Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Clinton Looks to Super Tuesday; Shaky Ceasefire in Syria; Oscars' Red Carpet Preview. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired February 28, 2016 - 05:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[05:00:05] HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you very much, South Carolina!

(CHANTING)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: A victorious Hillary Clinton looking ahead towards Super Tuesday after a big win in South Carolina. But her rival, Bernie Sanders, is not giving up without a fight.

Plus, a tenuous cease-fire in Syria. It is holding despite news of sporadic clashes across that country. We'll have a live report from the region ahead.

And it's Hollywood's biggest day. We'll have red a red carpet preview ahead of Sunday's Academy Awards.

Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell.

CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

(MUSIC)

HOWELL: A very good day to you.

We begin this hour with the big win for Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House, winning over rival Bernie Sanders as the candidates head to Super Tuesday.

The Democratic candidate reaffirmed her front-runner status on Saturday after a big win in South Carolina, the primary there. Clinton beat Sanders by roughly 47 points, and now she seems to be turning her sights to a match-up with Republican front-runner Donald Trump. Despite Sanders' increasingly tough rhetoric against Clinton, he just wasn't able to gain ground on her.

Karin Caifa breaks down the day in South Carolina and what lies ahead for both Sanders and Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLINTON: Thank you so much, South Carolina!

KARIN CAIFA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Not just a win, a decisive win for Hillary in South Carolina.

CLINTON: We've gone through four early states. And I want to congratulate Senator Sanders on running a great race, and --

(CHEERS)

And tomorrow, this campaign goes national!

CAIFA: Clinton's previous wins in Iowa and Nevada were by a small margin, in contrast to Sanders' blowout win over her in New Hampshire.

The campaign looking at South Carolina results as an indicator of how she may fare across multiple Southern contests on Super Tuesday. They hoped South Carolina would show strength among minority voters. Exit polls indicated African-American voters accounted for more than six in ten voters here in South Carolina. They will also be key in southern Super Tuesday states like Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, and Virginia.

Clinton now has wins in three of the first four contests, like Donald Trump in the Republican field.

CLINTON: Despite what you hear, we don't need to make America great again. America has never stopped being great.

(CHEERS)

But -- but we do need to make America whole again.

CAIFA: Sanders not yielding yet. He spent primary day away from the Palmetto State, first in Texas and then at an event in Minnesota, part of his super strategy.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The politics, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Tonight, we lost. I congratulate Secretary Clinton on her very strong victory. Tuesday, over 800 delegates are at stake. And we intend to win many, many of them.

CAIFA: But Clinton with the big win and the momentum in the last contest before Super Tuesday.

In Columbia, South Carolina, I'm Karin Caifa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Earlier, my colleague, Natalie Allen, spoke with John Kraushaar. He's the political editor for "The National Journal". They spoke about Clinton's big win in South Carolina and her support among minority voters. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH KRAUSHAAR, POLITICAL EDITOR, NATIONAL JOURNAL: The big challenge for Hillary Clinton was showing and proving that she could dominate, not just win, but dominate among African-Americans and among Hispanics. And she showed that she thoroughly won the African- American vote in both Nevada and South Carolina. And she won Hispanics. If you look at the precinct data out of Nevada, she did very well with the Hispanic voters, too.

And for a Democratic candidate and a Democratic primary, if you're doing well with nonwhite voter as well as Hillary Clinton has done, it's a pretty sure path to winning the Democratic nomination.

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, she said in her acceptance speech, "We go national from here." So what must she achieve on the national stage come Super Tuesday?

KRAUSHAAR: She's got a win the vast majority of delegates in states on Super Tuesday. And, frankly, most are concentrated in the South. They have similar demographics to South Carolina. So, states like that -- and also Texas with its sizable Hispanic population.

So, there's an opportunity for Clinton to do, again, very well with Hispanic and African-American voters and do well with the overall delegate count.

Now, Bernie Sanders is going to make a showing in the caucuses next week, Minnesota, Colorado, and Massachusetts' primary, three of the big states that the Sanders campaign is counting on.

But when you just look at the likely delegate count if the momentum continues for Clinton, she's going to start to build what's looking like an insurmountable lead for the Clinton campaign.

[05:05:06] ALLEN: Right. What happened to the feel the Bern? Where did that go? What turned it toward Hillary?

KRAUSHAAR: Well, look, Iowa and New Hampshire were about as favorable states as you can draw for the Sanders campaign. They're very liberal and they have very young and white Democratic electorates. Once we get to the South and the more diverse Democratic states, it was a bigger challenge for Sanders.

Sanders always had to prove he could expand his own coalition to winning more nonwhite voters, to doing well with African-Americans, at least making some inroads with that constituency. As we are seeing right now in South Carolina, not only that he did not make inroads, but he got wiped out. If he doesn't make any inroads by next week, the game is over for the Bernie Sanders campaign.

ALLEN: Well, there are certainly those that would want to trip up Hillary Clinton. I mean, from the emails, to Benghazi, and now this speech transcripts, he still talked about that. Is there anything that he can say or that can happen that could trip her up at this point on her way to getting more delegates?

KRAUSHAAR: Well, look, Hillary Clinton is her own worst enemy. She certainly improved her stump speech. She sounded more empathetic in her victory speech tonight in South Carolina. But it's really -- her issue is in the general election. I mean, she

has poor favorability numbers in the general election. A lot of people in the country still don't trust her outside of the Democratic base. So her big challenge looking forward is to think about the general election.

But she hinted at some lines preparing for a match-up again Donald Trump in her victory speech tonight. But this is someone who's going to be focused primarily on November and less toward Bernie Sanders and the Democratic primary.

ALLEN: Well, if it's Donald Trump and Hillary, she might need practice from Marco Rubio, maybe train with him since he finally got his speeds up there late in the game against the Donald this week.

But we appreciate your thoughts. We'll talk with you again. Josh Kraushaar, political editor for "National Journal" -- thank you.

KRAUSHAAR: Thanks, Natalie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Candidates from both parties are working to collect the majority of delegates for their respective conventions. Hillary Clinton grabbed 39 of South Carolina's 53 pledged delegates. Sanders got 14. Overall, Clinton has a whopping 536 delegates which includes super delegates compared to Sanders' 83; 2,383 are needed to win.

On the Republican side of things, Donald Trump, he's collected 82 delegates. Ted Cruz has 17, and Marco Rubio behind them at 16; 1,237 are needed to win the Republican nomination.

So the candidates will have an opportunity to do this on Tuesday, to win more delegates. And Super Tuesday could be very decisive for the Democratic race.

Jonathan Mann explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN MANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Super Tuesday is a chance for candidates to get a number of delegates to the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions. Twelve states will either vote or caucus. About half of them are in the South, which is why you'll also hear this called the SEC primary, taking that nickname from the southeast conference, an association of southern universities that may be best known for its football rivalries.

No football tie-in there, but the U.S. territory of American Samoa will also hold its caucus on Super Tuesday. There are more delegates up for grabs on Super Tuesday than any other day of the calendar. That one day offers nearly half, fully 48 percent of what's needed to win for Republicans, more than one-third, 36 percent, for Democrats.

Super Tuesday will probably not decide the race for Republicans, though, because of the number of candidates still in the race. They split the vote too many ways for a clear, fast win. But it could have a significant impact on the Democratic race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: So, that was our Jonathan Mann reporting.

Now let's turn to the Republican side of things. Republican Donald Trump and rival Marco Rubio are going at it with each other again. Both candidates have been trading insults since the debate on Thursday night. Rubio made fun of Trump's spray tan calling it the worst ever. And Trump referred to his rival as, quote, "Little Rubio." and a total lightweight.

Super Tuesday is a crucial day in the U.S. for these presidential candidates. Republicans will battle is out for nearly half of the delegates that they need to win their party's nomination.

Our chief U.S. correspondent, John king, looks at how this leg of the race could play out for the Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Here's where we stand now, 82 delegates to 17, 16, and 6. So, you say that's a big lead, but it's early, 1,273 is the number you need for the Republican nomination.

But, Wolf, this is what -- look at Super Tuesday. If Trump runs the board, he would pull way out to here. For the sake of argument, Ted Cruz is leading in Texas, Donald Trump has negative ads up, he says he's playing there.

[05:10:01] But let's for the sake of argument, say Ted Cruz leads and Donald Trump comes in second, Marco Rubio gets third and Governor Kasich fourth. Ben Carson would be fifth obviously.

Even if that happens, Donald Trump's ahead everywhere else on Super Tuesday. We'll see. You know, Rubio's pushing in Georgia. Cruz pushing in Oklahoma and in Georgia. We'll see what happens.

But if it goes right now and Donald Trump wins these states with 35 percent of the vote, he'd start to open a delegate lead. Let me show you something else, take it further through March. If Donald Trump ran the board then, Kasich is trying to get Ohio, Rubio's home state, the home state contest here, Governor Kasich in Ohio and Senator Rubio there.

But right now, Trump's ahead. If Trump ran the board, look how far ahead he'd get. I want to give you a scenario now. Let's assume at this point I'm going to make it Marco Rubio. Could be any of the other candidates, if we get to Trump versus one.

In this scenario, it's going to be Marco Rubio as you see it play out. It could be Cruz. Watch the numbers. Could be Kasich if they won. Watch this play out. If the other candidate, this being Marco Rubio, won everything after

the 15th, right, everybody else gets out, it's a two-man race, the candidate wins everything there, and if -- if Rubio won everything after that, he wouldn't clinch. He would pass Trump but he wouldn't clinch by the convention.

So, the only way -- here's one scenario -- if Rubio won Florida, if he could win his home state, let's give Donald Trump second, but it's winner-take-all, it really doesn't matter. Governor Kasich there. If Rubio won his home state and then ran the board after March 15th, then he could just barely cross the line and win the nomination.

Now, that was the scenario with Marco Rubio. If you're a Cruz supporter at home, could be your candidate. If you're a Kasich supporter, could be your candidate. But the point is at some point, if Trump is so poised to win big on Super Tuesday, after that -- if after that, we had a two-man race, that person in the two-man race would have to win everything -- everything to stop Trump.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Super Tuesday, it will be a telling day this coming Tuesday, March 1st. You can find full coverage, of course, here of the races and results only on CNN.

This is CNN NEWSROOM.

A fragile cease-fire continues in Syria. Will it hold? There are reports of airstrikes. We'll look into that next.

Plus, with votes still being counted, we will tell you who's taking a major lead in Iran's first major election since the landmark nuclear deal.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: Silence and hope. They have been absent from Syria's landscape for quite a long time.

[05:15:03] But a truce that was brokered by the U.S. and Russia has stopped most of the fighting at least for now. The cease-fire between Syria's regime and its rebel factions is well into its second day now. But ISIS has not signed on, and al Nusra front has not signed on. And on Saturday, the militants attacked a town held by Kurds on the Turkish border. There are also reports that Russian or Syrian aircraft have launched fresh attacks against ISIS stronghold.

CNN international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, is live in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for us, to talk more about what's happening in the region.

Nic, good to have you with us.

So, what is the latest on the cease-fire, air strikes? What's working, and what's not?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, well under sort of a normal situation, if you could call it normal and a cease- fire anywhere else, there would be no fighting whatsoever. But, of course, in the Syria conflict, the battle continues against ISIS and al Nusra, the al Qaeda affiliate.

So, it's very hard to tell from a distance precisely what is being hit in the new airstrikes, airstrikes in Aleppo province, the Hama province. They're targeting Raqqa very clearly, an ISIS stronghold, that's pretty clearly targeting ISIS there. But there are reports of gunfire by government forces around the town of Homs, as well.

So, the picture is one of a much calmer Syria than we've seen in recent weeks. This is what the high negotiating committee, the opposition here, are telling me in Riyadh, this is where they're based at the moment. And they do say that they're seeing this calm. They say the people are grateful for the calm at the moment, and they need the international community to continue to put pressure on Russia, on the Syrian government, to help maintain this.

They say that -- too soon really for them to call it when the cease- fire is working, whether it will break down, it's under scrutiny, and they're expecting reports back from field commanders. They represent about 97 different groups in the opposition here. So, when they get those reports from field commanders, they hope to make a better assessment in the coming days. But for the moment, they're cautious but grateful.

The cease-fire violations are something they will monitor carefully. And the U.S. embassy in Damascus, its Twitter account, of course, the embassy was shuttered several years ago. The Twitter account has given Syrians a place to call someone to contact if they see ceasefire violations.

But, of course, in this situation, it's difficult to get clear and precise assessments. Who's breaking the cease-fire and why and how.

HOWELL: And the question of who would be able to even get on line to file any violations that they see given the images that we just saw a moment ago while you were talking, you know, inside Syria, these building that are all but demolished. This is what people have been dealing with for nearly five years there.

I wanted to talk about this statement that was released by the Kremlin, as well. The President Putin had a conversation with King Solomon of Saudi Arabia. The statement reads in part that the two leaders also expressed their desire to find a settlement to the crisis in Syria and ensure stability and security throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

But, Nic, are we to believe the sentiment of true cooperation, a world power with strong, lasting ties to Shia leadership in Iran an Syria, that it's willing to work side by side with the government in Riyadh, which is arguably the Sunni capital of the world. Is Saudi Arabia rightly suspicious of Russia? ROBERTSON: I think there's a huge amount of distrust at the moment,

particularly in a period around a cease-fire. But what we can say is that, you know, Russia's interest in Syria is not quite simply to support Shias. Russia is in Syria, they say, to support the government there, to support their interests inside Syria. That is very clear.

But they also are not interested in staying in a long, protracted, drawn-out fight. That is not in Russia's long-term strategic interests. So, it is quite plausible to understand that Russia will talk through friends and allies in the region, the Gulf countries, you know, Qatar, United Arab emirates, and to Saudi Arabia, to have a discussion about -- about a longer term peaceful solution here.

So, I don't think we can rule this out at the time. If there is going to be stability, it is going to need to involve the -- the countries that have the real power in the region. Right now, Russia is that key, key element that's turned the battlefield around in favor of the Syrian government inside Syria.

Saudi Arabia has drawn together a significant coalition of Sunni/Arab countries. They're going to be having a huge military exercise in the north of Saudi Arabia in the coming days which they say potentially could contain elements of a force that could join a U.S. ground force inside Syria to tackle ISIS on the ground.

[05:20:17] ISIS is something that the Russian government wants to tackle, as well. So, we can see that there are t would be common to Russia and Saudi Arabia. Of course, mistrust is the devil in all of this, George.

HOWELL: Indeed, very uneasy alliances between the world powers.

But at this point, Nic, a cease-fire does appear to holding, and people on the ground who have been dealing with so much hell will have some peace for the moment.

Nic Robertson live for us in Riyadh -- Nic, thank you for your reporting.

We move on to Iran and its first major election since last year's nuclear deal. The country's interior ministry says reformists may take all 30 available seats in parliament. The votes are still being counted.

Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and the current President Rouhani are leading the other important race, the powerful assembly of experts.

Our senior international correspondent, Fred Pleitgen, has more on the early results in that country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The results for Iran's elections are slowly coming in. And if they stand, this could be a resounding victory for the moderates and reformers here in this country.

Now, we have to keep in mind that two elections took place. One was for the Council of Experts, which is a religious body that will vote for the next supreme leader. That was an important election that took place. And for the Tehran area, the way things are shaping up, moderates and reformers could take up to 12 of 15 available sets, leaving only three for the conservative forces.

Now, there seems to be a similar picture as far as parliamentary elections are concerned. There, for the Tehran area, the early projections are that the reformers and moderates could take a vast majority of the seats for the Tehran area, it's 30 seats that are up for grabs, and could even take all of them if the results continue to go the direction that they were shaping up.

Now, the election council in Iran warned that these well preliminary results, and final results won't probably come until sometime on Tuesday. However, many Iranians and many in the international community saw these elections as a referendum of the policies of President Hassan Rouhani, of opening this country up to the West.

Of course, the centerpiece of the policies was the nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers. That on the one hand put curbs on Iran's nuclear program, but on the other hand also led to sanctions relief.

And while many Iranians have not felt the benefits of that sanctions relief yet, it appears as though if these results stand and if they get strengthened, that many of them believe that things could change for the better in this country in the not-too-distant future. It seems as though the electorate here may have given Hassan Rouhani a clear mandate to continue and even accelerate those reforms.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: In Spain, police there say that they have broken up a human smuggling ring that was illegally moving Chinese laborers into Europe. More than 100 Chinese nationals were detained, most of them in Spain. Authorities said the smugglers were using fake passports to traffic the workers through Spanish airport.

Police in the U.K., France, and Italy were part of the joint investigation that spanned two years.

U.S. federal drug agents are helping South African police in their fight against violent gangs. We take you to Cape Town and CNN's David McKenzie witnessed a drug bust in the area that's known as Cape Flats, a neighborhood that still struggles with poverty and violence more than 20 years after the end of apartheid.

Here's David's report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Peering out of windows, wary of the cops below.

The police say they want the community's help to catch Cape Town's most wanted criminals. The people here know at that gangs run the streets.

(on camera): They're here to do public outreach in this neighborhood. But this man's already been shot. The police are talking to him.

This operation has just begun. And shots were already fired.

They knew the police were here and still shot each other?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They don't care. They don't respect the police. They don't care. No respect for the police.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): We're with the specialized gang unit of the metro police. For their safety, we can't show their faces. Crime is entrenched in the Cape Flats. It's been that way for decades.

But in Lavender Hill, murders have doubled, with many innocent victims caught in the crossfire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's terrible. (INAUDIBLE)

MCKENZIE: Gang members killed this (INAUDIBLE)'s son a year ago.

[05:25:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He wasn't a gangster, and they shot him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All the young boys, most of the young boys feel forced to join gangs.

MCKENZIE (on camera): Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because they're afraid of the gangsters.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): City officials are finally fighting back. Turning traffic cops into special investigators.

(GUNFIRE)

MCKENZIE: They've called in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About every bad thing that could happen happened in that one scenario. I mean, it was totally off the script, right in.

MCKENZIE: Active agents whose identities must be concealed run the training.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't see any huge flaw that would make me not want to roll with you guys.

MCKENZIE: It's been open season on the cops here. Many of these officers have seen colleagues killed. Every one of them knows a routine traffic stop can turn deadly.

A show of strength, they say, is disrupting gang operations. But tonight, few arrests. All they can perhaps manage is to slow the menace.

David McKenzie, CNN, Cape Town.

(END VIDEOITAPE)

HOWELL: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Still ahead, the U.S. Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, is facing criticism from his White House rivals for what he said about Israel and peace talks with the Palestinians. We'll have details on that.

Plus, Bernie Sanders confident despite a big setback in the Deep South. We'll hear what he's saying to his supporters. Live in the United States and around the world this hour, you are watching CNN worldwide.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: A warm welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

[05:30:00] Good to have you with us. I'm George Howell.

The headlines this hour:

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton claimed a big win over rival Bernie Sanders in the South Carolina primary, taking the lead by a nearly 50-point margin. Super Tuesday is up next when 11 states hold Democratic primaries or caucuses.

Iran's interior ministry says reformists may take all 30 seats up for grabs in parliament. Early election counts also shows that Iran's former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and current President Hassan Rouhani are leading the race for the powerful assembly of experts. Final results are expected on Tuesday.

A cease-fire in Syria, it appears to be holding for the most part, more than a full day after it went into effect. The Syrian government and most of its opposition agreed to the truce so that aid could reach civilians who need it most. More than 250,000 people have died in Syria's civil war.

All eyes on Hollywood. Soon to be there as the 88th Annual Academy awards are held on Sunday night in Los Angeles. Many predict that Leonardo DiCaprio might finally break his Oscar losing streak. He is the strong favorite to win bulletproof vest actor for his performance in "The Revenant," also nominated for best picture.

Hillary Clinton, she is heading now into Super Tuesday with a solid lead over Bernie Sanders. The Democratic candidate confirmed her front-runner status on Saturday and now seems to be turning her sights toward a match-up with Republican front-runner Donald Trump. Despite Sanders' increasingly tough rhetoric against Clinton, he just wasn't able to gain ground on her in this match.

The loss in South Carolina has been the toughest defeat to Sanders' campaign in some time. He's made a surprisingly tough opponent for Clinton and continues to challenging her for the nomination, but he faces an uphill climb. He's already arrived in Minnesota where a win could help put his campaign back on track.

Jeff Zeleny has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: A turning point in the Democratic race for the nomination as Bernie Sanders arrived here in Minnesota with a stinging defeat in South Carolina. Hillary Clinton beat him by a 3-1 margin across the board, all kinds of voters.

Now, Bernie Sanders still talked about building that revolution, changing politics as we know it. But it's becoming clear how difficult that will be.

Now, he criticized Hillary Clinton throughout the course of his speech, about the paid speeches she has given to Wall Street, about the fact that she has a super PAC, even bringing up her old Iraq war vote.

Now, those criticisms ring true to a lot of his supporters. The question for Bernie Sanders is will he be able to expand his support as the race continues now.

March is a critical month in the race for the nomination. Some 56 percent of the Democratic delegates will be selected in the month of March. Now, she clearly enters it with big advantages.

Bernie Sanders has some fast teamwork do if he's going to catch her or become a protest candidate here in the months leading up to the Democratic convention in July.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Rochester, Minnesota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Now for a look on the Republican side, front-runner Donald Trump and rival Marco Rubio have definitely taken off the gloves. The two presidential candidates have been going at each other nonstop since Thursday's debate.

Here's what Marco Rubio said about Donald Trump on Saturday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's flying around on "hair force one" and tweeting. Here's the one tweet he put out, a pictures of me having make-up put on me at the debate, which is amazing to me that a guy with the worst spray tan in America is attacking me for putting on make-up.

(CHEERS)

Donald Trump likes to sue people. He should sue whatever did that to his face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Trump wasn't holding back either as he campaigned with New Jersey governor and former rival Chris Christie who has endorsed him now. Here's what Mr. Trump had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But I will address little Rubio. This guy has a fresh mouth. He's a very nasty guy.

But I actually thought that Ted Cruz was a liar. But Rubio is worse. I mean, he's worse.

This lightweight Rubio, total lightweight. And little mouth on him, bing, bing, bing. Bing, bing, bing, bing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Marco Rubio is also criticizing Donald Trump for saying that he would not take sides to try to broker a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. And now, Mr. Trump is defending his position saying he is the most pro-Israel candidate running for the White House.

Here's CNN senior political reporter Manu Raju.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER (voice-over): Donald Trump believes there should be no questioning of his staunchly pro-Israel view.

TRUMP: We will protect Israel totally.

(APPLAUSE)

RAJU: But a deeper look at his relationship shows it is much more complicated than he lets on.

Trump abruptly canceled a trip to Israel last year after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized his plan to ban Muslims from entering the United States. He came under fire after asserting he'd remain neutral in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in order to be a fair arbiter of peace talks.

RUBIO: The positions you've taken is an anti-Israel position.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is another area on which Donald agrees with Hillary Clinton and on which I disagree with them both strongly.

RAJU: Trump defended his position.

TRUMP: I may be successful in doing, it it's probably the toughest negotiation of anywhere in the world of any kind, OK? But it doesn't help if I start saying, "I am pro-Israel. Very pro, more than anybody on this stage." But it doesn't do any good to start demeaning the neighbors.

RAJU: And then the gloves came off.

RUBIO: The Palestinians are not a real estate deal, Donald.

TRUMP: No, no, no. A deal --

RUBIO: They're not a real estate deal.

TRUMP: A deal is a deal. Let me tell you. I've learned a long time ago.

RUBIO: A deal is not a deal when you're dealing with terrorists. Have you negotiated with terrorists?

TRUMP: You are not a negotiator.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And with your thinking, you will never, you will never bring peace, you will never bring peace.

RUBIO: Donald --

RAJU: Trump contends he's been a long time and vigorous supporter of Israeli causes.

TRUMP: I've received many, many awards from Israel.

RAJU: Awards yes, but not from the Israeli government.

TRUMP: This is a Tree of Life, which is a very big award.

RAJU: In 1983, the Jewish national fund's real estate committee gave Trump its Tree of Life Award.

In 2004, he marched in a salute to Israel parade in New York City.

Yet how much money the billionaire has donated to pro-Israel causes remains an unanswered question. In 2014, Trump donated $100,000 to an Israeli emergency first responder organization, according to the Jewish newspaper "Algemeiner." But one reason we don't know the full picture, he has yet to returns, and the Trump campaign would not provide more examples.

TRUMP: I can only say I've been a big contributor to Israel over the years. RAJU: On Friday, the Israel "Haim" newspaper quoted Trump talking

about his own personal ties, noting that his daughter Ivanka is, quote, "married to a Jew who is an enthusiastic Israel supporter." He added that he'd be Israel's true best friend.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: That report there from CNN's political reporter Manu Raju.

This is CNN NEWSROOM.

Still ahead, a brutal brawl in the state of California.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir -- don't hurt him! Don't hurt him!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: A clash between members of the Ku Klux Klan and counter- protester. We'll have the latest.

Plus, the biggest awards show of the season. It is just hours away. Coming up, the scene from Los Angeles where crews are putting on the final touches of the Oscar red carpet. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: We're following the story in the U.S. state of California where a march by the Ku Klux Klan in Anaheim turned violent on Saturday. Police say five people were injured after counterprotests attacked a group of Klan members as they got out of their cars. Officers say they saw one KKK member being stomped. Three counterprotesters were stabbed, one with the decorative end of a flagstaff.

Reporter Steve Kuzj from CNN affiliate KTLA has more on the skirmish there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(EXPLETIVES DELETED)

STEVE KUZJ, KTLA REPORTER (voice-over): Racist ideals and opposition came to a head in Anaheim Saturday afternoon. A Ku Klux Klan rally erupted in violence.

(SCREAMS)

(EXPLETIVE DELETED)

KUZJ: A group of KKK members announced they would be holding a rally at Pearson Park. A larger group of counter protesters showed up first. When the KKK arrived, tempers flared.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't hurt him, sir! Sir, don't hurt him! KUZJ: After a little time, angry words shouted between the hate group

and its protesters weren't enough. A bloody fight broke out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the KKK members arrived in a vehicle, maybe five in one vehicle, that a group of counterprotesters immediately attacked them as they exited the vehicle. That resulted in a stabbing right off to the left here by the fire hydrant.

KUZJ: The stabbing victim, a protester, was stuck by either the pointed end of a flag pole by a confederate flag or American flag. You see a KKK member trying to defend himself with the American flag while a confederate one lays on the ground below.

It's not clear who attacked first. But several punched and rushed the KKK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That ultimately led to a melee in the street that stretched almost a whole city block down Cypress Street where a number of other fights broke out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We came here for peaceful protest, white lives matter. We get jumped by --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think you had to expect something.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's crazy for them to come here. When it's a majority or minorities here -- where there's a majority of minorities here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's important this is the -- Klan's message as reprehensible as most of us think it is, it's protected by the First Amendment. We can't be getting in the middle of stopping them from doing that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To me, it's old -- a different time in the world, you know. We've got to be moving forward, and this is not helping, you know?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: That report from CNN affiliate KTLA. Police made 13 arrests after the incident. Officers are still looking for one more suspect. The man you see here, police do not know his name.

Let's now switch over to weather. Gusty winds, plenty of rain and snow for both the Western U.S. and Southern Europe.

Meteorologist Karen Maginnis is following it.

And, Karen, I know my friends in Seattle not happy.

(WEATHER REPORT)

[05:47:05] HOWELL: Goodness. Karen, thank you so much.

Moving on here. At least six people were killed when an apartment building came

crashing down in eastern China. The top three floors of this six- story complex collapsed on Friday afternoon. Chinese media report the incident was caused by improper renovations on the fourth floor of the building. Rescuers managed to pull eight survivors out of the debris.

This is CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be right back after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:51:26] HOWELL: All right. The stage is set for Hollywood's biggest night. You know we're talking about the 88th Annual Academy Awards, just hours away. Comedian Chris Rock will be hosting. You got to wonder what he's going to say.

The film "The Revenant" leads the pack with 12 nominations. Stars Leonardo DiCaprio. Many say this could be the year that he finally takes home the coveted best actor award. This year's Oscars have also been surrounded by controversy due to the lack of diversity among nominees.

Crews are putting on the final touches on the red carpet for the biggest awards show of the season.

Dianne Gallagher has a look at how everything is shaping up hours before show time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're on the red carpet. And -- I don't have any celebrities right now.

But it is a couple hundred of my closest media friends along with me getting ready for the main event. It starts back behind the silver curtain. That's where the celebrities themselves go through security before they come out onto the red carpet to smile for the cameras.

And you see there's plenty of people setting up their shops now, getting a look at where they want to be when the pig stars come out. They're actually not going to be on the carpet, though. The media's going to be this way.

And you can see, that's where each individual camera gets to be. It is tight quarters over here. We're talking shoulder to shoulder. Nothing glamorous about the press area during the Academy Awards.

All that glamour is here on the red carpet. All the fun, though, happening over to my right in the empty risers. Come red carpet time, it will be filled with all sorts of adoring fans who have been waiting hours to get their carpet side, maybe even get a selfie with Leo come show time.

Now, they're still working on the red carpet itself. You see here they're cutting it up, making sure nobody trips, an embarrassing moment on their way to make that grand entrance into the Dolby Theater for the 88th Annual Academy Awards. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: No, you don't want to trip on the red carpet. That would be a bad look.

So, here's a quick look at the numbers for Sunday's Oscars -- 24, that's the number of award categories, and most have five nominees each. One hundred twenty-one is the total number of nomination. Seventy-two, the number of envelopes with the names of winners inside. Three sets for each category. And the number two is the number of people who know who the winners are ahead of time.

Both are partners for PricewaterhouseCoopers, that is the accounting firm that tallies up the Oscar ballots.

CNN, of course, is the place to turn before and after the Academy Awards, for all the glitz and glamour from the red carpet, tune in to Hollywood's biggest night, 7:00 a.m. Monday in Hong Kong, 8:00 p.m. in Hong Kong, only here on CNN.

And before we leave you, we take you now England's Bristol zoo. That is the home to a brand-new baby gorilla. She looks to be perfect healthy now, but only a few days ago, the baby and her mother were in dire straits.

Jeanne Moos spoke to the doctor who saved the day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a C-section that had even the main doctor going ape in that low key British way.

DR. DAVID CAHILL, DELIVERED BABY GORILLA: The most unusual, special, exciting delivery I've ever done.

MOOS: It's a girl -- gorilla.

The staff at Bristol Zoo knew the mother wasn't feeling right and then the fetus grew unresponsive. That's when zoo staff called in gynecologist Dr. David Cahill who's delivered lots of human babies.

CAHILL: Over a thousand. I don't keep count.

MOOS: Uh-huh. And how about gorillas?

CAHILL: One.

[05:55:00] MOOS: They decided to do an emergency caesarian.

CAHILL: This was just like any other mother but she had very thick skin and felt very different to the touch.

MOOS: Things got tense when the two pound 10 ounce newborn came out not breathing. Bristol Zoo's vet did CPR blowing air into her lungs as someone else did chest compressions. It worked. There have been other rare gorilla c-sections, for instance, two years ago in San Diego, a four-point-six-pound baby famous for her blue knit hat.

So far the as yet unnamed Bristol Zoo infant is being hand raised by staff. She's brought within sight and smell of her mom, but the mother hasn't shown any interest in taking care of her.

As for the doctor turned gorilla deliverer, we wondered, what did he tell his wife?

CAHILL: What did I tell you when I got home? All in a day's work all in a day's work was the comment.

MOOS: The patient is doing very well, while the doctor is getting teased by colleagues for the hairy special delivery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok famous person have your dinner. Thank you, darling.

CAHILL: Thank you, Darling.

MOOS: Bon appetit!

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: With that, we thank our viewers around the world. I'm George Howell at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

For viewers in the United States, NEW DAY is next. For other viewers, "THE BEST OF QUEST" starts in a moment.

This is CNN, the world's news leader.