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Trump Backtracks on Abortion Remarks; China and North Koresa Sanctions; Brazil's President Fighting for Political Life; Syrian Troops Retake Palmyra. Aired Midnight-1a ET

Aired March 31, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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


[00:00:00] ISHA SESAY, CNN: This is been a new live from Los Angeles. Women should be punished for illegal abortion that's what Donald Trump said Wednesday. Now, he's walking those comments back, has even more damage being done with female voters.

I give (inaudible) for crisis in Brazil just months before the summer Olympics, the president's still hangs in the balance. She's bowing the fight, the impeachment without responsibility of a crime amount to occur.

And Syrian troops have recapture Palmyra from ISIS. We will take a close look at ones that's being lost and what can you be salvaged in this historic city.

Hello and welcome to our viewers from all around the world. I'm Isha Sesay, Newsroom L.A. starts right now.

We begin with Donald Trump who is now trying to clarify his position on abortion off the (inaudible) on MSNBC, Wednesday. The U.S. Republican presidential candidate said, "Women who get abortion should be punished if they became illegal". Several hours later, he dialed back saying the women would be victims and the doctors should be prosecuted".

Meanwhile, the new market law school survey has Trump trailing Ted Cruz by 10 percent in Wisconsin, ahead of the state primary next Tuesday. Last month, Cruz had only 19 percent support.

Well, Sunlen Serfaty has more on Trump's latest controversy and -- of the issue dogging his campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump tonight storing more controversy, saying that abortion is ban that women will undergo the procedure should be punished.

CHRIS MATTHEWS, MSNBC: Do you believe in punishment for abortion? Yes or no, as a principle.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And the answer is that there has to be some form or punishment.

MATTHWES: For the women? TRUMP: Yeah. There has to be form.

TRUMP: I don't know. That I don't know.

MATTHEWS: Why not?

TRUMP: I don't know.

MATTHEWS: You take positions on everything else.

TRUMP: Because I don't want to -- I, frankly, I do take positions on everything else. It's a very complicated position.

TRUMP: I frankly, I do take position on everything else. That's a very complicated position.

SERFATY: Trump's remark sparking in immediate backlash from Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton who tweeted, "Just when you thought it couldn't get worst, horrific entailing". Hours later, Trump scrambling to tamp down the firestorm, issuing a statement that said, "The doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be legally responsible, not the woman." He added, "The woman is a victim in this case as is the life in her womb".

This is as Donald Trump guilt with another controversy surrounding his campaign manager.

TRUMP: They wanted me to fire him and...

SERFATY: The GOP front runner today doubling down in his defense of Corey Lewandowski who was arrested in charge with simple battery for grabbing the arm or reporter Michelle Fields

TRUMP: Did anybody think it was a horrible thing what happen? I don't get it.

SERFATY: After questioning Fields' account at CNN town hall Tuesday night.

TRUMP: Michelle Fields, I hope by the way that she's not a baby, OK. In her own words exactly, I was jolted backwards. Well, she was that - I mean she's standing there. Someone had grabbed me tightly by the arm -- tightly, and yank me down. She wasn't yank down.

SERFATY: His rivals are pouting, criticizing Trump for setting the tone for his campaign.

TED CRUZ, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, it shouldn't be complicated that the member of campaign staff should not be physically assaulting the press.

SERFATY: Both Cruz and Kasich saying they would have fire any staff of theirs who did the same.

JOHN KASICH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When you see things that are pretty clear, from what I understand the video is clear, of course I would fire him.

SERFATY: The three remaining Republican candidate are also facing question about the GOP loyalty pledge they've signed last September.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: No, I don't ...

SERFATY: All three backing away from their commitment to support the eventual Republican nominee.

KASICH: If the nominee is somebody that I think is really hurting the country and dividing the country, I can't stand behind them.

CRUZ: I'm not a habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and attacks my family.

SERFATY: Trumps insisting he doesn't care whether Cruz supports him.

TRUMP: Honestly, he doesn't have to support me. I'm not asking for his support. I want the people support.

SERFATY: And Ted Cruz has responded to Donald Trump controversial statement over abortion. Cruz saying in a statement that Donald Trump hasn't seriously through these issues and will say anything to get attention. The Cruz campaign also is trying to cast as more evidence that Donald Trump is just coming around to be in a conservative, someone they say who doesn't have full grasp on conservative principles.

Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, Madison, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, thank goodness, CNN Senior Reporter for Media and Politics, Dilan Byers is here with me now. Wow.

DILAN BYERS, CNN SENIOR REPORTER FOR MEDIA AND POLITICS: Yeah. What a day.

[00:05:00] SESAY: What a day. I mean, police goes running a piece with the headline Trumps 24 hours of mayhem, have you ever seen anything like this in a political campaign?

BYERS: We have seen campaigns fall down, break apart over one gap, two gaps, one, you know, particularly terrible 24-hour news cycle. But the states have never been this high and I don't think people collectively, sort of, not just for Republican establishment, not just the media, but I think America at large have been waiting and asking this question, how does Donald Trump fall, how does this momentum get curved.

And, look, I don't think, by any means, we've seen the end of Donald Trump. I don't think we've seen the end of him being the Republican Party frontrunner. But over time, people and the Trump himself have been sort of chipping away at his levels of support. You see those high negatives among nearly every single minority group among Democrats, Independents even Republicans.

This was the biggest chip, the last 24 hours for the biggest chip, sort of, I think causing a lot of voters who do support Trump to sort of take a second look and say what.

SESAY: You talk about the chips, let's dig a little deeper, the comment is now trying to walk back to this controversy made about women being punished if they get illegal abortion. His campaign is trying to frame this as a situation of effectively him spoke on the pressure. Ted Cruz is saying, this is really a moment to show that this man was never true conservative and doesn't understand the issues, how do you see it?

BYERS: Well, look, first of all, he contradicted himself. He put out a statement which contracted what he had said the night before. And within his own statement, he contradicted himself because he said, I haven't changed my opinion. I mean, there's really funny things and funny too because, you know, MSNBC run the clip early in the day and they rerun it at night. So, if we actually look at his statement and, you know, he can read his statement but he was making the exact opposite statement on air.

Look, I think Ted Cruz has a point. I think there're a lot of issues in which is very hard for people to know exactly where Donald Trump stands and this was sort of that perfect moment to provide his evidence of that in the voters.

SESAY: That perfect moment to -- as someone see, offend as many groups as possible in one go?

BYERS: Right. Well, exactly. And the thing to remember is that, like we said Donald Trump's negatives are so high among so many groups. If you look at his support network, there are a lot of different people there but the core group there, white, undereducated, blue-collar workers who feel like they've been disenfranchised or feel like they don't have a voice in Washington.

He already lost his support among every other group. Now, you think it might even be starting to chip away at some of their support. I mean, it's really, it's really amazing.

SESAY: Take a listen to what Hillary Clinton had to say short time ago. She quoted to Anderson Cooper show. And I want you to kind of deconstruct the strategy that play here. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's very clear that Donald Trump wants to repeal that fundamental right just like all the other Republican candidates and when he was asked whether women should be punished, he said, "yes", and that is absolutely unacceptable. It is outrageous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: This is (inaudible) Dilan saying smart move. She's trying to (inaudible) it beyond the Trump and make this a GOP issue because she understands that this is one of these culture wars issues that she believes it's something that the Democrats could win.

BYERS: Right. And I think this is something with the Republicans, you know, outside of Trump's circle are worried about as well. The Republicans are worried about Trump becoming their nominee period, even if he doesn't become their nominee, the amount of damage he's inflicted on the party brand over the last nine months and especially, you know, over the last 24 hours, is really significant.

And it could hurt them not just in terms of their bid for the White House, it can hurt them all the way down (inaudible). Think back to just four years ago after they - after Mitt Romney lost in 2012. They had this all autopsy, how are we going to broaden our base, how are we going to appeal to his damage, to other minority groups.

And comes Trump, he runs every single establishment candidate out of the water. Wow, we're pretty much left with just him and Cruz and the Republicans are sitting there thinking like, what good was that autopsy.

SESAY: Very quickly, because I have to let you go, do you see this -- the last 24 hours opening up a flank for that third party for that all the consensus candidates emboldening those who say anyone but Trump.

BYERS: Well, it's really-- yes, under normal circumstances, I would. The problem is, is that the Republican establishment has failed to show that they have a horse that they can bet on. It's not-- it doesn't seem to be John Kasich and when it certainly -- and if the other candidates that they put up who are formally in this primary.

SESAY: Dilan Byers, there's always so much to discuss with you. Thank you. I know you'll join us next hour.

BYERS: Thank you.

SESAY: Thank you. All right, some other news to show with you now, the inmate population at the U.S. Military Prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba maybe shrinking.

Reports closed government official who says the Pentagon, wants to move about a dozen prisoners to at least two other countries willing to take them. The first transfers could take place in the next few days, 91 inmates are being held right now at the U.S. Navy Base at Guantanamo.

[00:10:00] These transfers are part of President Barrack Obama's final attempt to close the prison before he lives office in the New Year.

Well, leaders from more than 50 countries arriving in Washington for a nuclear summit that begins Thursday. North Korea will be high on the agenda. It has continued to pursue nuclear weapons even after new western sanction. The EAC Chinese President Xi Jinping arriving in the U.S. a little bit earlier. Mister Xi will meet US President Barrack Obama on the sidelines of the summit. And we all know that China play the key role in ensuring the sanctions against North Korea are enforced. Our own Matt Rivers joins us now live from Beijing with the more contexts.

Matt, what are the expectations for the meeting between President Obama and this Chinese counterpart?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENTS: Isha, this is the third time since September of 2015, these two leaders have met face to face in the path that talked about things like cybersecurity and human rights. But given that this is a summit of the nuclear kind that you can bet the North Korea will be at the very top of the agenda.

And there has been some recent history of cooperation between the two countries on this issue. It was back in February that Xi negotiation that took place between China and United States at the Security Council ultimately led through this latest ground of new tougher sanctions place on the North Korean regime. And so both sides were saying, they hope that spirit of agreement continuous as they both frankly have an interest in dealing with North Korea and making sure that the Korean peninsula stays stable.

SESAY: Matt, do we know why the Chinese actually enforcing the sanction?

RIVERS: Well, that's the million dollar question here. If you listen to what the Chinese government is saying, they are enforcing the sanctions. In the past, they have been criticized for not doing so. Chinese officials have long denied that. As far as this latest round goes, they say they are enforcing the sanctions but they won't give us any details and what that actually looks like.

We've called provincial officials, we've called federal officials here in China and no one would give us details beyond, "Yes, we are enforcing the sanctions". So for example, last week, we went up to the city of Dandong, it's a boarder city right on the Yellow River which straddles North Korea and China. And we went to see for ourselves if some of these sanctions were being enforced.

For example, these sanctions call for inspections in all cargo into and out of North Korea. We ask officials to show us some of those inspections. They decline to do so and we tried to see for ourselves, tried to speak with people about it and it didn't work. So it is difficult to get information.

That said, this week we've made some calls to some import-export companies here in China and nearly all of them hang up the phone as soon we told them who we were. But one company actually on that ground told us that they had received word from the Chinese government. They should stop importing North Korean coal which is a part of these new sanctions, as latest round of sanctions.

So while it's difficult to get an over all picture, we are getting at least some evidence from some people that we spoke into that the sanctions are being enforce.

SESAY: A very, very interesting indeed. Matt Rivers joining us there from Beijing, always appreciate that. Thank you.

Now, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is fighting for her political life, the prospect of her impeachment grows more likely by the day. She is crumbling to fill her cabinet with allies after a day of mass resignation. Even Brazil's Sport Minister announced his steeping down just four months before the country host the Summer Olympics, Shasta Darlington report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENTS: A day after Brazil's biggest political party hold down of the government coalition, President Dilma Rousseff has come out fighting. Making it clear that if Congress goes ahead with plans to try and impeach her, she is not going to go down easy.

(BEGIN VIDDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DILMA ROUSSEFF, BRAZIL (through translation): Impeachment without prove of the crime is what? It is coup. This is the issue. There is no point pretending that we are discussing a hypothetical impeachment. We are discussing a very concrete impeachment without crime.

SHASTA: Now, Rousseff is a very unpopular leader with an approval rating of about 10 percent. She's presided over the worst recession in decade here in Brazil and she's also seen a dozens of politicians from her own workers party and allied parties get engulf in a massive bribery and corruption scandal.

But Dilma (inaudible) for her self has not been anticipated which means the all opposition is trying to have her impeach for allegedly breaking budgetary laws. They say that she tried to hide a budget deficit ahead of reelection in 2014. And this is why both Rousseff and her supporters are saying this is nothing more than an institutional coup d'etat and they're going to take to the streets. In fact, demonstrations are planned in a number of cities across Brazil on Thursday in a show of solidarity.

[00:15:00] But it maybe too little too late with the PMDV Party pulling out of the governing coalition and just looking increasingly, likely that Congress will master the two-thirds vote. It means to go ahead and get the impeachment proceeding ruling and that President Rousseff could be at least temporarily ousted as early as May and all of this will play out on the global stage just as Brazil is gearing up for the Olympic Games in August.

Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, Robert Kaufman is a Professor of Public Policy at Pepperdine University. His most recent book is called "Dangerous Doctrine: How Obama's Grand Strategy WEAKENED AMERICA". He join us now here in the studio here in L.A., welcome. Welcome, Professor Kauffman. ROBERT KAUFFMAN, PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC POLICY, PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY: Thank you.

SESAY: And Dilma Rousseff, as we just heard in Shasta's piece, saying that what is happening here, these moves to impeach her effectively amount to a constitutional coup d'etat, is there any merits to her claim?

KAUFFMAN: No, I think that claim is spurry (ph) as she and her party have been involved in multiple incidents of corruption. She's probably going to impeached now that one of the major parties is pulled out over a coalition for fudging the budget details in 2014 which understated the extend of the Brazilian debt.

SESAY: Is that illegal?

KAUFFMAN: It's not illegal.

SESAY: OK.

SESAY: OK, because that's what have been made.

KAUFFMAN: But in impeachment is not just over illegality impeachment in the United States and Brazil is a political decision. Also this isn't all, she just hired the former Brazilian president, her mentor Lula da Silva who has been involved in a scandal, the largest oil company and construction company, and one of the reasons her critics allege she hired him was to insulate him from judicial criticism and prosecution. This is going to go before a judge sometime next week.

So, there are multiple scandals in addition to amounting budget crisis in addition to a potential public health crisis over the Zika virus and how the Brazilian government and the president does miss handled it. So what we are seeing in Brazil was -- is a perfect storm of problems that has the president in political hot water right now.

SESAY: Is the contrary of the verge of collapse? Many are asking about this. We've seen tens of thousands of people take to the streets, then as you say, the government itself hanging in the balance. I mean, how does the future look in the next couple of days, weeks?

KAUFFMAN: Well, on the verge of the difficult theory, I'll start with the difficult news. The economy is in very difficult shape. Here are some statistics in 2014, no growth. In 2015, the economy -- it's contracted by 3.8 percent, the largest contraction in 25 years. This year the figure of contraction is probably going to be close to that, estimated it 3.45 percent.

A depression is defined as a 10 percent contraction in a two year period, so the Brazilians are hovering with that. They have structural deposits. Their debt is now a trillion dollars, 6.7 percent of the GDP, so there is a certainly an economic problem.

SESAY: Yeah. So ...

KAUFFMAN: But ...

SESAY: There's a but ...

KAUFFMAN: Yeah, you can make the case that if the current president is impeached and the vice president takes over, Michel Temer, is from a more sonorous party, that may actually be both better for the Brazilian economy is recovery in long term than the coward (ph) administration.

One of the problems of impeachment is, the Brazil's economy requires decisive action, but impeachment almost ensures a 180 days of stalemate perhaps longer. So, this is why it's a perfect storm, you have amounting economic crisis in pyritical paralysis to deal with it.

SESAY: And definitely difficult times, I want to say bleak times for ahead for Brazil. Mr. Kauffman, a pleasure. Thank you so much for the insights.

KAUFFMAN: Thanks for having me.

[00:19:37] SESAY: Thank you.

Now, disturbing indications, militants have more plans when attack in Brussels. We're going to take this quick break, details ahead. And later, how technology could help restore ancient treasures destroyed in serious civil war?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: An active day ahead of us across the southern United States, big time storms beginning to fire across the south central region, plenty of gulf moisture to go with it. We've got a thread that it is a being as a push across the area, some lift ahead of this front right here really sets the states for some strong weather into the afternoon hours of Thursday.

In fact, w know some 30 million people dealing with some severe weather potential, about 7 million people stretching in areas and say Jackson west of Duka (ph), just south of the Indianapolis there with severe weather really -- the risk be in the highest - some isolated tornadoes and certainly large scale in damaging winds.

Look at the rainfall. We know soil moisture here almost that full capacity sitting in the 99 percentile highly saturated soils. Somebody get four to six inches or let's say 100 millimeters to 150 millimeters that is going to cause flash flooding and a lot of these areas certainly something worth noting across the southeast in Atlanta, 25 degree day in places like Chicago into the upper tins of big time cooling tread.

And, you know, it is beginning to be the hardest spring in spots when the temps just have a roller coaster trend to them where they cool off significantly, try to warm up, cool off again and then warm up.

So we know the sun angle, the days getting longer so, the variations in temperatures in the next couple of weeks. Go to be pretty large across that area.

To the west, we go. We're high pressure tries to build we get some more moisture streaming in later into the weekend but there's no showers really can find across in from out west.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Well, Brussels is still on edge just over a week after the terror attacks and there are major concerns. Militants could target the city again.

Brian Todd report under the disturbing evidence found on the discarded computer and the clues Belgian authorities have missed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Belgian capital reeling from the devastation of last week's terror attacks and now bracing for another possible strike.

A source close to the investigation tells CNN photographs and plans for a number of Belgian government buildings were found on a computer, belonging to Ibrahim el-Bakraoui who's believed to have blown himself up at the Brussels airport.

The computer discovered in garbage can outside the terrorist cells bomb factory in Brussels. The buildings on the computer suggest that at one point this was a larger plot.

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: They recovered posters and plans (ph) of the Prime Minister of Belgium's office in Brussels suggesting that was targeted potentially by the this hour, they were looking to target that, an attack.

TODD: Security at the Belgian parliament building is also stepped up over information that it could be the next target. And new questions about clues Belgian authorities missed before the bombings last week.

[00:25:04] CNN has warned the Belgians have been looking for Ibrahim and Khalid el-Bakraoui, the brothers who blew themselves up at the train station and the airports months before the Brussels attacks. Belgian official say in December this red notice from INTERPOL went out seeking the arrest of Khalid el-Bakraoui on terrorism charges. They were looking for his brother on suspicions of criminal activity. Where Belgian authorities failed, they simply couldn't find the brothers.

CRUICKSHANK: They were hiding in plain sight in Brussels in a apartment in Schaerbeek district where the bombs were made. The Belgians clearly did not know this.

TODD: Another missed clue. Last summer, Turkey deported Ibrahim and Khalid el-Bakraoui after he was arrested near the Syrian border. According to a top Belgian broadcaster, the Belgians ask the Turks if Ibrahim was involved in terrorism. They were told he known for criminal activity but it's not clear how much more information the Turks gave the Belgians.

AKI PERITZ, FORMER CIA ANALYST: Obviously it turns out that he was a are hardcore jihadist. The fact that they're not sharing the exact information and how the laws actually put these guys into jail suggested there's a huge miscommunication between intelligence agencies, between law enforcement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And another major clue seems to be still eluding Belgian authorities. CNN has told Belgian officials do not know where this man is, the third terrorist at the Brussels airport the man in white. He is believed to have left the bomb there and then taken off.

CNN is also told Belgian officials don't know who he is and there is a major concern now that this man along with more than half a dozen other suspects from the same terror cell still at large could be planning another attack.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: It's really terrifying. Time for a quick break, probably Sunday authorities have been carrying out raid after raid arresting suspects in the deadly Lahore bombing. The latest on the investigation is coming up.

Plus, we'll take you inside the hospital are treating some of the survivors and hear from a doctor who described the E.R. being absolutely inundated with patients just moment after the attack.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:30:38] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN Newsroom live from Los Angeles. I am Isha Sesay. The headlines this hour, squalid living conditions forced labor and systematic human rights abuses. That's what Amnesty International says migrants building sites for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar face everyday. Football world's governing body FIFA and the Qatari Kingdom denied the alligations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and leaders from more than 50 countries are arriving in Washington for a nuclear summit that begins later Thursday. North Korea will be high on the agenda. The hermit kingdom had to continue to pursue nuclear weapons even of the new western sanctions.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is blasting opponents (inaudible) to her impeachment. CNN move the mount of Corrigan's democratic rule. Ms. Rousseff is scrambling to hold together her government after Brazil's biggest political party pulled out of a ruling coalition.

A Pakistani police say they have arrested 17 suspects in connection to the suicide bombing in Lahore. The attack targeted Christians celebrating Easter Sunday at an amusement park. At least 74 people were killed. A Pakistani Taliban splinter group has claimed responsibility when this arrest come after series of raids and police say more are expected.

Well, severe burns and ball bearing wounds to vital organs are the kinds of injuries doctors in Lahore had to deal with after that bombing. Almost 400 people were wounded, many of them children. A warning now that some viewers may find the images and this report disturbing. Saima Mohsin went to Jinnah Hospital, one of many where young children and adults who survived are recovering from traumatic injuries.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A 3-year-old boy that can barely be held because he is covered in burns.

MOHSIN: Tears stinging his face. (ph) cries ring out across the ward. He is inconsolable, in extreme pain.

Shabal's (ph) mother is in intensive care with severe burns. His father split between two wards. This man is a neighbor. He's been at Shabal's bedside since the attack. Sharing the bed, his cousin, Damina (ph), just 4 years old, shrapnel wounds on her skull. Her uncle tells me she has special needs. She doesn't know her father and sisters have died.

"I've lost count of how many family members have died," he tells me. His chest is peppered with ball bearings. He and his friends were just deciding which ride to go on when ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): I felt like something was on fire, and there was an explosion. My friend grabbed me and pulled me to the ground. He saved my life.

MOHSIN: His friend is lying in a bed opposite him.

In each ward, we found friends, complete strangers, family, tending to their loved ones.

"He shouted momma on the phone. Oh, his voice," his mother tells me. "My heart sank as he told me, "A bomb gone off, please come to me. I'm in hospital."

You'll notice this is a mixed ward. Young children, men and women are being kept altogether because the doctors are keen that these traumatized families are kept together.

MAHMOOD SHAUKAT, JINNAH HOSPITAL LAHORE: It was horrible picture. There were about 137 patients within 20 minutes. And with every patient, we had 20 other people who have (inaudible) of the relatives. So we had to bring immediately about 30 doctors and 40 nurses. And we had to open up 20 more operating rooms.

MOHSIN: Many of the patients agreed to talk to us but others are in intensive care. We didn't film them. They haven't regained consciousness since the attack. SHAUKAT: We had to open up the abdomen of the patients because sharp things had gone into them and dropped in their intestines. And we had about 10 patients who had serious head injuries because the brain had been entered by these sharp objects.

MOHSIN: Local people are coming together to deliver toys and food to the families and children like Shibal (ph). He will live with the physical and mental scars of this bombing forever.

Saima Mohsin, CNN, Lahore, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:37:12] SESAY: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says he hopes peace talks can lead to a new inclusive government, but he gave no indication he would step down. And an interview with Russia's state- state run agency Sputnik News, he said "That's the goal of Geneva an intra-Syrian dialogue during which we will agree on the format of this government". He also added that whatever is created won't necessarily include just his own supporters saying, "It is logical that independent forces should be represented, as well as opposition forces and forces loyal to the government."

Well the Syrian regime is counting recent win such as retaking Palmyra from ISIS and while the city is strategically located it's known around the world its historic importance and its ancient ruins. But the Syrian government back in control, we're getting a look at what is being lost or what can be salvaged?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The phase of history in Palmyra chipped away by ISIS militants. Part of the terror groups cultural cleansing campaign. Palmyra's museum reportedly transformed into an ISIS courthouse. Images from inside reveal the distractions that ISIS had boasted about since last May, statues toppled, rubble lining the museum hallways.

Some of these cultural treasures are 2,000 years old. The Arch of Triumph once framed the entrance to the city. Now it lies in ruins, but there is hope.

Specialists are already at work creating a replica. The Palmyra castle sitting high on top its hill was damaged also, the walls crumbling insane from explosions. And satellite images in August confirmed the face of the Temple of Bel, the main building now a pile of dust from the sky.

Compared to 2008 when CNN flew over the ruins. This week, drone footage taken after the recapture of the city offered a different view.

ISIS did not completely erased history, some expert say they're surprise the damage wasn't worst. MAAMOUN ABDULKARIM, SYRIAN ANTIQUITIES CHIEF: Today, I can confirm you that I am the happiest person in the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Syria's antiquity chief says they'll rebuild the temples with Russia and UNESCO offering their help. But there is no recovering from the human atrocity. Hundreds of lives were lost in Palmyra including the 82-year-old retired head of antiquities, publicly executed by ISIS for refusing to reveal where valuable artifacts were kept.

Now as the city is secured, experts hope artifacts could be restored to their historic value.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:40:06] SESAY: Well, joining me now to talk about Palmyra is Kevin Concannon. He's an Assistant Professor of Religion at the University of Southern California. Thank you so much for joining us.

KEVIN CONCANNON, ASST. PROF. OF RELIGION USC: Thank you for having me.

SESAY: For you, personally, as someone who knows the landscape and knows the place Palmyra and what it once was, what goes through your mind when you see the images of destruction?

KEVIN CONCANNON, ASST. PROF. OF RELIGION, USC: It's really hard to say how devastating this is. I mean, these are sites that populate our textbooks, that we just know about because they were so well- preserved and so beautifully available for us to see and they gave us such a great glimpse into what life in the ancient world was like. And to see them devastated this way, to see them literally flattened and erased from the map is just truly horrifying.

Archeology is something that it's just so hard to do. It's so hard to find places like this. They're so well preserved and so beautiful and now they're gone.

SESAY: Do experts have a full handle yet on what is lost and what is gone forever, what's been destroyed, I mean, what are you hearing?

CONCANNON: So what I'm hearing -- I mean, for the most part this is a work in progress because obviously things are so unstable on the ground there. Part of what we know is that there was some cataloging and some salvaging of things before ISIS took over. So some things have been -- something were able to be removed and there is at least the catalog there of the things that we're there originally.

A lot of the materials though that where there have been looted or destroyed and I think people are now on the ground trying to assess what is salvageable and what is gone. And part of what's interesting though and something that's really we're highlighting is that, here in the American Schools of Oriental Research has partnered with the State Department and has been trying their bests sort catalog the movement of things coming out of Palmyra into the illicit sort of underground antiquities trade. So using satellites images, using reports from the ground, using all the different kind of mechanisms to have at their disposal to try to see when things are being destroyed, when grave sites are being looted, and then use that information hopefully down the road to track when illicit materials get on the market ...

SESAY: Yeah.

CONCANNON: ... because ISIS does this both for propaganda purposes but also to sort of make money in the illicit antiquities trade.

SESAY: I think a point that is little known is that ordinary Syrians played the role in some of these cataloging.

CONCANNON: Absolutely. And that's something that's really important to emphasize is that, Syrians themselves are the ones taking pictures with their cellphones at this activity, when ISIS destroys buildings, when people start digging up graves and looting them, taking videos and taking pictures. And those are some of the material that we use to tag when those things are being done, to know when they happened and then to use that information to be able to track them when they come on the markets down the road.

So this indicates that ordinary Syrians are taking great risk to figure out how they can help preserve in the future, their cultural heritage in the face of terrible destruction.

SESAY: And briefly said that -- what are your thoughts of in terms of these salvage, this reconstruction efforts, do you have high hopes for them?

CONCANNON: I don't really I think part of it -- part of the problem is that even the stuff that could be salvaged is going to take a lot of money and a lot of stability which this region isn't going to have for the foreseeable future. But some of the great monuments like the Temple of Bel look like at least from what we're seeing like they were thoroughly flattened and there is really not anything we can do to restore those.

SESAY: Kevin Concannon such a pleasure. Thank you for joining us.

CONCANNON: Thank you for having me.

SESAY: Thanks. And thank you for watching CNN Newsroom live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay. World Sports is up next, you are watching CNN.

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