught in the wake, men that let America be understood here. Former NATO interpreters who say they were fired, blacklisted and now unable to get new jobs. They wait for the casual day's labor you might be offered if you join the crowd. The skill that made them rich yesterday, today after the draw down makes them fear appraisals from the Taliban.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My family is still living in the provinces. I cannot go there. I'm living in a market. I'm living in one of the empty shops.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not clear why they blacklisted me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My family, everybody gave up on me. They were too nervous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, I live here around this mosque area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just (INAUDIBLE) in Afghanistan.

PATON WALSH: This is a city holding its breath as the void left behind by NATO opens up, to learn if its new government will last, if Taliban are tired of fighting, if ISIS are next.

Now, it has five times more people than when the U.S. invaded. And swells still as many flee the violence swirling around it.

Its streets being reclaimed from a war economy that made these now empty houses expensive for foreigners and these left roads until now littered with potholes. Picking at the bones of an occupation past, whose remnants find the streets now too unsafe.

Here, this is the street where foreigners would bustle over trinkets and even dodge beggars.

After America's billions on infrastructure still sometimes generators provide the power.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't go to the street. Maybe it's not good.

PATON WALSH: The road out east tells a story of how war brought a brief reprieve from poverty for so many. Lined with the machines America used as it tried to move mountains to meet goals now abandoned. Their supply convoy too idle. These trucks were once the pinnacle of a billion-dollar circuit bearing to NATO bases everything they needed. Now the drivers would sell them for almost nothing just to save on the bribes and fuel needed to keep them running.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): The contracts were big business men. Giving as have little and made themselves rich and now living comfortable lives in Dubai.

PATON WALSH: The days of endless U.S. money enriching so few are ending. Even at the wedding halls, costly palaces of commitment to the future, the dreams, the symbols are of leaving. The lights are copying the Dubai landmark.

(on camera): The city's lights are held up as a sign of transformation. Behind the costly voltage, the story of billions spent on power stations barely ever switched on. Elsewhere, the failure to provide the most basic of services. But above all, after decades of war, people are worried if the violence has truly come to an end.

(voice-over): A glow that hides a wider uncertainty and fear.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kabul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[11:55:13] BLITZER: Nick Paton Walsh, thank you very much.

Up next, an update on deadly tornados that tore through a large part of the Midwest here in the United States overnight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look it, there goes -- there goes cars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw headlights go flying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Amazing video from the tornados hitting the Midwest here in the United States. We've just gotten an update on the tornado that struck Illinois last night. The Illinois governor, Bruce Rauner, says two people lost their lives many the hard hit rural community of Fairdale. One was a 67-year-old woman found in the rubble of her home. In one county, 49 homes were damaged, about 30 completely destroyed.

At a news conference, the governor also commended a sheriff, who lost his own home in the tornado.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUCE RAUNER, (R), GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS: Thank you again for our public servants, first responders who are here. At this point, I'd like to turn over to the Sheriff Dan Drickle (ph). Unfortunately he lost his home. Fortunately, for him, his family is safe. He lost his home. It was completely destroyed yesterday. Despite that, he's been serving around the clock along with his entire team with no sleep.

Thank you for your service.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We want do thank that sheriff as well.

In all, about 20 people in the area went to hospitals following the storm, one with severe injuries.

That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching. I'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room."

For international viewers, "Amanpour" is coming up next.

For viewers in North America, "Newsroom" with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.

[14:00:15] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, here we go.