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David Cameron Finally Wins Package of Reforms; Officials say Airstrike Targeted an ISIS Cell that May Have Been Training for an Attack in Europe; Republican Voters Headed to Polls in South Carolina for Primary. Aired 12-12:30a ET

Aired February 20, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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


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[0:00:09] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: European leaders strike a deal to keep Britain in the E.U. And now, it's up to David Cameron to sell the agreement to his people.

Another voting day daunt (ph) in the long room to the White House. This time, it's South Carolina for the Republicans and Nevada for the Democrats.

And the South Pacific island nation of Fiji, braces for a monster cyclone. Derek Van Dam has the latest on the storm path to tell ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM.

We're live in Atlanta, thanks for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.

Our top story, British Prime Ministry David Cameron bows to campaign heart and soul to keep the United Kingdom in the European Union. But first, he'll have to persuade his cabinet, will present a just reached deal with E.U. leaders to his cabinet members in about five hours now.

If they approved the agreement, he will have to convince the British people to do the same. There will be a referendum likely in June.

Cameron says the deal will give Britain's special status in the E.U. The agreement was reached after two days of sometimes tense negotiations in Brussels.

CNNMoney Europe Editor, Nina dos Santos has more for what it includes.

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NINA DOS SANTOS, CNNMONEY EUROPE EDITOR: After two days worth of very lengthy and at times rather tense negotiations, David Cameron finally won the package of reforms that he feels is enough to take back to the British people in his prime campaign and convince them to stay inside the European Union, when eventually, he gets around to calling that referendum. Many people who think it may will be during the month of June.

Now, this is the 35-page document that has been released after these meetings for the taking place over the last two days at this summit in Brussels. It includes safeguards for the city of London. Also safeguards for Britain's sovereignty and putting to bed finally that question of why the Britain would keep the pound or decide to join the Euro zone.

Currently countries inside the European Union are in theory, supposed to sign up to join the single currency, but that question is being put to bed too.

One of the most contentious issues that European leaders had to deal with was the issue of an emergency break applied to migrants who are seeking benefits inside the U.K. Some Eastern European countries had been asking for a much shorter period of time for that emergency break to be put on.

And that David Cameron and then manage to come to comprise the seven years and also was crucial here, in this package is that it just applies to the U.K. It is not supposed to set a dangerous precedent for other countries inside the block to decide to open up the treaties and negotiate on their own terms for similar concessions.

But the issue is that this doesn't entirely put to bed the question of whether the U.K. will stay inside the E.U. It now has to go to the British people. It has to go to David Cameron's own cabinet that could be more hostile to somebody's packages. And this is why Martin Schulz, the head of the European Parliament said that he thought this was just the start of the process when I asked him earlier.

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MARTIN SCHULZ, HEAD OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: My feeling is no is the answer. It is now the end of a process David Cameron has launched. He said, I won the new deal of the United Kingdom with the European Union. It means, with all the other member states building the European Union. He got now the new deal and it's still up to British voters to vote if this is enough or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOS SANTOS: So, that's the President of the European Parliament there speaking also a lengthy and nice negotiations.

The battle now, moves on to Britain. David Cameron will be speaking with his own cabinets, the number of them are Euro skeptic and he's (inaudible) voice some concerns about what's inside this documents. But the point being is that David Cameron has at least on one side by his win over the European to get the referendum drum beating.

Nina dos Santos, CNNMoney in Brussels.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: We turn now to Libya where U.S. official say an airstrike targeted an ISIS cell that may have been training for an attack in Europe.

The bombing killed at least 43 people in the coastal town near the Tunisian border. The main target, apparently, a senior militant believed to have behind two deadly terror attacks in Tunisia last year. ISIS has taken advantage of a power vacuum in Libya.

The international effort in Syria's brutal civil war faces yet another setback. The deadline for the so-called cessation of hostilities has now passed in the U.N. Special Envoy for Syria says that peace talks will not resume in Geneva next week as planned.

A Swedish newspaper cites the envoy saying, "There's no way to get all parties to the bargaining table."

In the meantime, the fighting has continued in Syria. On Friday, a U.K. based groups says, "Rebels retook a key city from ISIS control in the Northwest.

[0:05:05] This could help isolate the de facto ISIS capital in Syria.

Turkey wants the United States to stop supporting Kurdish fighters in Syria. It blames the Kurdistan militia in Syria. The YPG for this week's deadly bombing in Ankara as well as Turkey's own Kurdish militants, the PKK.

U.S. President Obama called Turkey's president on Friday to offer condolences for the attack. Before the call, the Turkish President said, he would bring up his claim that the YPG has used weapons provided by the United States against civilians. A state department spokesman addressed that claim in Washington.

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MARK TONER U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT DEPUTY SPOKESMAN: We have not provided any weapons to -- of any kind to the YPG. And we've also seen no evidence to substantiate the claim that the YPG is somehow smuggling any U.S.-origin weapons to the PKK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: The ISIS assault in Syria and Iraq has forced millions to plea for their lives.

Christiane Amanpour takes us now to a refugee camp in France, where even the middle of squaller, refugees still dream of a better life in the U.K.

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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For the men, the women and the children who dreamed of a better life in Europe, this is it. This is where their journey has stalled. Thousands of people are stuck between two of the continents' richest nation, France and Britain.

The Grand-Synthe Refugee Camp is in Dunkirk, not far from the better- known Jungle Camp in Calais.

Seven-year-old Mani is playing in the mud near his family's tent. His father, Abbas, invites CNN in for tea to meet everyone else. His wife, Suad, is five months pregnant. His daughter, Meli is four and this is Manah, she is two.

The family who've lived in this camp for nine months and, like so many here, they fled Iraq. They left after Abbas' parents were killed in a bomb attack at the market in Kirkuk and now they dream of starting a new life.

Mani talks about going to school in Britain. He's even been practicing his English.

MANI, IRAQI REFUGEE: One, two, three, four, five.

AMANPOUR: The family doesn't know how or when they'll make it. These are the conditions they endure: 24 showers for 3,000 people and just 44 toilets. Some people here can afford to stay in hotels but, because they don't have their passports, they can't. Instead they rely on the kindness of strangers. Volunteers compelled by conscience to help, to bring tents, food, blankets, clothes and boots.

On this morning, French doctors and workers from Medecins Sans Frontieres provide medical help as they do four times a week. The cases they treat indicate the harshest of conditions they endure.

ANGELIQUE MULLER, COORDINATRICE MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES: Mainly it's a link to weather. So, we have some upper and lower respiratory tract infection, mainly for the children as well. So, we have, as well, some scabies, you know, that is quite difficult to completely eradicate some because of the living conditions.

AMANPOUR: The refugees here claim 15 to 20 people succeed at illegally crossing the border into Britain every night. And if you got the money, you can pay smugglers $10,000 to take you that short distance they say.

But to those who have neither the strength nor the money, there's no option but to wait and to hope, and to try to tell the world that they deserve better as one man put different.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Christiane Amanpour reporting there.

Within 2,500 migrants live in that camp and the U.N. is highly concerned about the dire of living conditions especially for the unaccompanied minors who are there.

We turn to U.S. politics when we come right back. In the possible time, Donald Trump popularity could be fading ahead of the critical South Carolina primary.

Plus, the Democratic candidates make a final push for vote one day before Nevada's caucuses. We'll show you who's leading in the latest poll.

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[0:11:54] ALLEN: Welcome back. Saturday is a big day in the U.S. presidential race.

Republican voters headed the polls in South Carolina for their primary. Donald Trump is leading the state but the latest polling shows his margin against Ted Cruz is narrowing.

Also Democrats hold their caucuses in Nevada on Saturday. Polls there indicate the race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders is too close to call.

Let's take a look at some of the numbers on the Republican side. The CNN poll shows 34 percent at South Carolina voters who surveyed support Donald Trump. Ted Cruz has 20 percent. This margin was wider a few days ago. Marco Rubio comes in third followed by Jeb Bush, Ben Carson and Governor John Kasich.

Nationally, the top three choices are still Trump, Cruz and Rubio and their numbers are roughly the same as the South Carolina poll. The bottom standings are a bit different on the national level with Kasich ahead of Carson and Bush.

As the Republican candidates take on each other, the frontrunner Donald Trump has a bone to pick with the company Apple. He's turning the tech giant battle with the U.S. Justice Department into a rallying cry.

Here's CNN politics reporter Sara Murray.

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SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Twenty-four hours after taking on the Pope, Donald Trump is taking on one of America's biggest company.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESENDENTIAL CANDIDATE: First of all, Apple ought to give the security for that phone, OK? What I think you ought to do is boycott Apple until such time as they give that security number.

MURRAY: His suggestion to black list the tech giant coming as the company refuses to unlock an iPhone that belonged to one of the San Bernardino killer.

TRUMP: How do you like that? I just thought that ...

MURRAY: Trump's latest move, a signal he has no plans to water down his bombastic style after a blistering week on the trail in South Carolina.

TRUMP: This guy Ted Cruz is really a liar, I'll tell you what.

MURRAY: In fact, he's using his final hours before Saturday's primary to go for the jugular.

TRUMP: Now, I'll tell you what was good. Even Marco Rubio said he's a liar. And when a politician says another politician's a liar, I never heard that before, I felt so good. MURRAY: But he's also less explaining why he voiced support for the Iraqi invasion in 2002, after spending months claiming he was an early opponent.

TRUMP: The first guy ever asked me about Iraq was Howard Stern. I said, I don't know. I guess so. Then I started looking at it. Before the war started, I was against that war. I was against that war.

MURRAY: Meanwhile, Ted Cruz is fighting his own two-front war, trying to gain on Trump and fend off Marco Rubio.

MARCO RUBIO, (R) PRESEDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I need your support tomorrow, so I'm asking for your help.

MURRAY: Cruz swiping at Rubio over national security.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Two debates ago, when I stood on the stage and saw three Republican candidates, including Marco Rubio, standing up there and saying, "Sure, we should draft women." I remember thinking, "These guys are nuts".

MURRAY: And casting him as a shape-shifter on immigration.

AD NARRATOR: Marco Rubio burned us once. He shouldn't get the chance to sell us out again.

[0:15:03] MURRAY: While the top tier goes to battle, others are looking to land their closing arguments with a softer touch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I really appreciate one of those hugs you've been talking about.

MURRAY: Jeb Bush even welcoming his family on the campaign trail for his closing argument.

BARBARA BUSH, FORMER U.S. FIRST LADY: Jeb has been a great son, great father, great husband, married well, and is one of my four favorite sons.

JEB BUSH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I swear to God when we're on the bus, we were walking down and she whispered in my ear, you really are my favorite. I don't understand. I don't understand.

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ALLEN: Sara Murray reporting for us there.

Polls in South Carolina open in less than seven hours from now.

Democratic contenders, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are in a near death hit ahead of Nevada's caucuses.

A new CNN/ORC poll shows Clinton with a 48-percent lead among likely caucus-goers in the Silver State, 47 percent say they support Sanders. Clinton, also leading nationally but Sanders has narrowed that gap to six percentage points. Clinton is up 48 percent to the Vermont senator's, 42 percent, nationally.

Well, the two did not waste anytime, Friday, Sanders and Clinton both launched last minute efforts to win over Nevada voters. And Clinton scored a big endorsement ahead of South Carolina's primary.

Senior Political Correspondent Brianna Keilar has that from Las Vegas.

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BERNIE SANDERS, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Show the word that democracy is alive and well here in Nevada.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN POLITICAL SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Today, Bernie Sanders is making a final pitch to Nevada voters before Saturday's caucuses.

SANDERS: The issue is not just who wins the Democratic nomination, the issue is whether Nevada will play a leading role in moving this country toward a political revolution which transforms this country.

KEILAR: As Hillary tries to tighten her grip on South Carolina, eight days before the first in south primary, scoring a big Palmetto State endorsement from Jim Clyburn, a Former civil rights activist and the highest ranking African-American in Congress.

JAMES CLYBURN, (D) SOUTH CAROLINA: My heart has always been with Hillary Clinton.

KEILAR: Clinton is also running a new biographical television ad, featuring the iconic voice of actor Morgan Freeman.

MORGAN FREEMAN, AMERICAN ACTOR AND NARRATOR: Her life's work has been about breaking barriers and so would her presidency.

KEILAR: One day before Nevada Democrat's caucus, Clinton is still in search of potential supporters courting all important unions support in the Silver State.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am no Johnny or Janie (ph), come lately to this. I did not just discover that unions were under pressure from the Republicans and the right.

KEILAR: Suggesting that Sanders is unrealistic in his promises.

CLINTON: I'm not just making speeches and not just promising free this and free that and free everything.

KEILAR: Clinton and Sanders' both facing fresh scrutiny at a Nevada town hall last night. Clinton on whether she would release transcripts of speeches she's given to financial institutions.

CLINTON: I am happy to release anything I have when everybody else does the same, because every other candidate in this race has given speeches to private groups, including Senator Sanders.

KEILAR: Sanders was pressed to respond the comments he made in 2011, raising the possibility of a progressive primary challenge to President Obama's re-election.

SANDERS: Overall, I think the president has done an outstanding job, and the idea that there can be a primary where different ideas get floated and debated, I don't think that that is terrible.

KEILAR: Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders' brother, Larry, taking aim at a former President Bill Clinton saying, he was dreadful for poor people but he actually said that his brother Bernie respects Hillary Clinton, he said they're not friends but they did worked near each other.

Brianna Keila, CNN Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Joining us now from Washington to discuss polls in South Carolina and Nevada is CNN Political Analyst Josh Rogin.

We're in for a big weekend this weekend, Josh. And Donald Trump is leading in the polls in South Carolina but he's got a little bit of Cruz and Rubio rub this passed week. What do you expect?

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. What we've seen is a huge tightening of the polls and a narrowing of the differences between frontrunner Donald Trump, second place in the poll is Ted Cruz and then Marco Rubio who is now polling in third.

What that means is that, there's added incentive for each side to really ramp up their involvement and their spending in South Carolina in these last couple of days. And that's, of course, what you see happening. Interestingly, you know, though, a lot of the money that is being spent on the South Carolina race is not going to attack Donald Trump. A ton of it is going to attack Jeb Bush.

[0:20:08] We see a push by all the candidates. He got the field narrowed down from the current level of six candidates. And the theory is that if Jeb Bush does poorly and if the other candidates can erode away his support, maybe he'll drop out. And then heading into the crucial Super Tuesday votes a week from now, there will be less candidates to split the vote upon.

ALLEN: Do you think that to Jeb Bush and Governor Kasich can survive South Carolina?

ROGIN: Yes, I think if Jeb Bush does well, which means he comes in third or a close fourth, in other words, if he looks almost even with Marco Rubio, then he'll have an argument to take back to his supporters and his donors as to why they should continue. Continue giving him money, continue supporting him.

If he doesn't come close to Marco Rubio, there will be a ton of pressure on him to pull out of the race and to throw that support and that money towards Rubio. Kasich, on the other hand, is expected to stay in the race through March 15th. That's, of course, when the Ohio primary is. And that's the one primary he'll probably win since he's the governor of Ohio if he's going to win one.

So, he's not going to drop out. But, again, if he doesn't have a real strong showing on Saturday, no one's really going to take him seriously, and there's going to be a lot of calls for him to step aside and let his whatever percentage go to the establishment candidate who has the best chance to beat Trump and Cruz.

ALLEN: And what do you think about Rubio, especially given that he got the Governor's endorsement there in South Carolina?

ROGIN: I mean, this couldn't be more crucial for Marco Rubio. He's go to come in third. He hopes to come second. That's going to be tough push for him. He's got the right endorsements but in a year where the majority of the Republican Primary electorate is antiestablishment, those endorsements may not mean as much at the voting boost as you would want them too.

Marco Rubio has got a problem. He's got to show a state where he can win and if he's not going to win South Carolina, he's probably not going to win Nevada.

And then on Super Tuesday, which are on Southern States that should go headily towards Trump and Cruz, he could go at the whole first months of the primaries without winning a state. And then he's going to turn to all of his supporters, his donors and people around the country in making argument for why he can win the nomination without winning a state. I think that's the challenge that the Rubio campaign is dealing with.

ALLEN: And the time we have left, let's talk about the Democratic side, Hillary and Bernie. She were to align herself with President Obama in South Carolina who will prevail there.

ROGIN: Well, the Clinton campaign has a very big sort of built-in advantage in South Carolina, the Clintons are know well there. She's got the endorsement of South Carolina Democrats including James Clyburn.

The real surprise in the Democratic race and of course the Democratic caucuses are in difference and primaries are in different (inaudible) Republican. The Nevada caucuses this Saturday as well, and the polling between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders is about that even. And that's a huge shift from when Hillary Clinton was up only weeks ago. She had thought that despite bad performances in Iowa and New Hampshire that Nevada could be what they call a firewall and now that's not looking to be the case.

So, the trends are all going in the wrong direction for Hillary Clinton.

ALLEN: CNN Political Analyst Josh Rogin.

Thank you, Josh.

ROGIN: Thank you.

ALLEN: And of course, CNN will be covering the contest from every angle. We're live from the South Carolina primary where Republican voters go to the poll in the coming day and from the Democratic Nevada caucuses also happening on Saturday.

And we'll be right back.

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[0:25:07] ALLEN: Fiji is preparing for what could be the most powerful storm to ever hit it short. Tropical cyclone Winston is moving its way through the South Pacific right now on track to make a direct hit on Fiji in the coming hours.

The winds are expected to be incredibly strong. We've got higher than 300 kilometers an hour. Forecasters warned up extreme flooding.

Derek Van Dam is following the report. You were just saying it's alarming how much this storm has gained strength in the past 24 hours.

DEREK VAN DAM, METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's been meandering for about 10 days prior to this across the Central Pacific and then it literally made a turn for the worse, not only strengthen but turning towards the island nation of Fiji.

I'll show you the graphics on the screens so you can see the size and the magnitude of this particular storm.

It is large and it has pack or is going to pack or continuos to pack right a patch (ph). We're talking about, as Natalie just mentioned, over 300 kilometer per hour wind gust, a very tight concentric eyewall. This is Suva, the capital of the island nation of Fiji. That's where the highest population is.

Keep in mind. We have a clockwise rotation in the southern hemisphere with these tropical cyclones. That means, the brunt of the stronger winds will be on the bottom side or the southern side of this eyewall.

It is now running parallel between the two islands, the largest islands in Fiji and this is the area where we have our highest population density. Roughly, 9,000 people live amongst these islands in Fiji. And the storm is still intensifying before it actually starts to weaken as it moves in a general westerly direction.

The last major tropical cyclone that impacted this area was tropical cyclone Evan in December of 2012. That storm sustained winds of 230 kilometers per hour. No deaths in Fiji, that is because this is a very well-prepared island for these types of tropical cyclones. But when you talk about wind gust, an excess of 300 kilometers per hour, that's an entirely its own animal on its own.

Now, look at the track of Evan compared to Winston. Very similar, you can see meandering nature of the storms. And by the way, the reported wind gust in Suva have drop off because I would imagine that the wind gage is measuring those wind gas, probably, not in service at the moment.

Here's the storm system moving to westerly direction. The other major concern mountainous terrain with extremely heavy rainfall across this area means we have a potential for landslides, mudslides, rainfall and excessive 300 -- about 500 millimeters in the next 24 hours.

ALLEN: Right. We know we'll be tracking it. Thanks, Derek.

VAN DAM: We will.

ALLEN: And thank you for watching. That is the CNN NEWSROOM.

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