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CNN NEWSROOM

Immigration Major Topic at Town Hall; FBI Analyzes Seized Phones, Computers; Police Investigate at Scene of Lahore Blast; Hijacking Not Related to Terrorism; Trump Suggests Nuclear Arsenals for South Korea, Japan; Father Speaks Out about Daughter's Addiction; Paris Aquarium Offers Shark Tank Sleepovers. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired March 30, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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


[02:00:00]

ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: We begin this hour with the race for the White House and a town hall hosted by CNN in Wisconsin.

A week before the state holds a key primary, the three Republican hopefuls appeared individually and fielded questions from the audience.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: They covered a wide range of issues but one topic kept coming up. It involves Donald Trump's campaign manager.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (voice-over): Corey Lewandowski is facing an assault charge for the incident shown here. He allegedly grabbed a reporter by the arm and shoved her away. Trump defended his staffer.

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm a loyal person. I'm going to be loyal to the country. I'm going to be loyal to Wisconsin. We have to tell it like it is. It would be so easy for me to terminate this man.

And just so you understand, she was off base because she went through the Secret Service. She had a pen in her hand, which Secret Service is not liking because they don't know what it is, whether it's a little bomb.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: So it doesn't concern you that initially Corey Lewandowski says I never touched her?

And that turns out not to be true.

TRUMP: I don't think he knew her.

She shouldn't have been touching me, OK?

And you saw that she did that. She was grabbing me twice. I looked at her. In fact, one of the great pictures is me going like this, like, get away from me.

Who is this person?

OK?

But my arm, it's never been the same, folks.

BARNETT (voice-over): Take a look at the scene outside the town hall. A huge crowd of demonstrators were there, most of them protesting against Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meanwhile, Trump's rival, Ted Cruz, got an endorsement from Wisconsin's Republican governor. In the town hall, Cruz spoke about immigration policy and its impact on national security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: These terror attacks in Europe are a result of failed immigration policies, where they've allowed vast numbers of Islamic terrorists to come into Europe. And they're in communities that are isolated. They're called no-go communities, where the law enforcement doesn't engage in those communities.

Well, America should not make the mistakes of Europe. We should not disengage. We should have law enforcement actively engage to stop radicalization before it starts. I'll tell you, as president, every single day I will wake up fighting radical Islamic terrorism and working to defeat it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And John Kasich also weighed in on immigration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), OHIO: The idea that we're going to drive around in Waukesha, where we're going to drive around here in Milwaukee and we're going to yank people out of their homes, leaving their kids on the front porch crying and screaming?

Come on, that's ridiculous. We can get the border fixed. We can have a guest worker program. We can get a path to legalization. I think that can pass.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Now at one point in the town hall, our Anderson Cooper pressed the Republican front-runner on the vicious -- some call it the lowbrow -- tone of the Republican presidential race. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: After saying that you were going to spill the beans about Heidi Cruz, you retweeted an unflattering picture of her next to a picture of your wife.

TRUMP: I thought it was a nice picture of Heidi. I thought it was fine.

COOPER: Come on.

TRUMP: I thought it was fine. She's a pretty woman.

COOPER: You are running for the president of the United States.

TRUMP: I didn't start it.

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Sir, with all due respect, that's the argument of a 5-year old.

TRUMP: I didn't start it.

No, it's not.

COOPER: -- a 5-year old would say "he started it."

TRUMP: You would say that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Let's talk more now about what came out of CNN's Republican presidential town hall.

Joining me now in the studio is Charlie Harper, publisher of georgiapoll.com. And joining us from our New York studio is Boris Epshteyn, a Republican strategist and a Donald Trump supporter.

Thanks to both of you for being with us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good evening.

CHURCH: So let's start with the clear tension between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. We heard Cruz say that he keeps his focus on issues and substance, unlike Trump.

Boris Epshteyn, is that the case, given the war of the wives that we've been seeing playing out here?

BORIS EPSHTEYN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Trump is trying to say that's the case but it's clearly not. And you heard him when he was answering Anderson's question about whether he knows for sure that the Trump camp somehow planted that "National Enquirer" story.

Cruz went into all sorts of innuendo that he had absolutely no bearing on. So Cruz is not focusing on the issues and I do wish that all the candidates were and that we were not having this war of the wives or any of these other sorts of side issues going on that are a complete distraction to really what's happening, which is the country and the Republican voters coalescing around Donald Trump.

That's what we should be focusing on as a party.

CHURCH: And, Charlie Harper, we are seeing this situation, where there is very little focus on substance here.

Do you ever worry that the more discerning Republican voter out there is going, what am I going to do?

I can't relate to either Ted Cruz or Donald Trump.

CHARLIE HARPER, PUBLISHER, GEORGIAPOLL.COM: that's really where I am frankly. I mean, at this point, between the two, I'll take Ted Cruz because he at least is part of the process, even if he's an anti- establishment, if you will, Republican.

I don't know where Donald Trump's coming from, even in the same sentence as he contradicts himself at times. There are no specifics. There are outrageous claims. There are promises that are not kept. There are fact drills that are just miles long about whether or not he's really being audited. Tonight he said he's going to produce proof again.

[02:05:00]

HARPER: But he just doesn't do that.

There's no sense of comfort that what Donald Trump is telling us today is what he'll tell us tomorrow, certainly not if he's elected. And there's none of his history before he got into this that says he's a conservative, much less a Republican.

CHURCH: And Boris Epshteyn, neither Trump nor Cruz appears ready to support the other one if they're nominated, leaving the pledge they both took null and void here.

What impact might this have on the nomination process?

And what are you expecting will likely happen at the convention in July?

EPSHTEYN: And Kasich didn't back up the pledge either, which was surprising. He's likely angling for a V.P. pick here somewhere with Donald Trump as the presidential pick.

Now as to what Charlie said, I think if you actually listen to what's been happening to Donald Trump since right before Super Tuesday, to the facts he's given on Israel, on foreign policy, on health care, there's been a lot there that is substantive.

Unfortunately, the media focuses on a lot of the side track, a lot of the sideshow that's going on and you can't help it. It is newsworthy. But there is a lot of substance there.

Now as far as changing their mind, Ted Cruz was for amnesty, then against amnesty. He's really flip-flopped on all issues. Look at national security, something that's so key right now. And Ted Cruz was somebody who was the least productive on national security out of any Republican.

That's why he's pretty much despised in the Senate. And everybody in the Senate who is supporting, like Lindsey Graham, are doing that while holding their noses.

CHURCH: It's interesting you talk about these sideshows. It is difficult to ignore some of what's going on. Of course, we saw the big story -- Tuesday was Trump's manager, his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, being charged with simple battery. I mean you can't ignore that sort of story.

HARPER: This is no campaign we have ever seen before, where the campaign manager of the leading candidate, the one closest to the delegate count for the nomination, is arrested for assaulting a reporter that he first claimed he didn't know.

It turns out she's actually with Breitbart, which is a very friendly organization to the Trump campaign. Her employer disowned her and started to treat her like she was the problem.

She's ultimately left. A large number of other reporters have left Breitbart, talking about how they were basically all forced to do inside jobs helping Donald Trump.

The side stories and side shows along with this campaign, we're not covering anything that Republicans want to do, anything that what conservatives even stand for anymore. Everything is about what we're against.

And the problem is, when your party gets to a point where it's only against things, it's much harder and harder to get people to coalesce around what they're for.

EPSHTEYN: And these discussions we're having on the news should be focused on Hillary Clinton as the most flawed candidate that the Democrats have run in a long time, probably since long before Walter Mondale, who got absolutely crushed against Ronald Reagan.

If you look at what Hillary Clinton is bringing to the table, she's losing to a 74-year-old socialist or communist, whatever you call Bernie Sanders. We, as Republicans, need to be focusing on that and not bringing each other down.

Now as far as what Charlie said about we're not for anything positive, I would disagree. Donald Trump is bringing out people because he is positive. He's saying let's make America great again. He's saying let's get jobs back to America. He's saying let's get those people who are disenfranchised and who are upset in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, upstate New York, Wisconsin, let's get them jobs, let's get them energized.

And that's why he's getting support. It's not negative support. It's positive support.

(CROSSTALK)

HARPER: You have. If you're saying America doesn't win, which is what this candidate is saying on a baseball cap and giving platitudes and non-answers. You're saying America is a failure. That's not a positive message.

EPSHTEYN: Nobody is saying America is a failure.

(CROSSTALK)

HARPER: -- and frankly right now this party.

EPSHTEYN: Well, I tell you, who's your candidate?

HARPER: My candidate, I ended up voting for Marco Rubio, wasn't the top one.

Guess what, we're preparing to lose because we are running a divisive campaign with a closet Democrat that's never --

(CROSSTALK)

HARPER: -- conservative positions, won't answer questions. And it's been a great sideshow. P.T. Barnum would be proud.

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: It's exactly Republicans like you who are going to lose this election for us. You're not listening to the voters. The voters want Donald Trump. Listen to the voters. Coalesce around the leader. Marco Rubio is long gone.

CHURCH: There is a lot to discuss for sure and many more months to do it. But we will have to end it there. Thank you so much, Boris Epshteyn, joining us there from New York and Charlie Harper, here in the studio in Atlanta.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks so much.

CHURCH: Many thanks to both of you.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

BARNETT: Belgian officials are turning to the U.S. for help in their terror investigation as the manhunt continues for the suspects in last week's airport and metro bombings.

CHURCH: Authorities revised the death toll from the attacks down to 32. Officials say three victims with dual nationality were double counted. More than 300 people were wounded.

[02:10:00]

CHURCH: Phil Black has more on the intensive efforts to track down the terror cell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, the FBI's helping the Belgians piece together the electronic trail of the terrorists behind the devastating Brussels attack. Belgian authorities asked the FBI to look at several phones and computers after being unable to access some critical data themselves.

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: ISIS is increasingly instructing its European operatives to use encrypted communications, making it more difficult for security services to discover communications in real time or even after the fact.

BLACK (voice-over): Members of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, including bomb technicians, have also been working with authorities in Brussels, collecting intelligence on the types of explosive devices and materials used.

American authorities are looking to gain as much information as possible to prevent a similar attack at home.

JEH JOHNSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: While we do not know of a specific, credible piece of intel about a plot of the Belgian-type here in the United States, we continue to be very concerned about terrorist-inspired acts.

BLACK (voice-over): New images emerged today showing the extent of the devastation at Brussels Airport, in one picture, a baby stroller seen left behind during the chaos.

Today, Belgian police and military are out in force at the airport and in the city streets amid sweeping raids one week after the terror attacks. Investigators have not been able to identify this man, dressed in a hat and light-colored jacket, seen walking with the suicide bombers before the airport blast or find another man they believe played a role in the attack on the metro station.

They are among at least eight suspects still at large and being searched for throughout Europe. They're among at least eight suspects still at large and being

searched for throughout Europe.

CRUICKSHANK: There is huge concern that there may be more attacks in the works. This is the same cell that carried out the Paris attacks, a cell with a significant number of operatives in it and there's concern that the cell may strike again.

BLACK (voice-over): Phil Black, CNN, Brussels.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The U.S. military is ordering family members to evacuate Southern Turkey, primarily from the Incirlik air base. The Pentagon says the decision was made in consultation with the Turkish government.

BARNETT: The base has been at its highest security level for weeks because of ongoing threats of possible ISIS attacks. Nearly 100 people have been killed in five separate terrorist attacks in Turkey since the beginning of this year.

Now Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff is seeking new coalition allies to form a new government by the end of the week, according to her chief of staff.

CHURCH: This follows a major political setback prompted by the country's biggest party. Our Paula Newton has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dilma Rousseff is looking like a woman increasingly isolated and running out of options.

Brazil's largest political party decided to back out of a coalition government with her and that leaves her incredibly hobbled and perhaps ill equipped to face the vote that is coming. That vote about whether or not she should be impeached.

Now, this is going to be a very complicated process that will endure with protests and as background noise for the coming weeks and months. But it means there is a very good likelihood now that a caretaker government will be in place in the coming weeks in order for Dilma Rousseff to fight that kind of impeachment, she has been saying that she has no intention of voluntarily resigning and that she will fight any move to impeach her.

But, you know, the climate here in Brazil while all this is going on is incredible. We are just a few months away from welcoming the world here to Brazil for the Olympics here in Rio de Janeiro.

Beyond that, we have one of the worst recessions in a generation. Also the Zika virus was continues to be a disease that continues to stalk this country. On top of all that, it seems that business sentiment is also turning against Dilma Rousseff. The market continues to go up as it becomes more and more likely that she will be impeached -- Paula Newton, CNN, Rio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: Now to some news out of Myanmar, the first civilian president elected since the 1960s was sworn into office just a short while ago. Htin Kyaw from the National League for Democracy replaces the outgoing president. The change in leadership brings an end to decades of military rule.

It's widely expected the new president will act as a proxy for the party's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is constitutionally barred from holding office.

CHURCH: Passengers on board an EgyptAir flight are recounting the terrifying moments after their plane was hijacked. What authorities are saying about the man who held them hostage.

BARNETT: Plus: Pakistanis bury the dead from Sunday's park bombing in Lahore. Coming up for you, what police are finding in their sweeping investigation.

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[02:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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BARNETT: Welcome back. Thousands of U.K. steelmaking jobs could be on the lane. Tata Steel, which is based in India, is considering all options, including selling its U.K. businesses.

CHURCH: The company says deteriorating market conditions and high manufacturing costs have plagued this arm of its business for months.

Pakistani authorities have detained more than 5,000 people in Punjab province following the Easter Sunday bombing in Lahore. They later released most of them but several hundred people remain in custody.

BARNETT: Meanwhile, families of the victims are burying their loved ones; 72 people died in the suspected suicide attack in a crowded park, most of them children. CNN's Saima Mohsin takes us to the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The park remains closed; this area remains a crime scene and police teams have been arriving as we've been here to carry out more analysis, detectives meeting with local police.

I want to take you in to show you exactly where this attack took place inside a child's playground; families had come here because this is an amusement park. If we take you in closer, you can see the dark black soot --

[02:20:00]

MOHSIN: -- the scars of where the bomb was detonated.

We believe one unidentified suicide bomber carried out this attack, right next to a children's ride, unimaginable and horrifying. While police still work this crime scene, the military and paramilitary forces have been conducting raids in Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan. They say they've arrested a number of suspected terrorists and found caches of arms and ammunition.

Now Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Taliban splinter group, has claimed responsibility for this attack, saying they were targeting the Christian community on Easter Sunday. But the simple fact is families from all over the city come to this park. The majority of those killed and injured are, in fact, Muslim.

And that is what people really want to point out, that they are targeting Pakistanis and terrorism has no religion. Almost 400 people were injured. Only 90 of them have been released from hospitals so far, 300 still being treated. And those people that have managed to get into the park have made this makeshift memorial for those killed and injured in this.

This says, "May those killed in this attack rest in peace."

Flowers have been left, candles lit. And this over here, "The Lord's Prayer" in Urdu and then "Lord, make me a means of your peace." -- Saima Mohsin, CNN, Lahore, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: Those are the stories we're following for you. Egyptian authorities say the man who hijacked an EgyptAir flight Tuesday has a criminal record, including forgery, burglary and drug-dealing.

CHURCH: Officials describe Seif Eldin Mustafa as "unstable," saying he held passengers and crew hostage with a fake explosive belt. He apparently took over the plane because of issues involving his ex- wife.

BARNETT: CNN's Ian Lee joins us now live from Cairo with the latest on all of this.

Ian, at this time yesterday, the plane was being hijacked.

What have we learned about the man who did this with fake explosives?

And exactly why he did it?

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're getting a really good picture, Errol, of this man described by Cypriot and Egyptian authorities as being disturbed. You just mentioned that the -- his criminal past -- this is a person who has had a few run-ins with the law.

He escaped prison in 2011; was rearrested and served a year in prison in 2015.

Just a picture of the man who conducted the hijacking yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEE (voice-over): For more than five hours, all eyes were on this plane on the tarmac in Larnaca Airport in Cyprus.

EgyptAir Flight MS 181 was forced to land here early Tuesday morning after taking off from Burj El Arab Airport in Alexandria.

It had been bound for Cairo until it was hijacked midflight. One passenger recounted the horror on that flight.

UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: One of the cabin crew told them that we are hijacked. We are being hijacked. So yes and that was it. And then there was a lot of panic on the plane and, yes, they didn't tell us anything more. They didn't say what they want or where we were heading, nothing, we were just kidnapped, that's it.

LEE (voice-over): A man now identified as 58-year-old Seif El Din Mustafa, seen here being checked by security at Alexandria later demanding the plane divert to

Istanbul.

UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: We got a call into our operations room from the captain that he has information about one person who's claiming to have an explosive vest and asked to divert the airplane to Istanbul or anywhere else in Europe. The captain informed him that there is not enough fuel to land in Istanbul so they diverted to Larnaca Airport.

LEE (voice-over): Most of the 69 people on-board were allowed off the plane shortly after it landed in Cyprus, but seven passengers and crew were held hostage for several hours as negotiators worked for a peaceful resolution.

They soon established this was not a terror attack. But Seif Eldin Mustafa's motives remained unclear. Initial reports indicated he wanted to be reunited with his ex-wife, prompting this response from the Cypriot president.

NICOS ANASTASIADES, CYPRIOT PRESIDENT: Always there is a woman.

LEE (voice-over): But the Egyptian prime minister said he kept changing his demands.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): At some moments, he asked to meet with a representative of the European Union and at other points, he asked to go to another airport, but there was nothing specific.

LEE (voice-over): Then at 2:30 local time, this, more people emerged from the plane. Some run. This man casually walked down the aircraft --

[02:25:00]

LEE (voice-over): -- stairs, even taking time to fumble around with his bag. Then another climbs out of the EgyptAir cockpit window to make his escape.

They are met by special forces and checked for explosives. Finally, the hijacker himself surrenders to police. He's searched on the ground; the bomb that's found is a fake.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEE: Errol, all the passengers on that flight have made it safely back to Cairo. The Egyptian foreign ministry said that this man who hijacked the plane was "an idiot" and not a terrorist. I think everyone is breathing a sigh of relief that it was the former.

Now the Egyptian authorities are looking at a way to bring Seif Eldin Mustafa back to Egypt to face charges. BARNETT: Yes. If you think about just how concerned you were, I was, as the whole world as we watched this. And that pales in comparison to what relatives of those passengers were experiencing. So certainly not a wise decision at all.

Ian Lee, live for us in Cairo, thank you.

CHURCH: All right. We'll take a very short break here. Still to come, one of Donald Trump's foreign policy ideas is raising eyebrows. We will have reaction from the region.

BARNETT: Plus U.S. President Barack Obama takes on a deadly epidemic sweeping the country. Coming up, his plan to battle addiction of legal and illegal drugs.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church.

And I'm Errol Barnett. We're half an hour in. So let's update you on our top stories this hour.

(HEADLINES)

[02:30:00]

(HEADLINES)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: The CNN Republican town hall debate was full of zingers, taunts and rescinding pledges of support.

ERROL BARNETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Maybe you don't have three hours to watch it all as you get ready for your day, so we've condensed it into 90 seconds. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Frankly, I think this is much better than a debate.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: If Donald Trump is the GOP nominee, would you support him? SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Donald is not going to be the GOP nominee. And we're going to beat him.

TRUMP: I'm not asking for his support. I want the people's support.

COOPER: Do you continue to pledge whoever the Republican nominee is?

TRUMP: No, I don't anymore.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), OHIO: All of us shouldn't even have answered that question but it was the first debate and, you know, what the heck.

COOPER: If he was your campaign manager, would you ask him to resign?

CRUZ: Of course.

Look, it shouldn't be complicated. But the members of the campaign staff should not be physically assaulting the press.

TRUMP: But look what she says, Michelle Fields. And oh, by the way, she's not a baby.

OK?

KASICH: Well, I haven't seen the video but they tell me the video is real. Of course, I would.

TRUMP: She was grabbing me.

Am I supposed to press charges against her?

Oh, my arm is hurting -- Anderson, my arm is just killing me. It's never been the same.

CRUZ: These terror attacks in Europe are a result of failed immigration policies.

COOPER: Do you trust Muslims in America?

TRUMP: Do I what?

COOPER: Trust Muslims in American?

TRUMP: Many of them, I do. Many of them, I do. And some, I guess, we don't.

KASICH: So when you come in the country, I say, well, are you a Muslim?

Raise your hand if you're a Muslim.

I mean, come on, Anderson. That's not going to work.

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

COOPER: But sir, with all due respect, that's the argument of a 5- year old.

TRUMP: I didn't start it.

COOPER: You don't know for a fact that Donald Trump planted that story.

CRUZ: Of course, I do.

TRUMP: I watch Ted Cruz.

COOPER: How though?

TRUMP: So phony.

KASICH: If name-calling, bringing in spouses and ripping each other below the belt and wrestling in the mud is the new politics, we all need to stand against it. Our children are watching.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Now if you missed the three-hour Republican town hall, we are putting together a special highlight show, longer than 90 seconds, of course. Tune in for that at 12:00 noon Wednesday. For those of you in London, that's 7 o'clock in Hong Kong, only on CNN.

CHURCH: And at another point in the town hall, Donald Trump defended his foreign policy, specifically his suggestion that South Korea and Japan should consider developing nuclear weapons. CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us from Seoul now with reaction.

So Paula, of course, we need to emphasize that Donald Trump is not yet the Republican nominee. But that hasn't stopped reaction from the region to his plans.

What's being said in both South Korea and Japan about this?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, there's a certain amount of not just concern about what Donald Trump said but also confusion as to what he said.

And as you say, he's not yet a Republican candidate and yet you have many very high-profile figures in the region coming out and responding to what he said. That shows just how high that level of confusion is.

You have a 70-year-old alliance between the U.S. and South Korea, a 60-year-old alliance between Japan and the United States. And you see these high-profile figures feeling the need to come out and defend those alliances.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS (voice-over): The U.S.-South Korean military drills this year are the largest ever.

But if this man becomes U.S. president, could they be the last ever? Presidential candidate Donald Trump is suggesting pulling U.S. forces out of Japan and South Korea if they don't pay more and suggests they develop their own nuclear weapons to counter North Korea.

TRUMP: At some point, we have to say, you know what, we're better off if Japan protects itself against this maniac in North Korea. We're better off, frankly, if South Korea is going to start to protect itself.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): A former U.S. ambassador to South Korea was blunt.

CHRISTOPHER HILL, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SOUTH KOREA: With due respect to Mr. Trump and his real estate purchases, he has no idea what he is talking about.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): Japan, the only country to have a nuclear weapon used against it, has had a nonnuclear policy and pacifist constitution since the end of World War II.

Japan's foreign minister saying it is impossible that Japan will arm itself with nuclear weapons.

South Korea focused on Trump's insistence they are not paying their share for the 70-year-old alliance. The foreign ministry in Seoul saying, "... the U.S. public, including its government and Congress, appreciates South Korea's role and contribution."

[02:35:00]

HANCOCKS (voice-over): Some journalists have slammed Trump's comments. One editorial in the popular "JoongAng Ilbo" in Seoul, calling them "shocking," saying they could affect the relationship.

But this man, a well respected academic, actually thinks Trump may have a point.

"South Korea possesses enough nuclear material to make 4,000 nuclear weapons," he says.

"All we need is our president's approval. If we have nuclear weapons, we will be in a much better position to deal with North Korea."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS: So there are some in South Korea that might actually agree with Donald Trump, that maybe the South Koreans should have their own nuclear weapons. But it's not the mainstream idea at this point. Most officials, the vast majority of them believe that the best bet for security and for deterrence against North Korea is to have 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea, to have 54,000 U.S. troops in Japan and of course all the significant hardware, the military hardware that comes with that -- back to you.

CHURCH: All right. Paula Hancocks, many thanks to you, joining us there live from Seoul in South Korea.

BARNETT: A small plane crash in Eastern Canada has killed all seven people on board, including former Canadian politician Jean Lapierre. The dead include his wife, two brothers and a sister. The family was heading to the funeral of Lapierre's father when their plane crashed in wintry conditions.

A proud French Canadian, Lapierre was a federal cabinet minister. He also helped found a party that called for Quebec separatism, a goal he later denied supporting. Lapierre was also a prominent radio host and political analyst.

[02:40:00]

BARNETT: U.S. President Barack Obama is calling for a new approach to solving his country's addiction epidemic.

CHURCH: Mr. Obama spoke at a panel in Atlanta, Georgia, moderated by CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. The appearance follows his new initiatives to expand addiction treatment and access and more than $1 billion in federal aid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Why this particular topic for you, sir?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because it's important and it's costing lives and it's devastating communities.

When you look at the staggering statistics in terms of lives lost, productivity impacted, costs to communities but, most importantly, cost to families from this epidemic of opioids abuse, it has to be something that is right up there at the top of our radar screen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Now here are some of the statistics President Obama was talking about and they really are staggering. Every 19 minutes in the U.S., someone dies from an overdose of various legal and illegal drugs called opioids.

It's the leading cause of unintentional deaths for Americans, rising 14 percent from 2013 to 2014. And in 2014, nearly 21,000 deaths in the U.S. involved prescription opioids. More than 10,000 deaths involved heroin.

CHURCH: Jessica Grubb's daughter died from a prescription overdose earlier this month. Now her father, David Grubb, is speaking out about Jessica's battle with addiction.

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BARNETT: David Grubb joins us now from Charleston, West Virginia.

David, I want to first share my condolences for your loss. I know this is raw. This is still very difficult for you to speak about publicly, but you're doing this because it's important and I thank you very much for that, for joining us today.

DAVID GRUBB, LAWYER: Thank you for having me.

BARNETT: I do want to start by speaking about your daughter, Jessica. She was a top student, socially active before she became addicted. Tell us more about her and also what that means as far as who's at risk for this sort of thing.

GRUBB: Jessica was, you know, a straight-A student, involved in all kinds of activities, theater. She was a great artist, very good writer. She was just kind of a born leader and a good soul. She was one of our best friends and the tragedy of it is that, you know, for her, she suffered a personal tragedy when she went away to college. It was a very difficult situation.

Her first semester in college, she was raped. That's something we haven't talked about until very recently. In fact, my wife and I didn't even know about it until very, very recently. It was at that time that a friend, who was a nice guy, you know, somebody that we knew, introduced her to heroin.

And for her, the first time she used it, she later told us, it was something that made all those feelings go away. She just didn't care anymore and she felt at peace in a way.

For seven years, it was a roller coaster ride. She was in rehab four times. She had periods of two years where she was completely sober, but during her addict time, she was a different person. This disease, this problem, this addiction changes the person. The person is still there, but their behavior becomes so different.

BARNETT: That's a very interesting point that you make there. Now, this issue is getting a lot of attention in part because of what President Obama is doing. He and you share some similarities. You both worked as community organizers, were both state senators.

How did you feel when he started mentioning you and Jessica while speaking about addiction to people across the U.S.?

GRUBB: It was a strange feeling. I'll be honest. I didn't ever anticipate something like this happening in my life. It was a feeling of, on the one hand, you know, he's talking about us. On the other hand, it's, oh, my God, he's talking about us. It's our family.

And I guess I feel good that it moved him and that it affected him in a way that may lead to some positive social change. Jessie was on a great path. She had been sober for six months. You know, she was into, I guess, her --

[02:45:00]

GRUBB: -- second month of sobriety when the Obama town meeting took place in Charleston. And she was sober thereafter. And she wanted to live. She wanted, you know, to accomplish things. She wanted to be a mom. She had lots of dreams and unfortunately, you know, because of problems within the health care system, she never got that opportunity.

BARNETT: Some of the problems within the system in the U.S. is funding. And what's interesting is you have Ted Cruz, Senator Ted Cruz, who at the CNN GOP town hall today mentioned that he lost his sister to drug use. You have republican and democratic support for this issue. Why isn't there more bipartisan funding?

GRUBB: Well, I think that's going to come. I think it is. I mean, there are republicans, democrats alike who are affected by this. It's been an issue that part of the problem, I think, is the republican philosophy is, you know, less government.

So, they have to overcome that hurdle, but we need more government funding. We need more government involvement. We need more education of doctors, of health care professionals, of the general public.

Our drug policy, I think, has been flipped upside down. The emphasis on criminal justice as opposed to treating it as a health care problem. All of that is critical to change and I think Jessie would be the first one to say this is really good. I'm glad we're doing it. For us, it's hard. It's really hard because we miss her so much. And she was an important part of our life.

BARNETT: I'm certain she would be proud of what you're doing right now and she certainly lives on in the work that you continue to do. Senator David Grubb, joining us from Charleston, West Virginia, thanks for your time today.

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BARNETT: And we'll be right back.

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[02:50:00]

CHURCH: The Oscar and Emmy award-winning actress, Patty Duke, has died at the age of 69 from intestinal complications. Duke appeared on U.S. television in the 1960s comedy show named after her. But it was her signature role in the drama, "The Miracle Worker," that won her acclaim and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

BARNETT: Duke was just 16 when she played Helen Keller, the real-life activist and author, who learned to read and speak although she was deaf and blind. Duke herself suffered from bipolar disorder and became an advocate for mental health issues.

CHURCH: NASA has announced that Arctic Sea ice coverage has officially reached its lowest maximum extent ever. Our meteorologist, Pedram Javaheri, has been looking into this. He joins us now with what it all means -- Pedram.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's a pretty easy study actually to understand when you think about what they're telling us here because we know in the winter season every single year, NASA takes satellite depiction here of the ice coverage across the Arctic region.

We know in recent years, the ice coverage has been shrinking, and you work your way 2010, 2012, '14 into '15, the lowest levels have been seen in recent years. But of course, as we worked our way into the cold season of 2016, NASA found out the ice coverage has dropped off significantly just in the past 12 months alone.

You take a look, the average ice coverage across the Arctic region of our planet in the cold season is about 15.5 million square kilometers of land. That's how much ice is in place across this region. Now that's roughly equivalent to the size of the country of Russia.

Work your way out towards what occurred so far in 2016. The maximum ice coverage in the cold season that has concluded reached to about 14.5 million square kilometers, a million or so square kilometer drop there in ice coverage.

Now the significance of that is pretty impressive. You take the exact number, 1.12 million square kilometers of ice that is now missing or not in place across this region of the Arctic, that's equivalent to the size of the country of France, the country of Spain put together or take the U.S. state of Texas, multiply it by two.

That is how large of an area we're talking about where the ice coverage has literally now depleted away over the past 12 or so months when you compare that to a 30-year average across our planet.

In fact, the significance of this again goes back to what happens in the northern portion of our planet because, when ice coverage is not there, when it's all melted down, the sun's energy is absorbed into the water. Of course that really heats up the atmosphere, displaces the steering currents in our atmosphere, the jet stream, and it really impacts the whether across the Northern Hemisphere.

When the ice is there, ice is highly reflective, so the sun's energy is able to bounce off and that really moderates the climate. Of course that hasn't been happening in recent years.

And look at the past five years, from 2012 work your way towards 2016, notice an area right here at 2012. That's equivalent to about 15 million square kilometers of ice coverage.

Look at 2015, look at 2016, that is down to the 14.5 million square kilometers of coverage when it comes to ice across our planet. So it has been dropping. And we know of course the temperatures have been soaring in recent years but not just recent years.

The past five months alone, NASA announced recently, that we're the hottest months ever observed since 1880. February 2016, hottest month ever observed. January 2016, go back previous to that into December, October, November respectively, also the warmest months on record.

And of course we know it doesn't all have to do with El Nino. Take a look at the orange bars here. This is since the year 1950. El Nino year is indicated by the taller bars. Notice a lot of the years are actually indicated in the grays. Those are neutral years, not El Nino years, are also being among the warmest on record.

So certainly the shift is in place and now we know the ice coverage at its lowest ever when it comes to the cold season across the top of our planet -- guys.

BARNETT: Wow. Fascinating.

(CROSSTALK)

JAVAHERI: Thanks, guys.

BARNETT: See you next hour.

Now many insomniacs count sheep to help them fall asleep but Airbnb and the Paris aquarium are announcing a contest that would let visitors count sharks instead.

CHURCH: How about that?

Three lucky winners will get the chance to spend the night in an underwater room surrounded by sharks. Take a look.

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[02:55:00]

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CHURCH: Actually very cool.

BARNETT: I would do that. But as soon as you hear that glass break, time to move.

CHURCH: Yes. That's right. Take it up.

All right. Remember you can always follow us on social media anytime. I'm Rosemary Church. More CNN NEWSROOM after a quick break.

BARNETT: Please stay with us.

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BARNETT (voice-over): Grand old implosion: the last Republican candidates for the White House abandon their pledge to support the eventual nominee during a CNN town hall.

CHURCH (voice-over): Under pressure, a key coalition partner abandons Dilma Rousseff's government, making her impeachment more likely.