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Inside Syria; Peaceful Protests at Ohio Trump Event; U.N. Report Accuses South Sudan of Human Rights Violations; The Unforeseen Effects of the Syrian Conflict; Rain, Snow to Hit Northern California Again; The "GIFs" That Keeps on Giving; Aired 4-5:00a ET

Aired March 13, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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


[04:00:11] LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: A grim observance in Syria of almost five full years of civil war as factions make demands ahead of another round of peace talks.

Also we go inside Raqqa, Syria to see what life is really like under ISIS rule.

And mounting tensions on the campaign trail in the U.S. presidential election. Protesters continue to show up at Donald Trump's rallies.

Plus the U.N. accuses South Sudan of systematically brutalizing its own citizens.

Welcome to our viewers in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade and this is CNN NEWSROOM.

We begin with efforts to end the Syrian conflict as the country approaches its fifth anniversary of civil war. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has just arrived in Paris where he's set to meet with some of his European counterparts this hour to discuss the conflict. The meeting comes ahead of Monday's peace talks in Geneva between the Syrian government and opposition representatives. The U.N. is backing those talks. The opposition wants a new constitution, presidential elections, and a transitional government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED ALLOUSH, JAISH AL-ISLAM SPOKESMAN (Through Translator): We consider that the transitional period starts with the fall of Bashar al-Assad or his death. There's no possibility to start this period with the presence of this regime or the head of this regime in power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Syria's foreign minister says Syrian President Bashar al- Assad is, quote, "a red line," that his future is nonnegotiable, as well as presidential elections.

Now the brutal violence in Syria has kept journalists from entering some parts of the country, making it very difficult to get a glimpse of what's really happening. Most recently two women wore hidden cameras for a Swedish newspaper "Expressen" to show the world what life is like inside the self-proclaimed ISIS capital of Raqqa. And the oppression of women there. They put themselves at great risk and we want to warn you that some of the video is graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: It is late winter and the shops are open. But the city has an air of fear about it. A woman's uncovered face is punishable, even if it's just on the front of a packets of hair dye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here you go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'd like some hair coloring.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which color?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you even see what color it is?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, you can see the color here on the hair.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's this? Why have you scribbled on it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you covered it up?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, we have.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Has this happened to everything?

QUM MOHAMMAD: All women like to show their face. We've lost that option. We've lost our femininity.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Raqqa fell in 2014 towards the end of the summer. Since then the city has been governed by medieval methods. The worst affected are the women. They're not allowed out on their own, they must be accompanied by another woman or a male guardian. They're not allowed to work, go to school, or go to university. They have been stripped of all rights.

In the taxi, an anthem is playing on the radio. It praises the highest leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would mean big problems if you picked up a woman on her own. The driver is punished with 30 lashes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thirty lashes? Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's if you pick up a woman on her own.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you would give a lone woman a lift?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, they would stop the car and punish you with 30 lashes. The woman will be punished as well.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Qum Omran (PH) and Qum Mohammad lived in Raqqa when ISIS stormed the city. Since then they have lived under the oppression of the terrorist group. They have witnessed murder and torture.

QUM MOHAMMAD: I was shocked. It was the first time ever I saw anything like that. I went over there, being curious is human, really. I tried to watch, I could see there was a man sitting on the ground. It was a young man. He was a soldier. He sat there and they'd placed knives beside him. The executioners were lined up. They were dressed in black. There were four or five executioners. Each and everyone fired at him with four or five shots. He died, they eventually beheaded him. I tried to look, but I couldn't do it.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Qum Omran and Qum Mohammad have dreamt of fleeing for a long time, but they had to stay to save a pregnant friend from certain death.

[04:05:10] Extramarital relations are punishable by stoning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If she kept the child, they would ask her about the child's father. What can she say? Of course they would stone her to death. The other reason is that there aren't any doctors who would dare carry out an abortion. We had to organize tablets for her, to do the abortion at home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Five years after the start of the war, more than 11 million have been forced from their homes while the United Nations and others have been unable to broker a peace deal. Opposition forces have become increasingly split between dwindling numbers of mainstream Islamists and jihadist fighters with links to ISIS and al Qaeda.

The conflict is now affecting the stability of neighboring countries including Iraq, Lebanon, and Turkey.

All next week, CNN's Clarissa Ward is taking you on a harrowing journey deep into the heart of a country scarred by five years of war and isolated by devastation. You'll get an exclusive look inside Syria behind rebel lines and meet people who call what's left of the embattled country home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We had to travel undercover to see a war few outsiders have witnessed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): The Russian planes target anything that works in the interest of the people. The goal is that people here live a destroyed life, that people never see any good.

WARD (on camera): There are snipers all around here but this is the only road now to get into Aleppo.

(Voice-over): Aleppo was once Syria's largest city, now an apocalyptic landscape. Any civilian infrastructure is a potential target including hospitals.

(On camera): Is it possible that they did not know that this was a hospital?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): Everyone knows this is a hospital.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: It's all part of our exclusive special coverage "INSIDE SYRIA: BEHIND REBEL LINES" and it's only on CNN.

Germany has agreed to receive more asylum seekers than any other European Union member. Now Chancellor Angela Merkel might be facing some political backlash for her migration policies.

Germans voting in regional elections in three states, and the anti- immigration party alternative for Germany has been gaining support. But Mrs. Merkel is not backing down. She has opened Germany's doors to more than one million refugees since last year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (Through Translator): Today more than 90 percent of people are saying, if someone really is fleeing from war, terror, the IS, and hardship, he must get protection among us. So it's all the more important that we succeed in sending back those who are not coming from war and hardship but for economic reasons, which is understandable, but which has nothing to do with the asylum or the Geneva Refugee Convention. That we tell them, you have to leave your country again. Those who want quick decisions must vote for the Christian Democrats Union, a trademark this Sunday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: The rhetoric and repercussions are packing more venom into the U.S. presidential race. Police in Chicago now say they've charged four people for clashes on Friday night between Trump supporters and protesters. Concerns about violence led Trump to cancel a rally there. But it did not stop these protesters from disrupting a Trump event on Saturday in Missouri.

The Republican frontrunner has been roundly criticized for exhorting his crowds to rough up protesters like these, but on Saturday he took a different approach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I hope these guys get thrown into a jail. They'll never do it again. It will destroy their record. They'll have to explain to mom and dad why they have a police record and why they can't get a job. And, you know what, I'm going to start pressing charges against all these people, OK?

And then we won't have a problem and I don't want to do that. I don't want to ruin somebody's life. They are probably good kids. You know, they're probably good kids. I don't want to ruin people's lives. But the only way we're going to stop this craziness is if we press charges.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Later on Saturday, Trump almost found himself sharing the podium with a protester. Have a look at this.

Secret Service agents blocked the demonstrator as he rushed the stage at an event in Ohio. Police charged Thomas DiMassimo with disorderly conduct and inciting panic.

[04:10:05] He later released a statement saying, and I quote, "We must nonviolently shut down every Trump rally. We must stop this violent, foolish man from taking this country and destroying it. We must or we will go down with him because we share the same color of skin. If you don't think you're a proponent of white supremacy it's time to prove it with action. Now, today, tomorrow, and every day until he's back hidden in a mansion where he belongs."

A welcome sign in Ohio on Saturday for all those hoping the recent violence does not escalate. Protests remained peaceful outside a Trump event in Cleveland. The typical words were exchanged but thankfully no punches were pulled.

Our Martin Savidge reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Standing just outside the IX Center, as they can call it here, you could see as they brought out the protesters and at times through door 27-A. That's the door they were using to escort them out of the building.

You'd see them come in groups of five, sometimes groups of 10. They were cheering, they were apparently taking it as a real badge of honor that they got thrown out of a Donald Trump rally. They represented all different kinds of causes. But they say their treatment inside actually was pretty good but they were surrounded by Trump supporters who would shout, but there was no fighting, there was no ugliness like that.

They said the authorities quickly moved in and said, look, you have to leave, and then showed them the door.

Outside here when the event was over, some friction because there were protesters who were against Trump waiting for the Trump supporters as they came out. A lot of loud shouting but nothing beyond that.

Cleveland has a reason that they want this to go well because of course coming up in the summer they host the Republican National Convention. This was in a very minuscule way, a kind of dry run for that. It seems to have gone fairly well here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Meanwhile there where two Republican caucuses on Saturday, Texas Senator Ted Cruz won the most delegates with Wyoming with nine, frontrunner Donald Trump gained one, so did Marco Rubio.

The Florida senator did better in Washington, D.C., he won the convention there and gained 10 delegates. Trump is leading the pack with a total of 462 pledge delegates. Cruz

has 371. And Rubio trails with 165. 1,237 delegates are needed to win the Republican nomination.

Still to come, horrific atrocities are reportedly plaguing the world's newest nation, allegations including troops killing civilians and the use of rape as an instrument of terror.

Coming up, we'll hear from an adviser at Amnesty International.

Plus the gifts that keep on giving. Coming up, all the oddball moments of the 2016 presidential race. Captured on a perpetual loop.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SPORTS)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:16:50] KINKADE: Welcome back. Now to France where investigators are set to release a final report into the Germanwings plane crash. Sunday's report comes two weeks before the first anniversary of the crash. The Airbus A-323 was flying from Barcelona to Dusseldorf when it crashed in a remote area of the French alps killing all 150 on board. The flight data recorder revealed that the plane's co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, deliberately crashed the plane after locking the pilot out of the cockpit.

A damning report from the United Nations is painting a horrific picture in South Sudan. It claims the nation's troops rape women and girls and have burned and suffocated men and boys. The military calls the report not genuine and says it's trying to protect the country's people.

Robyn Kriel has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's an all-too common scene in South Sudan, villages destroyed here, bodies littering the streets. Thousands left homeless trying to flee the violence. Now the United Nations accused the South Sudan's government of operating what it calls a scorched-earth policy against its own people.

DAVID MARSHALL, U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS MISSION ON SOUTH SUDAN: Which is killing of civilians, displacement, pillaging, abductions, rape, and generally terrorizing the civilian population.

KRIEL: Among the more horrendous abuses detailed in the new report, the U.N. says South Sudan lets fighters rape women as payment. In another case, Amnesty International says scattered human remains in this field are all that's left after government forces let more than 60 men and boys suffocate in a shipping container. According to the report, they were suspected of supporting the opposition. South Sudan's government denies those accusations. A spokesman also

says the U.N. report is not genuine and that the military's mission is to protect the people, vowing any perpetrators of human rights violations will be brought to justice.

But the country has been racked by years of violence. After gaining its independence in 2011, civil war erupted two years later, splitting the already poverty-stricken country along ethnic lines. And while the U.N. says there have been war crimes committed by both sides of the bloody conflict, they add this --

MARSHALL: The violations in 2015 are predominantly the responsibility of the government.

KRIEL: The U.N. says some 50,000 people have died since the fighting broke out. But multiple aid workers tell AFP they believe the number to be as high as 300,000 killed.

Whatever the number, the U.N. calls South Sudan one of the most horrendous human rights situations in the world.

Robyn Kriel, CNN, Nairobi, Kenya.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Lama Fakih is a senior crisis adviser with Amnesty International and she joins me now via Skype from Beirut, Lebanon.

Great to have you with us, Lama. I understood -- I understand that you recently returned from South Sudan. Just explain for us what you witnessed. What did you learn?

LAMA FAKIH, SENIOR CRISIS ADVISER, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: That's right, I've just conducted a three-week fact-finding mission for Amnesty International. Primarily in Unity State which has been one of the areas that has been the hardest hit by conflict.

[04:20:07] And like the findings in the U.N. report, we did in fact see that even after the signing of the peace agreement in August of last year that there continue to be systematic attacks against the civilian population. Civilians being killed while they were fleeing, women and girls being subjected to abductions and sexual assault, and attacks on the food supply and other types of civilian property. These attacks have devastated the civilian population.

KINKADE: And as we saw in the report, sexual violence we know has been used to torture and terrorize many, many women and girls. The report documented more than 1300 cases between April and September in Unity State alone and more than 50 cases from September to October. No doubt that's just the tip of what's really going on.

FAKIH: We do in fact believe that there are women and girls that continue to be abducted and are still being subjected to this violence today. The types of denials that we saw from the South Sudanese government are shameful in light of the strong credible evidence of rights abuses that have and continue to be perpetrated in the country. KINKADE: And looking at children, we know that thousands of child

soldiers have been recruited to fight in the war. Some as we've just seen in that last piece that was filed have been brutally killed if they don't join in the fighting.

FAKIH: That's right. There are child soldiers that continue to serve today in South Sudan. Some of them against their will. This is why it is critically important that steps are taken to implement the peace agreement that was signed by both parties to the conflict in August. There has been a failure for the parties to move forward in doing things like demobilizing child soldiers.

KINKADE: And most of the crimes against humanity and the war crimes listed in the report have been committed by the government. And we know the government has rejected this report. What needs to happen?

FAKIH: We are looking to the African Union to take a lead in ensuring that some steps are taken in South Sudan to allow for peace to take hold in the country. This critically will include the establishment of a hybrid court. We've seen that the government is failing to admit that these crimes have taken place so we do need to have an international body that will prosecute war criminals on both sides of the conflict in South Sudan.

Right now the U.N. Human Rights Council is also meeting and discussing South Sudan. We are looking to the council to take steps to also promote accountability, including by establishing a special repertoire. And again, African states are really going to have to take the lead in ensuring that these types of abuses are not tolerated on the continent.

KINKADE: So besides, you know, the war crimes being held accountable in a court in the United Nations or elsewhere, what else needs to be done in terms of like arms embargos, things like that? What else can be done?

FAKIH: The U.N. Security Council should impose an arms embargo on South Sudan. That will ensure that weapons do not continue to go to parties again that we know are committing widespread human rights abuses, war crimes being perpetrated against the civilian population on a daily basis.

In South Sudan, people have lost count of the numbers of victims. We don't even know the numbers that have died. But we can intervene to stop these abuses from continuing.

KINKADE: We know it's been obviously two years since outbreak of this civil war. There's been so much international focus on Syria and Iraq and the war against ISIS. Does there need to be a bigger international focus on South Sudan?

FAKIH: Certainly. Given the level of atrocities in South Sudan, it really is shocking to see the lack of attention and resources that have been given to the country. And in fact, some of the types of abuses that we're seeing perpetrated in South Sudan, the intentional targeting of humanitarian workers, the deprivation of food, the intentional targeting of medical facilities, these are the same types of abuses we've seen, for example, in Syria and in Yemen.

There needs to be an international response ensuring that governments around the world are not allowed to deprive the civilian population of this badly needed assistance and care during times of war.

KINKADE: And it seems, as we've discussed, no one is safe, whether it be women or children, and no place, whether it be hospitals or churches or mosques. What's being done for the people that have been rescued, that have been left traumatized? What's being done to help them?

FAKIH: There are protection of civilian sites in South Sudan where some of the most vulnerable have fled to.

[04:25:05] Unfortunately we've seen that there has been an outbreak of violence in some of those sites as well. In February there was an attack on the Malakal protection of civilians site, leaving dozens dead.

We are looking to the United Nations to conduct an investigation of that incident to ensure that it is not repeated and to ensure that early warning mechanisms are in place. Unfortunately, the people of South Sudan continue to suffer from a lack of humanitarian resources. Over 2.8 million people are food insecure in the country. It is a country that is desperately relying on humanitarian assistance. And again, this is all happening in a context when civilians continue to be targeted.

KINKADE: Absolutely. Lama Fakih, with Amnesty International, we appreciate your time today. And all the best with your continued work. Thank you for joining us.

FAKIH: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, Tuesday marks five years since the Syrian civil war erupted. We'll explore some of the most critical and unexpected consequences of the conflict coming up.

Plus wind, rain, and snow is slamming northern California, and there are fears of possible flooding and mudslides. That story just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. And I'm Lynda Kinkade. These are the headlines we're following this hour.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she's crossing her fingers as voters hit the polls.

[04:30:03] People in three states will elect their regional parliaments. The vote is seen as a test for Merkel's open migration policies. She has been losing support for -- to an anti-immigration party.

U.S. presidential hopeful Donald Trump is planning what he calls professionals being increasingly bold and sometimes violent protests disrupting his rallies. On Saturday, Secret Service agents caught a man who jumped a barricade and tried to rush the Republican frontrunner.

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed a 6-year-old Palestinian girl and her 10-year-old brother. Palestinian news say shrapnel from the attack critically wounded another brother. Israeli military says the airstrikes were in response to rockets launched from Gaza.

Six people were killed in the third deadly avalanche to hit the alps this year. Over a dozen skiers were buried by a ton of snow and ice near the Austrian border in Italy. About 100 personnel were part of the rescue efforts but managed to save eight of those people.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's meeting with his European counterparts in Paris this hour to discuss ways to end the Syrian conflict. The meeting comes ahead of Monday's peace talks in Geneva between the Syrian government and opposition representatives. The U.N. is backing those talks which Kerry says should go on as planned.

And the devastating war in Syria is approaching the five-year remark. Ahead of that grim anniversary, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh explores five unexpected effects of Syria's years of conflict.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For five years, the West has fought to stay out of another Middle East quagmire. And so on five occasions, the things have never imagined could happen did.

It took thousands to die from bombing before the first White House red line was even crossed. And that was the use of chemical weapons, sarin, in Damascus suburbs.

Unimaginable to so many but really happening in 2013. The terror was something you could feel on YouTube.

Syria gave up its chemical weapons, but so, too, did many on Obama's red line. Mere smooth months later, radicals pour into Syria. Here at Hama airport, we watched dozens of foreigners from Libya, Mauritania, Egypt insist they were charity workers. Turkey let many like them cross into Syria. And ISIS took root right on Europe and NATO's doorstep.

It is in the nature of wars to spread chaos, and just across the border in Iraq, another never again. The Yazidis, a sect whose obscurity didn't shield them from ISIS, were brutalized. Women used as sex slaves. Children for soldiers, men just murdered. It is still unclear how many died. U.S. officials think it may be genocide.

It took four years of desperation to spark the largest refugee crisis since World War II. But even the rise or fall of the Soviet Union did this. Unable to see an end to the war or a future in the Middle East, they left to Germany, Greece or anywhere in between or beyond. Risking life, bringing out the worst and the best of those welcomed. One small fact also exposes how the war has hamstrung our humanity.

We don't know how many people have died in it. Not since January, 2014, when the U.N. last counted 100,000. They've since been unable to verify enough information.

Even in this, the most filmed and social media-posted war yet, the utter chaos stops one basic dignity. Some say 470,000 have died. Five years in, still impossible to know what the number will stop at.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: And all this week CNN's Clarissa Ward will take you on a harrowing journey deep into the heart of a country scarred by five years of war, isolated by devastation. You'll get an exclusive look inside Syria behind rebel lines and meet the people who call what's left of the embattled country home. It's all part of our exclusive special coverage "INSIDE SYRIA: BEHIND REBEL LINES" only on CNN.

[04:35:02] Violence at Trump rallies is sparking some verbal sparring between two candidates who haven't done any real head-to-head campaigning. The latest on Trump versus Sanders next.

Plus El Nino is hitting northern California and people there are preparing for round two of some serious wind, rain and snow. That story just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. Well, not only is Trump not backing down from his comments after the incidents in Chicago, he's taking them a step further. He insists that he's not responsible for the violence and is now pointing the finger in another direction entirely. Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders. Trump accused him of instigating the protests and Sanders was quick to respond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The people that were there, that came there, that were invited there, thousands and thousands of people, they caused no problem. They were taunted, they were harassed by these other people. These other people by the way, some represented Bernie, our communist friend.

With Bernie, so he should really get and up say to his people, stop. Stop. Not me. Stop. They said, Mr. Trump should get up and this morning tell his people to be nice. My people are nice, folks.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I don't think our -- our supporters are inciting. What our supporters are doing is responding to a candidate who has in fact, in many ways, encouraged violence. When he talks about things -- I wish we were in the old days when you could punch somebody in the head. What do you think that says to his supporters? And what happened the other day when some young man was being escorted out and he was sucker punched? And we've seen other incidents. So the issue now is that Donald Trump

has got to be loud and clear and tell his supporters that violence at rallies is not what America is about and to end it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:40:14] KINKADE: And the progressive group, Moveon.org, which has endorsed Sanders, acknowledged helping the Chicago protesters with signs and recruitment. It said in a statement, "But let's be clear about one thing, the protest Friday night was a direct result of the violence that has occurred at Trump rallies and that has been repeatedly encouraged by Trump himself from the stage."

Well, Trump has pushed back against his critics' claims that he is responsible for that sort of outburst we're seeing. CNN compiled a timeline to show how Trump's rhetoric has evolved, leading all the way up to the boiling point in Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I was nice. Take your time. The second group, I was pretty nice. The third group, I'll be a little more violent. And the fourth group, I'll say, "Get the hell out of here."

Roughed up? He should have been -- maybe he should have been roughed up because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing.

When you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. OK, just the knock the hell -- I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees. I promise.

Do you know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this? They'd be carried out of a stretcher, folks. Guards are very gentle with him. He's walking out like big high fives, smiling, laughing. I'd like to punch them in the face, I tell you.

In the good all days, they'd ripped him out of that seat so fast.

Yes, get him out. Try not to hurt him. If you do, I'll defend you in court. Don't worry about it.

Caught up in a lie --

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Do you believe that you've done anything to create a tone where this kind of violence would be encouraged?

TRUMP: I hope not. I truly hope not.

We have to be politically correct. Oh, please, don't hurt him. They're allowed to get up and interrupt us horribly and we have to very, very gentle, very gentle. They can swing, they can hit people, but if we hit him back, it's a terrible, terrible thing, right?

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Do you regret saying any of those things especially the things that you have said about punching protesters, sending them out on stretchers? TRUMP: You know, I don't regret it at all. Some of these protesters

were violent. Yes, I'm not happy about that and I would always express my feelings about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: And Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton had some harsh words about the violence at Trump's rally, calling his rhetoric political arson. Clinton made the comments during a stop in St. Louis, Missouri. She then went on to Cleveland, Ohio, to rally votes just days before the state's primary. The event was held at a church where she answered questions and discussed issues that affect African- Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Any view of black America that focuses exclusively on poverty and crime is missing most of the picture.

Let us celebrate the success stories, the rise of so many people, the vibrancy of the church, the contributions in all walks of life. Business, law, politics, science, the arts, sports, the professions.

We need to lift up all that has been done so we can shine an even brighter light on what we must do together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: And victory for Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders. An Ohio judge issued an order Friday that would allow 17-year-olds to vote in Tuesday's critical primary. It was determined that Ohio's secretary of state was wrong to order that residents who are currently 17 but will be 18 on Election Day not be allowed to vote. That could give a leg up to Sanders, who is popular with younger voters.

And join us later for the CNN TV1 Democratic presidential town hall ahead of Tuesday's critical primaries. Ohio voters will put questions to both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. That's Monday at 8:00 a.m. Hong Kong, midnight for you night owls in London, right here on CNN.

Well, El Nino is not letting up in northern California. Wind, rain and snow caused major traffic accidents. And there are fears of possible flooding and mudslides.

Shirin Rajaee with CNN affiliate KOVR has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHIRIN RAJAEE, REPORTER, KOVR: A terrible multi-car accident off I-80 east and the Yuma Gap Exit. Two cars overturned on the side of the highway after spinning out of control, slowing traffic as help was brought in. Thankfully for others making the trip up the mountain conditions cooperated. [04:45:06] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was rain on and off. Some

beautiful sunshine and rainbows along the way as well. So we were very fortunate in that we didn't hit the heaviest of the deluge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a little bit of rain but it wasn't as bad as we expected. We knew to pull over and put chains on.

RAJAEE: The wet and slushy roads put chain control in full effect with chains being required just south of Blue Canyon to Donner Summit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do this every day in the snow. So I'm used to putting chains on.

RAJAEE: One by one people pulling over to chain up. And those that didn't, well, were slipping and sliding on the mountain like this car here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little slippery. It was hard to see through the wind shield because the rain was so hard.

RAJAEE: But the thirst for fresh powder wasn't stopping this group of East Oakland Boxers coming out to train in the higher elevation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to train like Rocky did. Remember when he had to go to Russia and train in the snow? Just keep it simple. Just try to run in the snow and, you know, get those legs working.

RAJAEE: Or these kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The snow was great, but it was very low visibility. So, yes, it was really fun, though, skiing with him. He's my friend. And it was his first time.

RAJAEE: All in all a smart move for drivers trying to beat the heavy rain and snowfall set for this weekend.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: That was Shirin Rajaee from our affiliate KOVR.

With us now is our meteorologist Derek Van Dam. You were saying before that the storms this weekend are going to give a bit of a one- two punch?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is. The proverbial one-two punch for the West Coast and it continues. They have one storm moving through now and another one that is set to move in, in about 12 hours' time. I'll explain with a satellite. It's a lot easier to see what I'm talking about.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VAN DAM: I'm going to end on this. If you've ever been to Chicago around the St. Patrick's Day time you know what you're looking at right now. That is their annual, well, dyeing of the Chicago River. They actually dye it green in celebration of St. Patrick's Day.

KINKADE: Wow.

VAN DAM: There's aerial footage of it. This is a tradition since 1962 as 400,000 spectators line the sides of the Chicago River. I was wondering if this was, you know, potentially polluting the river. But I looked into it and it's actually a vegetable-based dye. And it does not last that long, only five hours. And it's actually not bad for the river.

KINKADE: So it's fine for the fish and (INAUDIBLE) to see that river.

VAN DAM: It is. It's supposed to look cool.

KINKADE: Yes. It does look cool. Happy St. Patrick's Day.

VAN DAM: Same to you.

KINKADE: Thanks, Derek.

Well, coming up, the political GIFs, the sound bites coming up, the oddball moments of the 2016 race that just keep playing again and again.

[04:50:10]

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(SPORTS)

KINKADE: Welcome back. The U.S. presidential campaign just keeps on entertaining. A candidate makes a dramatic gesture and a GIF is born. Wacky moments boiled down to a few seconds on a continuous loop in cyberspace forever.

Jeanne Moos shows us some of the more memorable ones.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's happened again.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Not going to happen, not going to happen.

MOOS: Oh, yes, it did.

CRUZ: Not going to happen.

MOOS: Another campaign moment turned into an endless loop. Just like when that eagle pecked Donald Trump. Or Bernie Sanders danced his way onto "Ellen."

The "New York Times" declared, "political GIFs are the new sound bite this campaign season." GIF, graphics interchange format. Animated looping images only seconds long. (On camera): I know there's a never-ending argument over how to

pronounce the word. The inventor says it should be JIF, not GIF, as in a peanut butter.

[04:55:02] (Voice-over): I was turned into a GIF in a matter of moments.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Voila.

MOOS: No one's more GIF-able than this guy. GIFs and six-second vines. Donald Trump just did every emoji face on your phone. Seven seconds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You wouldn't want, quote, "such a hot head with his finger on the nuclear codes."

MOOS: The COO of a company called Giphy, with a hard G, says politicians are getting more savvy.

ADAM LEIBSOHN, COO, GIPHY: Can string themselves into sort of like visual language, so like shrugging, or finger guns, or brushing your shoulders off like Hillary Clinton did.

MOOS: Her campaign tweeted out a dismissive gesture from the Benghazi hearings as a response to what was said at a Republican debate. Reacting to another GOP debate she rubbed her temples.

Marco Rubio became a GIF when he desperately grabbed for a bottle of water. Then Donald Trump's imitation of Rubio likewise became a GIF. But don't expect any context.

CRUZ: Not going to happen.

MOOS: The Cruz moosier moment came when he imitated his daughter reacting to a TV commentator saying it would be a disaster for Cruz if Trump won Texas.

CRUZ: Jumps up on the couch, sticks both fingers in her ears and goes, not going to happen, not going to happen.

MOOS: You can expect these to happen and happen and happen. And live on in cyberspace until the end of time.

JEB BUSH, FORMER REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Please clap.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN.

CRUZ: Not going to happen.

MOOS: New York.

CRUZ: Not going to happen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: That keeps us entertained. Thanks so much for joining us for this edition of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade. I'll be back after the break with another hour of news from right across the bow.

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