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Pakistani Taliban Offshoot Claims Responsibility for Attack that Targeted Lahore Playground; Syrian Government Reclaims Palmyra; Belgian Migrants Describe Their Fears In Wake of Attacks; A Look Into The Contested Island of the South China Sea. New Aired 8-9a ET

Aired March 28, 2016 - 8:00   ET

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


IVAN WATSON, CNN HOST: I'm Ivan Watson in Hong Kong. Welcome to News Stream.

Terror at a Pakistan playground, at least 69 people are killed in a suicide attack targeting Christians celebrating Easter.

And the group behind the bombing is vowing more attacks will follow.

Life before ISIS, an exclusive report on the Paris terror suspects and their path from partying brothers to jihadi militants.

And a power struggle in the ocean. We'll take you to Taiping Island, a territorial battleground in the South China Sea.

Now, major anti-terror operations are underway in Pakistan this hour. CNN has just received word from the military that a number of suspected

terrorists were arrested in three cities across Punjab Province less than 24 hours after a deadly suicide blast on Easter Sunday.

An offshoot of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the deadly suicide bombing that claimed at least 69 lives at a popular park on Sunday.

The spokesman for the militant group responsible vows more violent will follow.

Our New Delhi bureau chief Ravi Agrawal, he joins us now with the latest.

Ravi, what can you tell us about these arrests and the terrible attack itself?

RAVI AGRAWAL, CNN NEW DELHI BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, Ivan. These arrests began today in five separate crackdown operations across three

cities in Punjab, including in Lahore, the city where this attack took place.

Not only have arrests been made, and we have no details on them, but not only that, they are also saying -- they're also saying that they have

recovered a cache of arms and ammunition.

This all comes just a few hours after Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, made a very strong statement saying that he would wipe this

terror outfit from the country, some very strong words there.

And the reason why is that this was a particularly brutal terror attack, probably the worst this year in Pakistan. Listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AGRAWAL: The familiar sound of tragedy. Ambulances rushed to the scene of a deadly suicide bombing. For some, it's too late. All you can do is

console the bereaved.

The attack took place Sunday in one of the biggest parks in Lahore, a major Pakistani city near the border with India. It was Easter Sunday.

Muslims and Christians alike were enjoying the spring weather, that's when the Earth shook. Witnesses say the blast took place near a playground

area, several of the victims appeared to be young children. The group claiming responsibility is a Jamat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the

Pakistani Taliban.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have conducted other attacks before, and it seems that their back has not been broken despite the Pakistan military's

offensive against the Pakistani Taliban in Waziristan and other tribal regions of Pakistan.

AGRAWAL: A spokesman of Jamat-uh-Ahrar told CNN the attack targeted Christians. It comes amid a difficult climate for Pakistani Christians who

represent less than 2 percent of the population. They have been caught in the crossfire of a larger debate over the Islamic country's blasphemy law,

seen by some as an excuse to intimidate minority faiths.

On Sunday, though, these scenes of death and destruction cut through the politics to tell a real horror story of families torn apart no matter their

faith.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AGRAWAL: Now, the reason why we are talking about faith here, Ivan, is because this group specifically said they were targeting Christians. But

it's not only that, this attack took place right next to an amusement park and a playground. So, this was also in effect targeting children.

And we don't have details on this just yet, but we are expecting that a number of victims may have been also been children, mothers, young women.

And so Pakistan obviously today on Monday, very angry and upset by the scenes of devastation that it is seeing.

WATSON: I mean, just impossible to try to comprehend. And it's not the first time that militant groups appeared to have targeted children in

Pakistan., Ravi. Thank you very much for that report.

Now, to help explain what this all means, leading Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid joins me now via Skype from Lahore.

Now, he has published multiple books about extremists in south and central Asia and he's following developments on the ground there.

Mr. Rashid, first of all, my condolences on this atrocity in your hometown. Having covered these militant groups for so many years, are you still

surprised at the ferocity and the scale of this attack targeting apparently a playground in Lahore?

[08:05:21] AHMED RASHID, JOURNALIST: Yeah, well, we have seen -- you know, in soft targets being attacked in more horrendous ways. Remember, schools

that were being attacked, young students that were killed. A university was attacked, its campus became a death field. And now this park and this

playground on a Sunday when not only was it Easter Sunday, a lot of Christians go to this park, but also the hospitals were not equipped to

deal with the wounded, because it was a Sunday that a lot of the doctors were off duty.And the government came in for very strident criticism

because of that.

But the real -- I think what a lot of people are watching is now the (inaudible) very dramatic situation is Islamabad where extremists have

staged a sit-in in front of the parliament building. The army has been deployed to protect the diplomatic quarter in Islamabad after the police

(inaudible) collapsed and seem to have been unable to protect that main institutions.

And even your (inaudible) quoting the fact that these arrests have taken place in Punjab. It has been very significant that the army has carried

out these arrests, not the civilian government, not the police, nor any civil authorities.

And I think what we're seeing and probing (ph) now is more and greater tension between the civil and the military. And of course Pakistan has

been -- half of its time in existence, it has been ruled by the military.

WATSON: All right there.

Now, Mr. Rashid, thank you very much for your insight there. Unfortunately the connection is not as good as we quite would liked there. But

suggesting that this could lead to more divisions between different branches of the Pakistani security forces.

Thank you again for your insight from Lahore. Certainly in shock and grieving after these atrocious attacks.

Moving to Europe now. The Belgian crisis center says the death toll from the Brussels terror attack has risen to 35, that includes four people who

were wounded in the attacks and have died in hospital.

Meantime, authorities have been conducting terror raids across Europe. Belgian authorities have issued three new arrest warrants and a French

citizen has been arrested in The Netherlands accused of terrorist activity.

French police believe he has ties to another man arrested for planning a terror attack.

Meanwhile, anti immigrant tensions boiled over on the streets of Brussels. CNN's Phil Black was there and has more on that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is what the Place de la Bourse has looked like since the day of the Brussels attacks -- large quiet

crowds honoring the victims, sometimes applauding respectively. That changed Sunday. Hundreds of men dressed in black with their faces covered,

invaded the square.

We're in our home, they cried. They surrounded the memorial site, unrolling flags and banners, screaming together.

These were right-wing nationalists -- loud, aggressive, intimidating, many drinking alcohol. Some others in the square challenged their behavior.

There were as scuffles. Police struggled to keep them apart.

We were broadcasting live when someone started letting off fireworks.

Riot police moved forward, surrounding the crowd and slowly driving it out of the square. Another rival group began chanting, too, denouncing the men

in black as hateful racists and cheering for the police as they advanced.

The police used water cannon once they were clear of the square. It was all over in about an hour. The memorial was quiet again. But some people

here were left even more upset because of what they had just seen.

Daniel Holenbek (ph), says his 19-year-old daughter lost two legs in the suicide black Malbec metro station.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My daughter don't have legs.

[08:10:01] BLACK: The atmosphere of quiet sorrow was shattered only briefly, enough to expose a powerful divide in how people here are

responding to terror.

Phil Black, CNN, Brussels.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: It was only a matter of months ago that the world watched as Paris came under attack. The suspects, two young men, brothers, who only a year

earlier were the face of Brussels night life. In a CNN exclusive, Nina dos Santos spoke with friends of the Abdeslam brothers who described their

transformation from party boys to militants.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was life before ISIS. Salah Abdeslam and his Brother Brahim, partying at a high-end nightclub in

Brussels. It's February 28, 2015, just eight months later, Brahim would blow himself at a Paris cafe. Salah becomes Europe's most wanted man.

Two of their friends shot the video in the club. They talked to CNN, on the condition we hide their identities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, via translator: Salah took care of himself. He was very neat; someone who was funny, who you could have a laugh with; a bit of a

ladies' man. It was not unusual for him to have a drink or two but he didn't go out and get drunk. Brahim was a lot more intelligent; he was also

better behaved.

DOS SANTOS: Haram and Rajid, speaking under assumed names, say that they first began hanging out with the Abdeslam brothers in 2011, when they took

on the lease of this bar, Le Begin, which is now shut following a police raid. They say they came here to drink, to play cards, to smoke marijuana

and also to watch the brothers' favorite football team, Real Madrid, play on the TV.

Things could get boisterous. Here, Brahim cheers on some drunken antics.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I used to go there after work, to have a drink, have a laugh with friends, play cards. Anything that involves betting with money,

really.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basically you felt at home, among family.

DOS SANTOS: Also among that family, Hamza Attou and Mohammed and Abree, seen here in Raji's photos. They were detained after driving Salah back

from Paris, following the attacks, and remain in custody. The friends say they were duped.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was with Hamza Attou, and around 10:30 or 11:00 p.m., he received a phone call from Salah, asking him to come pick him up in

France because his car had broken down.

DOS SANTOS: Not long after this party, they stopped drinking and became more religious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They prayed more, at the mosque, maybe only on Fridays. Otherwise, it was praying at home.

DOS SANTOS: Praying and plotting. No one, even their closest friends, knows why the Abdeslam brothers changed so much, so quickly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brahim got on with everyone. He didn't have problems with black, white, whatever race or religion.

DOS SANTOS: He didn't, until this.

Nina Dos Santos, CNN, Brussels.

(END VIDEOTAPE))

WATSON: Now, it's been called a mortal blow to ISIS. The ancient city of Palmyra, targeted so publicly by the group, is finally back in government

hands. A live report just ahead.

And a tiny group of islands at the center of a major dispute in Asia. We travel to part of the South China Sea that's making the neighbors nervous.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:17:14] WATSON: Welcome back. You're watching News Stream live from Hong Kong. There's a view of the harbor here. It's been a spectacular

couple of days in the city.

Now, it is said often that the pen is mightier than the sword, something which might explain China's recent crackdown over a controversial letter

addressed to President Xi Jinping.

The anonymous letter published online calls on President xi to resign. Now, family members of two Chinese writers based overseas have been

detained. But the two writers deny being behind the open letter. News reports suggest authorities detained more than 15 people while

investigating this document.

Matt Rivers, he has more from us and joins us live from Beijing.

So, Matt, first, can you give us a sense what is the content of this controversial letter?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, that's absolutely right, Ivan. The call here for the President Xi Jinping to resign comes in context of this

letter that specifically criticizes the president here for numerous allegations, or problems with his governing style. They talk about his

diplomacy style. They talk about his poor handling of the economy, as they put it. And they also talk about how he has made it confusing, as they put

it, to govern here in China within the Communist Party.

So, a highly critical letter of Presidnet Xi Jinping, not something that you see here put in the public in China very often.

WATSON: And Matt, we are getting reports that the Chinese authorities are actually rounding up the relatives, the elderly parents of dissidents. Is

there any truth to this, and is this a new thing?

RIVERS: Well, if you believe what the dissidents are saying, then it absolutely is true. We spoke to one of those dissidents earlier today.

His name is Wen Junchao. He's political activist currently living in exile in New York City. And he says that authorities first questioned him, or

contacted him about this letter sometime in the middle of March, but then ended up -- you know, he denied those allegations. He said it was

absolutely not true that he had anything to do with the letter.

But then he told us earlier today that authorities detained his mother, his father, and his brother sometime last week. He hasn't heard from them. It

is a move that he called an escalation. Here's what he said when we interviewed him earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WEN YUNCHAO, CHINESE ACTIVIST (through translator): I was to some extent psychologically prepared for this kind of thing. For example, I'd expected

them to make things difficult for my family, to harass them because of this incident. But I never imagined they would use their forced disappearance

to pressure me. This was completely beyond my expectations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: Now, the Chinese government certainly won't comment on this, but this particular activist is not alone, as you mentioned, Ivan. Two other

writers, one of them here in China, a prominent journalist named Jia Jia, he was actually detained here in China for a number of days, was actually

just released, but it was in connection to this particular investigation. And then a journalist living abroad, a Chinese journalist, named Jiang Ping

(ph). He's living in Germany. He said that his family has been detained in a way to pressure him over an article he wrote about this same subject.

So, clearly this investigation very wide ranging.

[08:20:30] WATSON: Now, Matt, presumably if the authorities want to shut down this letter and not let people see it, by cracking down on people, it

seems to have had the opposite effect, that we're hearing more they won't comment on this.

Why do you think the government has been cracking down so hard about this specific document?

RIVERS: Well, this really is just a continuation of what we have seen here in China, from Chinese authorities, and specifically from Chinese President

Xi Jinping over the last several months. There has really been a firm attempt to crackdown on any and all dissent, especially put out there in a

public way. It wasn't that long ago, on February 19th, that President Xi actually went to Xinhua, which is the state-run news agency here to The

Peoples Daily, the big newspaper, and to CCTV, the state broadcaster, went there publicly and said your mission here is to promote Communist Party

ideals. Your mission is to be the party's mouthpiece. And clearly anything other than that, according to the president here, is not

acceptable.

Certainly this letter being made public not part of President Xi's ideal policy, Ivan.

WATSON: All right, Matt, thanks for explaining that for us.

Matt Rivers live in Beijing.

Now, a power struggle continues to play out in the South China Sea. Several governments have long claimed different sectors, and now a group of

islands, rocks, really are at the center of the dispute.

I was invited to visit one of those contested islands, which is guarded by Taiwan, but also claimed by China.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: The contested waters of the South China Sea seen from a Taiwanese military plane.

And this is what greets you when you land at Taiping, an island controlled by Taiwan.

Taiping is a tiny island. It basically runs the length of this runway. The Taiwanese government first laid claim to this place more than half a

century ago. But this is the very first time, the government says, that journalists have been invited to see it firsthand.

And it is at a time when tensions are ratcheting up here in the South China Sea.

At least six different countries have competing claims for this body of water. But China claims almost all of it.

And to cement China's claim, Beijing has been building a series of man-made islands atop reefs and atoles in the hotly disputed Spratly archipelago.

It is making the neighbors nervous.

BRUC LINGHU, TAIWAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER: We are opposed to militarization, or military expansionism in the area.

WATSON: Enter the U.S. navy. We caught up with the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis, shortly after it sailed through the South China Sea, performing

an mistakable show of U.S. force.

REAR ADMIRAL RONALD BOXALL, U.S. NAVY: Just being in the South China Sea shows that we believe we have the right to operate in international waters.

All ships, not just military vessels, but civilian vessels.

WATSON: Washington calls these operations freedom of navigation operations. They clearly irritate the Chinese.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the Chinese navy. This is the Chinese navy. Please go away quickly.

WATSON: Last year, CNN accompanied a U.S. navy spy plane that flew over China's man-made islands.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You go.

WATSON: Beijing expressed outrage, issuing formal protests and calling these operations a very serious provocation.

So where do smaller claimants like Taiwan fit in? On Taiping, officials showed off the island's chickens and goats as well as supplies of fresh

water.

If Taiwan proves Taiping can sustain human life, then the Taiwanese can make the case for a

potentially lucrative 200 nautical mile economic exclusion zone around the island.

Amid the contest for control of the South China Sea, Taiwan is trying to demonstrate that it, too, is a player and should not be overlooked.

Meanwhile, other small countries like Vietnam and The Philippines, are reaching out to the U.S. for help at counterbalancing China as it continues

to flex its naval muscle in this contested body of water.

A place that feels like a tropical paradise is instead becoming part of a much bigger regional power struggle.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[11:25:10] WATSON: Now, let's switch gears to the ongoing civil war in Syria. The world has watched in horror as ISIS deliberately destroyed some

of Syria's most ancient ruins. Now, after almost a year, the UNESCO world heritage site of Palmyra is back in government hands.

These new images you're looking at now, show what's left of the city's highly treasured monuments. Militants repeatedly targeted these ancient

temples and monuments saying they represent the worship of idols.

Now, Arwa Damon is in Istanbul monitoring this and she has more on this. And first of all, what can you tell us? How did the regime forces really

turn the tide in Palmyra? And what is the state of the city, the inhabitants and these treasured architectural artifacts?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ivan, they turned the tide exactly the same way that they have been turning the tide in other

parts of the phenomenally complicated Syrian battlefield, and that is thanks to Russia's support.

Russian airstrikes pounded ISIS targets in and around Palmyra in the days and weeks leading up to the final push into the city by the regime and the

militias that it supports. And this is something that both Russia and the Assad government fully acknowledge and proudly acknowledge.

We heard the Bashar al-Assad, Syria's president, coming out and saying that the fact that they were able to recapture Palmyra from ISIS is clear proof

and evidence that their strategy, that is the regime and Russia's strategy against terrorism, is working, especially when compared to that of

the U.S.-led coalition.

As for the inhabitants, we do not know yet what happened to those who did stay inside when ISIS first pushed into the city. Those who could flee

did flee. And we do know that as the regime's forces were advancing, around 100 to 150 people did try and make it out of the city into one of

the other areas where those who have been internally displaced end up congregating.

And there is still a lot of information that is unknown out there. Among that, exactly what happened to the inhabitants and what kind of a state

everything is in.

WATSON: All right. Arwa Damon, we're going to leave that there. Thank you very much. Live from Istanbul. CNN international -- senior

international correspondent Arwa Damon.

Now, the ancient city may have been recaptured, but scars of the terror group's occupation remain. I took this photo of Palmyra's beautiful

architecture nine years ago on a tourist trip to Syria. Today, its columns lie broken and defaced.

The temple of Bell was a treasured landmark in Palmyra, some 2,000 years old and now all that is left of its entrance is rubble.

And this was the Balshamin (ph) temple before ISIS destroyed it. This site now greets the Syrian forces.

Obviously, emotions are high across the continent in Brussels. And no segment of society

escapes that. This hour, we will hear from some in the Islamic community, their fears and concerns when we come back. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:31:53] WATSON: We want to bring you the latest on the investigation now. So we go to CNN's Clarissa Ward. She's live in Brussels.

Clarissa, can you bring us up to date on the investigation, which has so many fronts right now.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ivan, Belgian authorities have released now video that shows the third man, the third

airport bomber. Previously, we had only seen a still image of him. He is wearing that light coat and those distinctive glasses with that dark hat.

This is the first time we have actually seen video of him. And it does raise the question as to why are they releasing this video now? Does this

mean that they have not identified him?

We still don't know that yet. We do know that there have been 13 different raids across the city

this weekend. Several arrests as a result of those raids. And three people are being charged with participation in terrorist activities.

Now, the main effort or focus has been on one arrest that was made on Thursday. That man is only being named at Faycal C, Faycal C. And he is

being charged with terrorist murder, with attempted terrorist murder and with also with participation in a terrorist attack. But we don't yet know who this

Faycal C. is. And the question, as I said, is have Belgian authorities been able to identify that man in the light coat, that third airport

bomber. Certainly it would appear...

WATSON: Okay. We appear to have lost our correspondent Clarissa Ward.

Clarissa, if you can hear me again now, thank you for the update there. Let's talk about the two

Brussels that exists. You have the one city of these elegant European cafes, these headquarters of European Union agencies and departments, and

then you have very close by neighborhoods that are predominately immigrant, where you'll hear Arabic as frequently as you will hear French. And it

does appear that ISIS has capitalized on some of these divisions for these awful attacks.

Are you getting a sense yet of what the Belgian government might try to do to bridge this divide?

WARD: Well, I think the Belgian government has a real task on its hands here, because the issue is not that these neighborhoods are no go zones or

that they are too dangerous for security officials to enter, the issue is that the people living in these communities feel fundamentally

disenfranchised, marginalized. They don't feel that they are part of Belgian society.

And when we spent time in Molenbeek, which is perhaps the best known of these suburbs, the thing that people kept telling us again and again was

that there's real Belgians, or what they would call real Belgians, and then there's Moroccan Belgians, or Algerian Belgians. And I should emphasize,

Ivan, that we are not just talking first generation immigrants, we're talking about second, third generation immigrants.

And so what you have is a fundamental disconnect between these communities and between the authorities with very little communication. And that is

going to be a difficult obstacle for authorities here to surmount.

[08:35:14] WATSON: That's right. A big, big challenge. Clarissa Ward, live from Brussels, thanks very much for the update.

Now, Sunday, saw anti-immigrant protests at the site of the Brussels memorial, highlighting

the rift among Belgians. We saw similar tensions in Paris in the aftermath of those attacks.

Our Saima Mohsin reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Samoon Ahmed Khan had a lucky escape. He missed both the attacks at the airport and metro by minutes. He's in

Brussels on a business trip and has barely left his hotel since the bombings. But not just because he's afraid of terrorist attacks.

SAMOOD AHMED KHAN, FINANCIAL INVESTIGATOR: I stay in the hotel for two days. I even did not go out because I was scared what will be the people's

reaction because of my beard or because I'm Muslim. I'm from Pakistan.

Second, I was scared because the control of forces, the police. They're doing their job. I'm not saying they're doing it for the people's safety.

But I don't want to be in that trauma situation where they will be keeping me for four to five hours.

MOHSIN: His wife and family were concerned about racial attacks in a backlash against Muslims. His company advised him not to travel.

KHAN: I was scared because of the bag, if I go from one train station to another with my suitcase and with my appearance.

MOHSIN: Samoon's fears are not unfounded. On Sunday, right-wing protesters charged through the memorial in the Place de la Bourse, stamping on

flowers, raising Nazi salutes.

Just a day before, members of Brussels' Muslim community came out to show solidarity with their fellow citizens, laying bouquets of flowers for the

victims. Muslim mothers brought their children to light candles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): For me, it's immoral and shameful. Not all Muslims are terrorists. We are against terrorists. We are

nice Muslims.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We are human beings. Our relationship with God is separate. We're not allowed to judge others. We

should put our spiritual side aside and work together, build together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There are two types of Muslims. There are those who are not good and those who are good. We are not all the

same.

MOHSIN: This little girl wrote a message saying, "I'm against terrorism. Why all this war?" Declarations and questions too big for a small child.

For some in this community, it's unbearable that Muslims could carry out such a heinous attack.

SONIA CHAABANE, BELGIAN MUSLIM: It hurts. These are innocent human beings that are dead. It shouldn't happen. They shouldn't kill innocent people.

They haven't done anything. It's not our religion that kills. It's got nothing to do with it. Islam is a peaceful religion.

MOHSIN: Among the flags of countries that too have suffered from terror attacks, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, France, a banner above them all

reads "not in the name of Islam."

Saima Mohsin, CNN, Brussels.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: The feud between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz is fast becoming a family affair. We'll bring you that story as well as Trump's worldview as

described in a new interview with The New York Times. Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:12] WATSON: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Ivan Watson live in Hong Kong.

Now, the republican race for the White House is producing some more compelling subplots. For one, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have now brought

each other's wives into the fray. There is also a brewing dispute over delegates in the state of Louisiana. All this as Trump expands on his

worldview.

Here is CNN's Phil Mattingly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, 2016 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via phone): I don't think America is a safe place for Americans, if you want to know the truth.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Donald Trump claiming Americans are unsafe the day after laying out his controversial foreign policy world view in a lengthy

interview with "The New York Times." He calls into question traditional U.S. alliances, including NATO, describing his approach as, quote, "not

isolationist, but America first."

He says, if elected, he might stop buying Saudi oil unless they commit ground troops to fight ISIS and opening the door to the notion Japan and

South Korea developing nuclear arms of their own.

TRUMP: He started it. I didn't start it.

CRUZ: Attacking spouses and children is off-limits. It has no place in politics.

MATTINGLY: This as he and rival Ted Cruz ramp up the war of words over their wives, Cruz slamming Trump for hitting below the belt.

CRUZ: He sends tweets attacking my wife, attacking Heidi. It is inappropriate; it is wrong. It is frankly disgusting.

MATTINGLY: The front-runner accusing Cruz of knowing about a super PAC ad targeting his wife, Melania, first.

TRUMP: Don't forget, I call him Lying Ted. I call him that, because nobody that I've known -- I've known a lot tougher people over the years in

business, but I've never known anybody that lied like Ted Cruz.

MATTINGLY: Trump threatening on Twitter to, quote, "spill the beans" on Cruz's wife, Heidi, and again on Sunday.

TRUMP: There are things about Heidi that I don't want to talk about, but I'm not going to talk about them.

MATTINGLY: Cruz calling Trump's actions a deliberate distraction, coming down hard on a salacious story in the tabloid "National Enquirer," which

earlier this month endorsed Trump.

CRUZ: He's pushing these attacks. And by the way, he's been pushing them for many, many months online. These are complete made-up lies. They're

garbage.

MATTINGLY: Trump also blasting Cruz for courting additional delegates Louisiana's March 5 primary, issuing this threat on Twitter, quote, "just

to show how unfair Republican primary politics can be, I won the state of Louisiana and get less delegates than Cruz. Lawsuit coming."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: It's a campaign that continues to take the country into unexpected directions.

Well, Democrat Bernie Sander's bid for the White House gained fresh momentum over the weekend with lopsided victories in three states. In

Alaska, he took close to 82 percent of the vote. In Washington state, with 101 delegates on the line, he grabbed 73 percent. And in Hawaii, 69

percent of the vote went to Sanders.

But Hillary Clinton remains the front-runner.

And that is News Stream. I'm Ivan Watson.

END