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Possible Blizzard Due on East Coast; Cruz Getting Hit on All Sides; Carly Fiorina in Anti-Abortion Flap; Putin Implicated in Report on Death of Russian Ex-Spy in UK. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired January 21, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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


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[14:00:17] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Great to be with you. I'm Brooke Baldwin here on this Thursday watching CNN. Get ready for it, for what could be a blizzard of "Epic Proportions".

So they say here this whapping 75 million people in the United States, in the Eastern United States, must be precise now since we're in the path of this winter storm.

We are talking as much as 2 feet of snow possibly from Kentucky up through on New Jersey and right there in the smocking a bull's eye middle in our nation's capital.

Washington D.C. already dealing with the painful preview, the Washington mayor apologizing after a dusting of snow last night caused this. Hundreds of accidents, folks just stuck, commuters dragging on for as long as six hours.

Meteorologist Tom Sater is joining us. He knows Washington as well. Tom Sater, not fun at all.

TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST AND WEATHER ANCHOR: Yeah. You know, last night was a sucker punch by old man winter, Brooke. But the real fighting begins in the next 24 hours. And unfortunately our blizzard watch now in red is a blizzard warning for Washington, Baltimore and at the Philadelphia where the models are still in agreement to drop 20 to 30 inches, it's amazing.

In yellow, the blizzard watch was extended to include New York City and Long Island is 30 million Americans going to deal not just with heavy snow and zero visibilities but very strong winds. There are 19 states that now that have warnings and this is just for the winter type of severe weather.

Look at the radar now and what you're going to find here, yes, that is a tornado watch for areas of Eastern Texas and Louisiana. That is going to drop not only some damaging winds and large hail but the concern for tornadoes across there is into Deep South and South Easter Coast.

Once the storm starts to ramp up, we'll start to find the center. That's very important, Brooke, because without a center we're not going to know the exact track. Will it move directly off the coast out in the Atlantic? Or will it curb to the North and that means everything for all of you living in Northern New Jersey and in New York City, because right now, models want to give you the 2 inches or 20.

That's right. So we'll need some more time on New York, but the icing already starting to shape up from Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky. Significant icing up to a half inch is going to knock out power to maybe a couple of million.

And then we're looking at the heavy snow to build upon that. And if it is 1 to 2 feet, that's going to be amazing with the strong winds. The storm surge on the coast could rival that a Superstorm Sandy. It really starts the blizzard conditions at midnight as we get in tomorrow night.

But quickly, look at the models, and this is a big concern because there is been no wavering when it comes to Washington D.C. This is the American model. New York has dropped down to 2. But that's so uncertain right now, Brooke, without the track of the storm this could be 20. So we got to watch that one closely.

BALDWIN: I know you will. We'll chat next hour. Tom Sater, thank you so much.

To politics we go. Senator Ted Cruz, man, he is getting hit by his own party just after Sarah Palin endorsed his rival Donald Trump to be the Republican nominee for president. Senator Cruz faced this withering criticism in The New York times "Nobody Likes Him", those words from the Republicans, 1996 Presidential nominee and Former Senator from Kansas Bob Dole.

But Dole did not stop there. He went on to say a Cruz nomination would be "cataclysmic for Republicans". Here's the quote, "If he, in the nominee, we're going to have wholesale losses in Congress and state offices and governors and legislatures".

Dole also said he thought Trump was the only candidate who could stop Cruz and then Trump unlike Cruz could "possibly work with Congress because he's got the right personality and he's kind of a deal maker".

Now, Cruz turned the attack to his favor pinning Trump arguably the most unconventional candidate of this election season as a pawn of the establishment. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED CRUZ, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Can you believe what we need is more deal making, more going along to get along to use his phrase, with Harry Reid and Barack Obama and the Democrats? Then you can understand why the establishment is unifying behind him.

But if you think that's what got us in this mess in the first place and you want someone who will stand up to Washington, I am the only one in this race who has a proven record of standing up not just to Democrats but to leaders of our own party and standing with the American people insisting for real change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALWIN: Let's talk about this with our Chief Staff Political Correspondent Dana Bash and our Political Reporter Manu Raju, great to see both of you.

Manu just to begin with you, I mean, talk to me initially here just about the chatter behind the scenes, you know, on Capitol Hill, this obvious growing opposition against Senator Cruz.

[14:05:01] And on that, I'm curious, is it a coordinated chatter or, you know, just sort of accidental chatter, a chatter all coming together?

MANU RAJU, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Brooke, there's no like secret meeting or anything with our plotting against Ted Cruz. But the feeling is really universal on Capitol Hill. I spent the morning talking to Republican senators and the feeling is really more urgent that they cannot see Ted Cruz win Iowa.

There's a real deep concern within party establishment that if Cruz were to win Iowa, he'd have a good chance of winning the Republican nomination and affect down taking races or in hatch, for example, told me this morning that Ted Cruz would lose the Republican or lose the presidency if he wins the Republican nomination.

Others express similar concern. Here's a little bit of what Lindsey Graham had to say to us earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R) ENDORSED JEB BUSH AS REPUBLICAN NOMINEE: If you nominate Trump and Cruz, I think you get the same outcome, you know, whether it's death by being shot or poisoning, it doesn't really matter.

I don't think the outcome will be substantially different. I think Donald Trump's domestic and foreign policy is gibberish.

I think Ted Cruz has a reputation of being ideological to a fault. And when it comes to problem solving, he will have a difficult time proving that he is a problem solver.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, the challenge for Cruz will be, if he gets the nomination, will be uniting his party behind him. But a number of Republican senators who I talked to said it would be very hard for him to get unity behind his candidacy arguing that the things that he has done, the tactics that he has pursued have really caused deep divisions within his party.

Dan Coates, the Indian Republican for one told me that these wounds are just too deep to heal. These are the kinds of things we're going to hear running up to Iowa next week, Brooke. BROOKE: So the, Dana, we have the wounds and you've been on Capitol Hill long before, you know, Cruz was a senator. Why don't people like him?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Lots of reasons. I think Manu just touched on one main one which is that the feeling, again, this is important, never mind Democrats.

This is members of his own party. I should add by the way before I answer that, not one Republican senator has endorsed Ted Cruz. He's gotten some House members, but not one Republican senator. That kind of says everything you need to know.

But the answer is because going back to the second he walked through the doors of the Capitol, his whole M.O. has been to not give in, to not compromise at all.

That is what has made him the hero out among many in the conservative base, but it is made him a pariah in the House of Congress because the art of legislating traditionally, is the art of compromise.

And he is a take no prisoners (ph), no compromise kind of guy. Again, when you're talking about the Republican primary process, whether it's for the Senate, as he was before or now for the president, that is something that he'd probably is wearing as a badge of honor.

But, when you need to actually get things done and you consider putting together a piece of legislation as getting things done, a lot of people are thinking, you know, this is not the way you come to congress.

And more importantly on his personality, Brooke, a lot of people think that that brand that he has cultivated as a no compromise guy is about his own future, his own political path that he's trying to take now and not really genuinely about kind of, you know, being a good Republican citizen, if you will.

BROOKE: Stay with this, but flipping it a bit. I mean, we had all talked earlier about, you know, the news when -- Iowa governor. He come out come out and, you know, said, "I want Cruz defeated and then would that galvanize the Cruz campaign. You know, his campaign actually took him $700,000 in a week of that". And Cruz is now portraying, Dana Bash staying with you. Trump as the establishment guy. Say what?

BASH: Exactly. This is hard to swallow at first blush, but let me kind of explain to you what they are trying to do strategically inside the Cruz campaign with this.

As I just mentioned, his whole M.O (ph), his whole brand is no compromise. I have a proven record fighting against the Washington establishment. And they think that they have an opening with Donald Trump talking more and more about the fact that he, you know, makes deals and that he gets along with everybody, and opening to try to paint him. And, I should say an opening because you have people like Bob Dole and other veteran Republicans saying that, you know, he would be better than Cruz.

They think they have an opening to say, "You know what, if you get Trump, it's just going to be more the same. He's going to compromise on your principles. What principles does he have? Does he have Republican principles?

So, they're trying to chip away at what has been Donald Trump's whole campaign so far, which is that he's an a outsider, he's different. They're trying to kind of make him, you know, "Guess what, guys, he is just like everybody else and I'm the only one with a proven record".

It's going to be interesting.

[14:10:00] And I think personally hard to see if that actually flies with Republican primary voters, but, you know what, they got to give it a try.

RAJU: And, Brooke, if I ...

BROOKE: Yeah. Quickly, quickly, Manu. Go ahead. Put one on it.

RAJU: Orrin Hatch actually in the article that we're just about to post (ph) on CNN, actually, is going to give Ted Cruz some ammunition. He thinks that Trump actually could be a good nominee for the party better than Ted Cruz. He thinks he can appeal to Democrats potentially.

So that's going to be another integration (ph) for -- ammunition for the Cruz campaign to say, "Look, the establishment is getting behind Donald Trump".

BALDWIN: Look for the money revenue guideline Cnnpolitics.com. Thank you my friend and Dana Bash, I appreciate your voice as well.

Just a quick reminder to all of you as we're talking Iowa, next Monday night in Iowa, exactly one week before the caucuses on the Democratic side. Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Martin O'Malley, they will go face to face with the voters in the state of Iowa.

It is a CNN Democratic Presidential town hall live from Des Moines. This is the candidates' final pitch before all the first votes are cast. That is next Monday night live at 9:00 Eastern only here on CNN.

Coming up next, Carly Fiorina and her campaign being accused of ambushing preschool kids for a prolife rally. They're on a field trip. And now, at least one parent is not exactly happy. Plus did Vladimir Putin order the murder of a former Russian spy. A new report accuses the Russian president in a poisoning plot. We'll talk live with the friend of the ex-spy. And scanning new e-mails here from Michigan officials shrugging off complaints about the toxic water in Flint, Michigan. Hear why they said, "Nothing to worry about. Hiccups" they said, as families and children were possibly poisoned. You're watching CNN, I'm Brooke Baldwin, don't move.

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[14:16:00] BALDWIN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN. Carly Fiorina's campaign is dismissing claims she ambushed a group of preschoolers on a field trip. The children were visiting the Des Moines Botanical Garden when at least one parent says, the Republican candidate ushered them in to a stage for an anti-abortion rally.

CNN Politics Senior Reporter Stephen Collinson is following this for us today. Let's just begin facts. What happened?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: It seems according to the guard in which first reported this story, that at least one parent of these 15 preschoolers is complaining that they were ushered into this rally which was focusing on anti-abortion issues Brooke, without being, you know, without the parents giving permission for this. This was in Des Moines yesterday.

The campaign said that's not the case that Carly Fiorina was actually hanging out with the kids, watching coy and they had so much fun that they just simply followed her with their parents and their teachers into this event in which they were pictured with this, at the front of the stage as you saw with these pictures of an unborn fetus.

So there seems to be some conflict at least about exactly what happened, Brooke.

BALDWIN: What is the Carly Fiorina campaign saying?

COLLINSON: They're saying there's nothing wrong that happened here. They are simply saying that there was some good interaction between the candidates and the kids. But they had so much fun that they actually went into the event, they got some Carly stickers.

And there was no issue here. And the reason they went into this event was they had such a good time interacting with Carly Fiorina and watching the Coy Cup in the Botanical Garden yesterday in Des Moines.

So, it's one of these things that, you know, it's a he said, she said situation. I think, it does show you that some of these events, especially for a candidate that's really trying to struggling to get some traction in the polls with small crowds, things happen in a very impromptu way. So, I don't think it's surprising that this perhaps a difference of perception here, Brooke.

BALDWIN: All right. Stephen Collinson, thank you.

COLLINSON: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, he was murdered after drinking tea laced with poison today. This bomb shell revelation surrounding the death of a former Russian spy who is highly critical of President Vladimir Putin. Did Putin play a role in his poisoning? We'll talk to a close friend of that former spy who have seen and read the entire investigative report. That's next.

Also under pressure, the governor of Michigan releasing hundreds of e- mails and documents linked to the Flint water crisis. But within these e-mails are among the revolutions whose office privately believes is to blame. We'll be right back.

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[14:22:35] BALDWIN: This is a real life Russian murder mystery that 10 years later may finally have been solved.

Today, a British investigation is revealing that Russian President Vladimir Putin, "probably approved an operation to kill former Kremlin spy, Alexander Litvinenko. His friends call him Sasha.

Litvinenko story, let me just back up. Remember this man from this photo here. It was taken three days before his death. Now before he died, he said that while he was having tea in a London cafe, two men poisoned his drink.

We now know that poison was the highly lethal and radioactive polonium-210. His decline looked first like food poisoning. Some severe vomiting and then a low white blood cell count, then hair loss, liver and kidney damage and then cardiac arrest.

So in a span of 23 days, he died. Nearly untraceable, doctors ultimately identified it was polonium-210. This is hours before he died. They determined that.

Today, a British high court judge said that those two men were former Russian agents and that Putin likely ordered the poisoning.

Litvinenko's widow is the driving force behind this investigation. She's long echoed her husband's own accusation of Putin himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARINA LITVINENKO, WIDOW OF EX-SPY ALEXANDER LITVINENKO: I'm of course well pleased that the words my husband spoke on his death bed when he accused Mr. Putin of his murder has been proved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: She is now calling for economic sanctions and travel bans against some Russian officials including Vladimir Putin.

Let me bring in Alex Goldfarb, he's a Russian-American scientist and very close friend of Litvinenko. He served as the family spokesperson after his death.

So, Alex, thank you so much for joining me.

ALEX GOLDFARB, CLOSE FRIEND OF ALEXANDER LITVINENKO: Thank you.

BALDWIN: I know you have been fighting this fight for a very, very long time. But first, let me get your reaction to these findings including the fact that Putin perhaps OKed this, ordered this.

GOLDFARB: Well, it's a great day for us. We've been waiting for this for 10 years and went so many stages. Actually, we have this inquiry happened because Marina had a court order -- telling government that they should have this inquiry.

So, the naming of Putin as the person responsible for commissioning this murder was actually surprising.

[14:25:02] It's probably based on the secret government files which are reviewed in -- behind closed doors. But, otherwise this is what had to be expected.

Actually, as you've already mentioned, Sasha Litvinenko said this on his death bed that it was Putin who ordered his murder.

BALDWIN: But it sounds like that part would be surprising to you. In the determination of the judge uses the word "probably," what is the next step? I mean, how likely do you think any of this could lead to formal charges?

GOLDFARB: Well, to have formal criminal charges and written, you need apprehend the suspect and bring it to court. This is not likely. It's definitely not likely with regard to Mr. Putin who has immunity as the head of state.

But, it's also is not likely with regard to the two perpetrators, Mr. Lugovoi and Mr. Kovtun, whom Russia refuses to extradite.

BALDWIN: Can you just remind all of us, your friend's history as an FSB agent and how he did criticize Vladimir Putin. You knew him very well. I mean, was he ever aware, nervous about a potential target on his back?

GOLDFARB: Well, he was an officer in the organized crime division of Russian security service, which is equivalent to, probably, FBI agent focusing on organized crime. And he actually complained back in 1998 about rampant corruption and criminality in the company, in the agency, personally to Putin.

Then they started to, you know, pressuring him as a whistleblower and he ended up accused of some nonexistent crimes. The court eventually acquitted him. And when Mr. Putin became president, he fled Russia and asked for asylum in Britain.

After he's been here for about two or three years, he was approached by the British Secret Service, MI6, to help them with countering Russian organized crime in Europe. And he ended up as a MI6 consultant and also consultant of Continental Security Services ...

BALDWIN: I see.

GOLDFARB: ... trying to counter the penetration by of Europe by Russian organized crime.

BALDWIN: So a full C.V., a full resume but, you know, as you point out, this is a huge day for you, his widow, you know, 10 years, sort of, in the making. We'll follow it. Alex Goldfarb, thank you so much. I appreciate your time.

GOLDFARB: Yes.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, Republican presidential contender John Kasich calls himself the prince of light and hope. And Chris Christie fires back calling the Ohio Governor, satan. Wow, that's next.

Plus, the Flint water crisis worsening as Michigan's governor, Rick Snyder, releases pages and pages of private e-mails.

Up next, we'll talk to a man who took matters into his own hands. Got his friends together and started delivering water door-to-door. We'll be right back.

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