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The Pope's Popularity; World Powers Agree to Pause Fighting in Syria; New Video Believed to Capture Handoff of Bomb; Sanders Faces Tough Crowd at Racial Inequality Forum; Northern White Rhino on Verge of Extinction. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired February 13, 2016 - 03:00   ET

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


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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The people's pope touches down in a country with no shortage of expectant Catholics.

But can his special touch do anything to heal Mexico's crime and poverty?

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NATALIE ALLEN (voice-over): And Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, said he's amenable to peace talks while thousands take greater risks than ever to escape the terrible violence.

Plus --

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DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm Donald Trump and I approve this message.

NATALIE ALLEN (voice-over): Relations between certain Republicans hoping to get to the White House hit a new low and we've got the details.

Next here on CNN NEWSROOM. We are live in Atlanta. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.

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NATALIE ALLEN: We begin in Mexico with Pope Francis. The Mexican president greeted the pope along with traditional musicians singing, "Viva, Francisco" and "Viva, Papa."

Francis blessed crowds lining the streets of Mexico City. He is expected to spend much of his time talking about the country's drug violence and, of course, meeting with the less fortunate. As is typical for this pope, he has a jam-packed agenda and is

traveling all across Mexico to meet the people. Ad he will apparently not shy away from Mexico's chronic problems surrounding poverty and violence. I talked earlier with CNN's senior Vatican analyst, John Allen.

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JOHN ALLEN, CNN SR. VATICAN ANALYST: The pope is a rock star sort of everyplace but there may be no place more so than in Mexico. You can always count on the presence of a pope and, of course, this is history's first Latin American pope. So there's an extra element this time to bring out the kind of popular enthusiasm and just, sort of, you know, grassroots fervor.

We already saw that tonight when the pope landed at the airport in Mexico City. You had on the 12-mile route between the airport and the residence of the papal ambassador where he's staying, all along that route you had people who had showed up with candles and lanterns, sort of literally creating 1,000 points of light to sort of celebrate the pope's arrival.

And over the next five days I expect everywhere he goes he is going to draw massive and wildly enthusiastic crowds.

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NATALIE ALLEN: Well, the pope is just hours away from a visit to one of Mexico's most beloved basilicas, where he will celebrate mass. And as I mentioned, the pope is making several stops around Mexico City -- excuse me -- Mexico this weekend before crisscrossing the country.

His tour culminates with another mass on Wednesday in Ciudad Juarez near the U.S. border. That city once considered the most violent in the world. Here's CNN's Shasta Darlington with more.

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SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some surprisingly melodious parishioners gearing up for the Pope Francis' arrival, a six-day trip that starts right here, the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico, visited by millions of pilgrims each year, who pray before a 16th century shroud that bears her image.

According to the chaplain, Pope Francis seeks guidance at the start of his trip.

"He's looking for her protection," he says. "He's entrusting his whole trip to Mexico to the Virgin of Guadalupe."

Pope Francis planning to visit some of Mexico's poorest and most violent corners, from Ecatepec, a sprawling suburb with the highest rate of killings of women, to Morelia, at the center of Mexico's narco war.

Pope Francis chose this shrine because it's the most revered in Mexico. In fact, in much of the Americas.

But it's interesting; talking to parishioners here, they say of course they want to hear his message of faith. But they're just as interested in having him shine a light on the problems of corruption and crime in Mexico.

"I would ask him to talk to authorities about the violence," says this woman, "especially the disappearances."

This man traveled on foot for five days to reach the shrine.

"The pope's going to visit the places where people need him most," he says, "where he needs to motivate them so they don't lose faith."

But here at the basilica, faith runs deep. For these musical nuns flying in from Peru, the message is simple.

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DARLINGTON (voice-over): "When the future seems uncertain and fear weakens your faith -- "

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DARLINGTON (voice-over): " -- believe in God." Shasta Darlington, CNN, Mexico City.

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NATALIE ALLEN: Beautiful singing there.

The pope's first full day in Mexico Saturday will be capped with the mass he will celebrate at the Basilica of Guadalupe. And you can stay with CNN for live coverage throughout his visit.

Approaching five full years of civil war in Syria, world powers have now agreed to a pause in the fighting in this devastated country. That pause expected to begin in one week.

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NATALIE ALLEN (voice-over): That is Aleppo there. There are fears ongoing Russian airstrikes against this city will jeopardize any lasting peace deal.

And while Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, says he's open to peace talks, he insists he will continue to fight, quote, "terrorists." Global affairs correspondent Elise Labott reports that for now the combat continues.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No sign yet of a truce in the suburbs of the Syrian capital, Damascus. Opposition workers rescued victims from the rubble, the ink not even dry on last night's cease-fire.

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: What we have here are words on paper. What we need to see in the next few days are actions on the ground in the field.

LABOTT (voice-over): It was the first agreement to halt the fighting since the war began five years ago. But it freezes major gains by President Assad's forces after Russian airstrikes and an Iranian- backed ground offensive drove opposition forces out of Aleppo and surrounding areas they had occupied for years.

The deal doesn't cover ISIS or Syrian Al Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front, considered a terrorist group, but which has fought Assad's forces alongside U.S.-backed rebels.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): That is why our airspace forces will continue working against these organizations.

LABOTT (voice-over): Russia is promising another week of airstrikes leading up to the cease-fire. U.S. officials fear the time will help Assad's forces seize even more territory.

A task force led by the U.S. and Russia will identify remaining targets but it's clear the two countries don't agree on which groups are fair game. Today President Assad said he intends to retake the whole country from rebel forces, who he calls terrorists.

BASHAR AL-ASSAD, PRESIDENT OF SYRIA (through translator): If we negotiate, it does not mean that we stop fighting terrorism.

LABOTT (voice-over): Starting Saturday, humanitarian aid will flow to seven besieged areas. But no relief for Aleppo, where tens of thousands of Syrians, hungry and in need of medical care, are fleeing for the Turkish border.

The Syrian opposition said it was optimistic but would not return to the peace talks until the aid was delivered and the cease-fire took hold.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a test for goodwill and we'll wait and see what happens there.

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NATALIE ALLEN: Well, as diplomats talk peace, many Syrians are still trying to get out of harm's way. Tens of thousands of refugees have fled to Turkey's border with Syria. CNN's Arwa Damon has more on their plight and the effort to get aid to Syria's hardest-hit cities.

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ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Despite the agreement of a cessation in fighting and hostilities, aid organizations are continuing to try to send in as much assistance to various areas in the country but especially to Syria's largest city of Aleppo.

Many of them still fearing and concerned about the fate of the civilians there and the fact that the Syrian regime is very close to besieging Aleppo. Aid organizations like Mercy Corps say that they are dispatching in as much as three months' worth of supplies.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of those trying to flee the violence continue to gather on Turkey's border. Turkey, despite the fact that it maintains that it still has an open door policy, says that, for the time being, it is hosting those who have fled this most recent onslaught by Syrian fighter jets and regime troops advancing along with their allies inside Syria, saying that it is providing the same conditions for them that it would be providing at refugee camps inside Turkey.

But, of course, the concern is that, as these Russian fighter jets approach the various cities and towns closer to Turkey's borders, as the regime gains even more territory, these civilians do remain very vulnerable to the violence. And as long as they're in Syria, that one thing that they really so desperately crave, that sense of security, is denied to them -- Arwa Damon, CNN, Gaziantep, Turkey.

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NATALIE ALLEN: There is chilling new surveillance video that appears to show how a sophisticated laptop bomb made its way through Mogadishu's airport security before being planted aboard a passenger jet. Here's CNN's Brian Todd.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Crucial new evidence in a horrifying --

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TODD (voice-over): -- terror attack. Closed circuit TV footage from the Mogadishu airport, on the right side of the screen, two airport employees who are now suspects.

One of them's holding what appears to be a laptop computer. Just seconds later, one of the men hands the computer to a third man. The computer, a source says, was packed with explosives.

MILES O'BRIEN, PBS CORRESPONDENT: It's chilling, frankly, to see this because this is -- you know, if you and I were in this lounge right now, you'd see these two people and you'd see them handing off that laptop, you wouldn't think twice of it.

TODD (voice-over): The man the laptop bomb was handed to, Abdullahi Abdisalam Borleh. And what he did with it, according to Somali sources, was try to blow up this Somali passenger jet. PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERROR ANALYST: Well, at the moment, the Somalis clearly suspect that he was a willing participant, that he planned to be a suicide bomber, that he positioned himself on the aircraft at a place where he could create the maximum amount of damage.

TODD (voice-over): The bomb ripped a hole in the fuselage. Borleh was killed when he was blown out of the hole. His right hand and right foot are missing. The pilot made an emergency landing. Amazingly, no one else was killed in the February 2nd attack.

Now a source close to the investigation tells CNN correspondent Robyn Kriel says the laptop bomb was sophisticated and got past a fairly advanced x-ray machine at the Mogadishu airport. CNN is told one of those airport employees who are suspects placed the laptop on an x-ray belt before it was handed to the bomber in the departure lounge.

O'BRIEN: The capabilities that they would have to get through security by doing a little bit of social engineering, just distracting or saying, hey, I got this one, open up all kinds of sinister possibilities.

TODD (voice-over): U.S. officials tell CNN they believe Al-Shabaab, the vicious Al Qaeda affiliate in Somalia, is behind the attack. But the plot has gotten thicker. Just three days after the plane bombing, the two airport workers were in a car in Mogadishu when it exploded.

CRUICKSHANK: One was killed because he was still in the car, the other had got out of the car to go to a shop.

TODD: A Somali official tells us the two may have been targeted to prevent them from speaking to authorities. The official says the suspect who survived the car bombing is in custody and is giving information. But the official would not say what that information is -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

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NATALIE ALLEN: Only three North African white rhinos remain on Earth. Coming up, how scientists hope to save them from extinction.

Plus, a tough crowd getting tougher on the campaign trail. What happened when presidential candidate Bernie Sanders faced some hard questions at a meeting on race and inequality.

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NATALIE ALLEN: Well, politics isn't always pretty.

You can say that again about right now.

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders -- [03:15:00]

NATALIE ALLEN: -- faced a tough crowd Friday at a forum on race and economic opportunity in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

First, one panelist accused him of being afraid to say "black."

Then a man in the crowd yelled out a question about Native American rights.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VT., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Native American people got a terrible deal from the federal government. I will do everything I can to reverse that. Absolutely. Thank you all very much.

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NATALIE ALLEN: Sanders and his opponent, Hillary Clinton, are both trying hard to win over minority voters as they head to South Carolina.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is threatening to sue fellow candidate Ted Cruz over the legitimacy of Cruz's citizenship ahead of a crucial primary race, Trump apparently angry over some ads Cruz is running about him. Here's CNN's Sunlen Serfaty.

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SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump's pledge to stay above the fray in South Carolina: short-lived, Trump blasting rival Ted Cruz on Twitter, writing, quote, "If Ted Cruz doesn't clean up his act, stop cheating and doing negative ads, I have standing to sue him for not being a natural born citizen."

Just hours after posting this, quote, "How can Ted Cruz be an evangelical Christian when he lies so much and is so dishonest?"

Late today, Cruz returning fire:

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: There's more than a little irony in Donald accusing anyone of being nasty, given the amazing torrent of insults and obscenities and vulgarities that come out of his mouth.

SERFATY (voice-over): This new offensive comes a day after Trump showed up a lighter side in Louisiana, even autographing a baby and suggesting he was ready to go positive. TRUMP: I won't use foul language. I'm just not going to do it. I'm not going to do it.

They're all saying, "do it, do it."

No, I'm not.

SERFATY (voice-over): But Trump couldn't stay out of the all-out fight breaking out in the South Carolina trenches.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): There's nothing conservative about giving money to the Clintons. There's nothing conservative about Donald Trump.

SERFATY (voice-over): The airwaves plastered with negative ads.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Ted Cruz voted to undermine our national defense and weaken our ability to track terrorists. Marco Rubio is different.

SERFATY (voice-over): The attacks between the candidates are flying back and forth with a dizzying pace.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe you should vote for more than just a pretty face next time.

SERFATY (voice-over): That ad is backfiring on Cruz. His campaign is pulling it off the air after it was revealed that actress is also an adult film star.

CRUZ: It was designed to be a fun, light, cute ad. It happened that one of the actresses who was there had a more colorful film history than we were aware.

SERFATY (voice-over): Cruz's team is focusing today with a new ad, directing fire instead at Hillary Clinton --

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SERFATY (voice-over): -- in a spoof of the movie, "Office Space."

Many of the candidates today are speaking at the conservative Christian Bob Jones University in South Carolina, making a big pitch to woo coveted evangelical voters.

JEB BUSH, FORMER GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do not believe that you put your faith in a lockbox when you're in public life and say, well, that's only for my private matters. That's just not -- that is totally wrong.

SERFATY (voice-over): And jockeying over who has the most conservative credentials. SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLA., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You disagree with people, for example, on the definition of marriage, they call you a hater and a bigot.

And what's the next step?

SERFATY: And of course, all of this happening just one week before Republican voters head to the polls here in South Carolina -- Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, Greenville, South Carolina.

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NATALIE ALLEN: Very icy on the campaign trail.

I'd rather talk about the weather, the icy weather with you.

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DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Natalie, there are -- well done. There are 65 million Americans under the threat of extremely bitter cold temperatures today.

And I found something on the Internet that I found so fascinating. In Central Park in New York City they had their annual ice festival today, on Saturday --

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Perfect.

VAN DAM: -- they canceled it because it's too cold.

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VAN DAM: I'm sorry.

NATALIE ALLEN: Come on, New Yorkers. You're more hearty than that.

VAN DAM: It is going to be brutal there. And we're talking about wind gusts in excess of 50 miles per hour. That's going to drop the wind chill values well below freezing.

Take a look at what happened in Scranton, Pennsylvania. This will give you an idea of just how cold it is.

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VAN DAM (voice-over): There was a water main that burst overnight and you can see the water just shooting high into the sky but it froze --

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VAN DAM: -- and it left this winter wonderland landscape on everything that it came in contact with, including light poles, stop street signs.

And take a look at this picture, Natalie. The next one coming up, you'll see just how extravagant it was. Unfortunately, it did displace about 12 people from their homes so it wasn't --

NATALIE ALLEN: Hang in there, Scranton.

VAN DAM: Yes, hang in there. But it's going to get colder before it gets warmer.

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NATALIE ALLEN: Staying indoors with your valentine, not a horrible alternative.

VAN DAM: Definitely cuddle weather but it's going to be very, very cold. So people want to consider frostbite as they step outside.

NATALIE ALLEN: Yes, absolutely. All right, Derek, thank you.

Well, next here on CNN, a look at a last-ditch attempt by researchers to save the Northern white rhino from extinction.

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NATALIE ALLEN: Scientists from around the world are working hard to save the Northern white rhino from extinction. Researchers hope a plan they devise will allow these magnificent animals to reproduce and thrive.

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NATALIE ALLEN (voice-over): Just three North African white rhinos remain on the planet. She is one of them.

RANDY RIECHES (PH), CURATOR, SAN DIEGO ZOO: This is Fatu, she is a female Northern white rhinoceros. She was born in the Dvur Kralove Zoo in the Czech Republic.

NATALIE ALLEN (voice-over): And she's the youngest Northern white rhino still alive.

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NATALIE ALLEN (voice-over): There were four until last year when Nola, seen here, a 41-year-old Northern white rhino, died in the San Diego Zoo.

Now there are these precious three, Fatu, another female, and a male, all live under 24-hour surveillance. Armed guards take shifts at this Kenyan conservatory to protect them from poachers, who can strike at any hour.

While Kenyan wildlife authorities guard the final three, there is an idea halfway around the world, a plan to save the species. A handful of their cousins, the Southern white rhino, have been flown to the San Diego Zoo in California from South Africa.

RIECHES: We now have imported six female Southern white rhinos for this project. It will be a lengthy project to actually bring Northern white rhinos back and have a sustainable population here in San Diego.

NATALIE ALLEN (voice-over): The young rhinos, between 4 and 7 years of age, were flown here in November from private reserves in South Africa. Now the six females are undergoing exams in the first steps of a worldwide plan to rescue the Northern white rhino.

RIECHES: We've brought experts in the field of reproductive physiology from all around the world. So we have people here from South Africa, from Japan, from Germany and several experts from around the United States. They all came here and we're all working to one end and that is actually to save the Northern white rhinoceros.

NATALIE ALLEN (voice-over): Scientists harvested cells from the remaining three Northern white rhinos in Kenya. They'll study several options using these female surrogates in California, including possible artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization or an embryo transfer.

It may take a decade or more but it is the only chance, a last-ditch scientific effort to save the Northern white rhino.

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NATALIE ALLEN: And that will do it for CNN NEWSROOM. Thank you for watching. I'm Natalie Allen. Our top stories are right after this.

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