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CNN NEWSROOM

Kolkata Rescue Crews Search for Survivors of Overpass Collapse; Donald Trump's Campaign Showing Cracks; Democratic and Republican Strategists Discuss Campaign; World Leaders Urge for Security Pledge at Nuclear Summit; Turkey Car Bomb Kills Seven Police Officers; ISIS Leader's Ex-Wife Speaks Out; Virtual Reality Roller Coaster. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired April 1, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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


[00:00:11] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. It's morning in Kolkata where rescue crews are frantically searching for survivors of a deadly overpass collapse.

After a week of controversial comments and awkward policy reversals, are there lasting cracks in Donald Trump's catalog?

And world leaders urge to make security pledges at a nuclear summit in Washington. How differences between China and the US are overshadowing the talks.

Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Isha Sesay. NEWSROOM LA starts right now.

We begin this hour in India, where hundreds of rescuers are digging through rubble in search of people buried underneath a highway overpass that collapsed in Kolkata. At least 22 people died, 75 others were injured. It's not clear yet how the overpass, which was under construction, collapsed Thursday.

CNN's Ravi Agrawal is on the phone in Kolkata with more developments. Ravi, good to have you with us. Where do things stand right now with the search and rescue operation?

RAVI AGRAWAL, CNN NEW DELI BUREAU CHIEF (via telephone): Hi, Isha. Well, I've just arrived at the scene of where this particular overpass has collapsed, and rescue work is well underway. I guess you can probably hear some of the beeping and the heavy machinery in the background. There are a number of big, yellow tractors that are trying to move away some of the rubble.

It is now -- there's a lot of light here now, which there wasn't overnight, so they're essentially trying to clear a path through the rubble to try and even assess the scale of how many people might be buried under the rubble. If there are still people who may be alive, obviously there's a great sense of urgency here.

Everywhere I look, there are people from West Bengal's civil defense, there are people from the NDRF, the National Disaster Relief Force. Everyone is basically all hands on deck to try and get to anyone who may still be trapped still alive. SESAY: And Ravi, as you're speaking to us, we have these live pictures up on our screens now, sharing with our viewers pictures from the scene. We see the teams there at the overpass collapse sight. We see heavy machinery and people in bright fluorescent jackets. Of course, as you point out, all hands on decks. Clearly people from different teams, some in uniform, some in civilian clothing, all there.

And Ravi, you make the point that they're still trying to figure out how many people may still be trapped. Just explain for our viewers where this took place. It's my understanding this is a very busy neighborhood.

AGRAWAL: That's right, it is a very busy part of Kolkata. It's in the northern part of Kolkata. This is an area that is very old, from two to three to four-story buildings designed in a very old, colonial style. Kolkata, after all, was the capital of the British Raj. The city is now known as Kolkata.

This is a city that I also grew up in, so I'm quite familiar with these roads and bylanes. This is an area of the city that was clearly not designed for expansion. Buildings are tightly packed together, and the overpass that was built through the main streets, the pictures that you're looking at.

This overpass in some parts of the street is near inches away from buildings that people are living in. I've spoken to a couple of people this morning who live right here, one of whom actually has a shop right underneath the overpass.

He survived, but he tells me for years now, he's been wondering how this overpass would actually get built, why on earth it was as close as it was to so many residential buildings. And he says when it did fall, it was just a huge explosion. He ran for his life.

There was an immense cloud of dust. People were scurrying all over the place, running in every direction terrified, absolutely terrified. He also did tell me that it took a little bit of time for rescue operations to get here, and that is in part because the streets are so narrow. It's incredibly difficult to get here at a good time.

Obviously, when there's a calamity, the basic infrastructure around these areas makes it that much harder to reach it. You can see how difficult certainly to even attempt to save lives.

[00:04:57] SESAY: Yes. Ravi, we very much appreciate the insight and the context as we show these live pictures to our viewers. Just incredible scenes and immense worry, I'm sure, for many as they try to get a handle on the situation. Ravi Agrawal joining us there on the phone from Kolkata. Thank you so much.

Donald Trump working in the shadow of the White House, trying to keep his presidential campaign on track. The Republican front-runner talked about delegate counts and convention rules during his meeting on Thursday at the Republican National Committee in Washington, that's according to a party source. The businessman also met with his new national security team. This comes as critics sound more alarms over Trump's foreign and domestic policies. CNN's senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta has more on Trump's week of turmoil leading up to Tuesday's big primary in Wisconsin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Even with his campaign in turmoil, Donald Trump was all smiles. Crisscrossing Washington in his motorcade, Trump sat down with top RNC officials behind closed doors, later vowing in a tweet that he will bring the party together. Even as John Kasich and Ted Cruz furiously try to block his road to the White House.

JOHN KASICH, REPUBLICAN US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have to tell you that as commander-in-chief and leader of the free world, you don't get do-overs. You need to be able to get it right the first time.

ACOSTA: Kasich and Cruz are now tag-teaming Trump over his gaffe that women should be punished if they undergo an illegal abortion, a position he abandoned hours later.

CHRIS MATTHEWS, MSNBC ANCHOR: Do you believe in --

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, but --

MATTHEWS: Do you believe in punishment for abortion, yes or no, as a principle?

TRUMP: The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment.

ACOSTA: On a popular conservative Wisconsin radio show, Cruz attacked Trump as uniformed.

TED CRUZ, REPUBLICAN US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it was just the latest confirmation that Donald has not thought seriously about the issues facing the country, and he's willing to say just about anything to try to get elected.

ACOSTA: And while Team Trump was brushing off the abortion comments as merely a slip-up --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And there was a misspeak here, and you have a presidential candidate that clarified the record, not once but twice.

KASICH: It takes restraint. It takes judgment. It takes experience. Not wild-eyed suggestions.

ACOSTA: Kasich blasted Trump for another jaw-dropping comment that he would not rule out using nuclear weapons in Europe.

TRUMP: I would never take any of my cards off the table.

KASICH: It is not the way that a leader of the free world or the commander-in-chief of our country to be so casually talking about the use, by the way, of nuclear weapons. It just shows that he's really not prepared to be president of the United States.

ACOSTA: Looking to push back on that notion, the Trump campaign confirmed the real estate tycoon met with his recently-announced foreign policy team.

GOV. SCOTT WALKER (R), WISCONSIN: And that's why I'm supporting Ted Cruz for president.

ACOSTA: Back in Wisconsin, the next contest on the calendar, Cruz appears to be widening his lead, and running a new ad featuring the state's governor, Scott Walker. Still fuming over his war of the wives with Trump, Cruz cracked a joke on "Jimmy Kimmel" that revealed the Texas senator is not quite ready to forgive and forget.

CRUZ: And if I were in my car and getting ready to reverse and saw Donald in the back-up camera --

(LAUGHTER)

CRUZ: I'm not confident which pedal I'd push.

ACOSTA: As for that meeting with Trump at the RNC, a party spokesperson called it, quote, "productive." They talked about the state of the race and the upcoming convention in July. But no word on whether that GOP loyalty pledge will somehow make a comeback.

Jim Acosta, CNN, Milwaukee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Well, I'm joined now by Dave Jacobson and John Thomas. Dave is a Democratic strategist and consultant with Shallman Communications. John is a Republican consultant and founder of Thomas Partners Strategies and has been watching this week, I'm sure, with some amount of dread.

(LAUGHTER)

SESAY: We'll come to you in a moment, but Dave, to start with you, I mean, what a week it has been --

DAVE JACOBSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Yes.

SESAY: -- for the GOP front-runner. I've got to ask you what you have made of it all.

JACOBSON: This is a nightmare scenario for the GOP. I mean, the reality is, at a time when you've sort of got this war on women narrative that's been plaguing the Republican Party for years now -- Barack Obama won -- beat John McCain with women by 7 points. He beat Mitt Romney by 11 points with women.

This is a time when Republicans need to bring women back to the party, and Trump is fanning the flames when it comes to the war on women with the back-to-back hits on Megyn Kelly, Heidi Cruz, the rapist -- the abortion comments last night.

I mean, this is a guy who is really creating this chaos narrative that I think is really going to translate to a really tough time for the Republicans in the general election, regardless of whoever the nominee is.

SESAY: So, I went to Dave first just because I wanted you to watch his face.

(LAUGHTER)

SESAY: Just so you knew --

JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I have to let you do it. The truth --

(CROSSTALK)

SESAY: I knew it was --

THOMAS: -- is sometimes hard to hear.

[00:09:59] SESAY: So, no, seriously, I mean, as a Republican, as a strategist, you must have been watching this thinking --

THOMAS: Yes.

SESAY: -- my goodness.

THOMAS: Yes. We're in a deep hole. All of our nominee -- all of our potential nominees on the Republican side are in a hole except for, perhaps, Kasich. Although Kasich's not going to win this. He's not going to be the nominee, and quite frankly, he could be vulnerable, too, if people attacked him and paid attention.

But if you look at the top front-runners, Cruz and Trump, they both have problems. People talk about Donald Trump's negatives, and Ted Cruz has quite a few negatives, too. He's not exactly loved by all. Ted Cruz -- the allegations of the affairs, some might be true. If it turns out that it is true, Cruz is going to have a whole host of problems.

I think Donald Trump blew it time and time again. He could have dug himself out by firing his campaign manager at multiple points, defending women. And instead, he doubles down in reinforcing these stereotypes that women think is true.

But this is a major problem, and if we don't see an immediate shift -- and I'm talking in the next week or so -- to start shifting the narrative that our nominee might like women, I don't see a path forward in the general.

SESAY: So, that being said, that meeting today in Washington that Donald Trump had with the RNC chairman and the big chiefs, do you think there would have been an attempt during that meeting to basically express that to him? They're making out as if it was very formulaic. It was just about

delegate counts at the convention. But the pledge, supposedly, is dead, and Trump is going off the rails some would say.

THOMAS: Right. I think Trump was there just to get the rules of the game, try to make nice as much as he could. But probably he sent a warning say, look, you're laying out the ground rules. If you violate these rules, don't cross me.

I don't know in terms of the loyalty pledge, I don't think anything the party can do is going to get these guys to get back on the train, because they hate each other. They really do.

SESAY: Dave, Wisconsin. What are your thoughts? Let's put up the poll, because I want to get your --

JACOBSON: Sure.

SESAY: -- your thoughts on it. As you look at the poll, Ted Cruz has surged ahead by ten points. Donald Trump is basically frozen there at 30.

JACOBSON: Yes.

SESAY: How do you explain what's going on in Wisconsin?

JACOBSON: I think this is a real transition point in the campaign, and I think it underscores the fact that Ted Cruz is really resonating with Republican women. I think there was a poll that came out where I think only 24 percent of Republican women in Wisconsin have a favorable view of Donald Trump.

And I think that really highlights this growing sort of gender gap issue that he's going to have. And a candidate like Ted Cruz, who historically hasn't been that popular with women, is growing. I think it really presents a firewall opportunity for the GOP establishment.

If Ted Cruz is able to have a stunning victory in Wisconsin and stop Donald Trump from winning, it could give him the momentum boost that he needs, not to necessarily beat Donald Trump in a state like New York coming up on April 12th, but in states like Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Indiana, that are coming up.

I think it could sort of cement a narrative that Ted Cruz is formidable and he could potentially stop Trump from getting the nomination.

THOMAS: There are two factors at play in Wisconsin, as I see it. One is the anti-Trump forces are coalescing, and we're seeing that. They're coalescing --

SESAY: But isn't this a state that he should do well in?

THOMAS: Well, he should. But he's had a string of bad weeks.

SESAY: Yes. THOMAS: So, Donald Trump has a high floor but a low ceiling in the polling numbers. And what's interesting these polling numbers don't show is that there are about 10 to 20 percent undecideds, and we see at this stage in the game historically, the undecideds swing late as blocks.

SESAY: Yes.

JACOBSON: Yes.

THOMAS: And so, that's why you're seeing some variation in the polling in the last week. So, what I think this race in Wisconsin's going to come down to is who is winning the news cycle as we go into Tuesday. And Trump, look, if anybody can pull a rabbit out of a hat at winning the news cycle --

(LAUGHTER)

THOMAS: -- or shifting the narrative, it's Donald Trump.

SESAY: Now, there are still a number of races to go, but some people are already saying it's going to come down to California.

JACOBSON: Yes. It is.

SESAY: That California is the big one. The vote here is June 7 for the primary, 172 delegates up for grabs. Do you think it's going to come down to California? How are you reading it?

THOMAS: It's quite possible, because, let's say Ted Cruz takes Wisconsin. Donald Trump's going to blow out New York. The other states may kind of scatter. So, it comes to California. And if a candidate like Donald Trump is able to sweep California, that could pretty much shut the door to Ted Cruz. So, look, we haven't seen California, certainly on the Republican side, be in play --

SESAY: Yes, absolutely.

THOMAS: -- in my entire lifetime.

JACOBSON: Right. Well, and I think also what's going to be interesting to watch in California is the Democratic districts.

SESAY: Yes.

JACOBSON: It's a Democratic-dominated state --

SESAY: Yes.

JACOBSON: -- and all of the delegates -- correct me if I'm wrong -- they're allocated by congressional districts.

THOMAS: Correct.

JACOBSON: And they're closed primaries, so independents can't vote, it's a closed primary, so that's probably going to bode well for someone like Ted Cruz.

But I think what's interesting to watch is sort of what happens in these Democratic districts -- Compton, San Francisco. Nancy Pelosi's district. Which Republican is going to win there I think is going to determine what happens ultimately statewide.

Donald Trump could go into the state with something like 1100 delegates pre-vote.

THOMAS: He could.

JACOBSON: And this could potentially put him over the threshold that he is --

(CROSSTALK)

THOMAS: And let's not forget, Donald Trump's up in California by eight or nine points.

SESAY: Yes, absolutely.

JACOBSON: Right.

THOMAS: So, look. It's a long time to California.

SESAY: Yes, in summer.

THOMAS: Every day is the equivalent of two or three weeks --

(LAUGHTER)

SESAY: Yes, it's a bit like in dog years.

(LAUGHTER)

THOMAS: Right.

SESAY: I want to shift to the Democratic side of things.

JACOBSON: Sure.

[00:14:59] SESAY: Because Hillary Clinton had a moment today on the rope line, she was asked a question by an activist, she had a response, a reaction that a lot of people are questioning. Let's play the moment and talk on the other side.

JACOBSON: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for tackling climate change. Will you act on your words and reject fossil fuel money in the future in your campaign?

HILLARY CLINTON, DEMOCRATIC US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do not have money from people who work for fossil fuel companies. I am so sick -- (CROSSTALK)

CLINTON: I am so sick of the Sanders campaign lying about me. I'm sick of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: She says, "I'm so sick," she repeats it twice, and she uses the L word. Dave, is this a misstep by the Clinton campaign? Because some people are beginning to frame this as such.

JACOBSON: Look, I think it's a testament to her frustration. She was expecting a coronation, she was not expecting to be in a contested -- a do-over of 2008, essentially, right? She wasn't expecting to be competing in Wisconsin.

And so, I think, yes, it highlights the fact that she's frustrated. She wants to wrap up this nomination. You see this sort of pendulum swing where she becomes the general election candidate and then she -- Bernie Sanders wins a whole bunch of states in the west, and then she has to pivot back to the primary election campaign.

And so I think, look, more and more she wants to attack Donald Trump, she doesn't want to be competing against Bernie Sanders. This is a potent message that is really resonating, and it's sort of attached -- sorry, jump in.

THOMAS: This is -- I just can't wait to talk about this.

SESAY: You've been foaming at the --

THOMAS: I'm sitting there smiling.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

THOMAS: Because this to me is a classic Clinton move. This is the definition if is-is moment. She's saying, "I didn't take money from fossil fuel companies. I took money from the people who work at fossil fuel companies." What is the difference, Hillary?

Her -- and the Bernie Sanders people get it. And the fact is, either she doesn't fundamentally understand that, or she thinks she can nuance this. But the Sanders people are having none of it, and on the Republican side, we're loving this.

SESAY: Look at him glee -- John.

THOMAS: I've got to reach for some ray of sunshine.

(LAUGHTER)

SESAY: Gentleman, always a pleasure. And next hour --

JACOBSON: Thank you. THOMAS: Likewise, thank you.

SESAY: -- there's more to come. Thank you.

All right, now, let me take a quick break. At a nuclear summit in Washington, President Obama is calling on world leaders to make security pledges. Ahead, how Russia's absence could undermine the work being done.

Plus, the former wife of the leader of ISIS says he was a normal family man. What else we're learning about him, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:21:13] SESAY: Welcome back everyone. Now, to that major nuclear summit in Washington. World leaders are pledging to work harder at achieving nuclear peace and security. And as our own Elise Labott reports, North Korea and ISIS are hot topics on the agenda.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Friday was day two of President Obama's nuclear security summit. More than 50 world leaders have gathered in Washington to discuss reducing the world's stockpile of nuclear weapons and stopping nuclear proliferation.

This is the fourth and last nuclear security summit President Obama has convened. He first brought these leaders together six years ago in an effort to cement his legacy on proliferation issues.

Now, on Thursday, the president met with Chinese president Xi Jinping, and he met together with Japanese prime minister Abe and South Korean president Park. And he called for the US and its allies to stand together against the threat of a nuclear-armed North Korea, saying security cooperation between the US, Japan, and South Korea, is really essential to deterring the North Korean threat.

And we know the increasing the provocations from North Korea really at the heart of this summit. So is concern that terrorist groups, particularly ISIS, are seeking nuclear weapons or radioactive material for a so-called "dirty bomb," which could cause catastrophic damage.

That really looms over the discussions here. We know ISIS has already used chemical weapons on the battlefield and has expressed a desire to go nuclear. So, these concerns are so high that there will be a special session Friday to address the threat posed by ISIS.

Now, President Obama has made nuclear proliferation one of the centerpieces of his foreign policy, but he has a mixed record here. He did secure that historic nuclear deal with Iran for curbs on the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, but it's a very controversial deal, and the North Korean threat has also intensified.

In addition, Russia, once seen as a critical ally in reducing the global weapons nuclear stockpile, has boycotted this summit because of tensions with the US.

Elise Labott, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Well now Paula Hancocks joins us now, live from Seoul with much more. Paula, good to have you with us.

Just days after Donald Trump expressed that openness to Japan and South Korea acquiring nuclear weapons, you have the leaders of the two nations in Washington meeting with President Obama. It seems to me this is a situation where the optics were every bit as important as the talks themselves.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Isha. I mean, there was nothing particularly significant that came out of those meetings, but it was a re-assertion of the security alliance, the decades-old security alliances that both Japan and South Korea have with the United States.

We also heard from Japanese and US officials that Trumps comments weren't even mentioned at that meeting, just to put it into perspective. Though we did hear from Obama after the meeting saying that all three of them agreed that they had to restore a sense of stability and peace to the region.

Obviously, North Korea was the key issue that they were dealing with after that January nuclear test, the satellite launch, which was seen a missile test, in February. And of course in recent weeks we have seen a number of announcements by North Korea claiming that they have miniaturized a nuclear weapon and other tests that are ongoing.

We also heard from the South Korean president saying that they had to make North Korea understand it cannot survive without giving up its nuclear program. Isha?

[00:24:55] SESAY: And Paula, we know that the president also met with President Xi of China, we know that the relationship between the US and China has a number of thorny issues. Obviously, the North Korean one and Beijing's military deployment in the South China Sea. What are we hearing about that meeting itself? Were there any breakthroughs?

HANCOCKS: I don't think we can say there were any breakthroughs, certainly nothing that has been publicly talked about. But they did mention the UN sanctions on North Korea.

We know that really much of the implementation of those sanctions, which have been described as unprecedented, lies with China. They have that massive border with China -- with North Korea, sorry. They are effectively the ones who can make these sanctions work.

We know that all cargo going in and out of North Korea is supposed to be monitored and inspected now to make sure there's nothing illegal within them. That rests with China. Now, we have heard from the state-run news agency, Xinhua, that Xi has stressed all parties should fully and strictly carry out the UN resolution. So, suggesting that China is fully behind these resolutions and is keen to carry out the checks on North Korea.

And they have both said as well that they're keen to see a nuclear- free peninsula, something that Xi Jinping has said in the past. Isha?

SESAY: Paula Hancocks joining us there from Seoul, South Korea. Paula, always appreciate it. Thank you.

Time for a quick break. Coming up, a car bomb in southeastern Turkey kills seven police officers. Details on the deadly blast straight ahead.

Plus, the ex-wife of the world's most wanted man is speaking out. The new details we're learning about the leader of ISIS coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:30:07] SESAY: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay. The headlines this hour.

Emergency officials in India say at least 22 people are confirmed dead after a highway overpass collapsed onto a busy marketplace in Kolkata. Rescue teams are trying to find anyone still trapped in the debris, 75 people are hurt, some critically. Dozens of others are still missing.

Tens of thousands of people in Brazil are rallying in support of President Dilma Rousseff. Her opponents want her impeached over her handling of the country's recession and connections to a corruption scandal. Rousseff says she hasn't committed any crime.

A Syrian opposition group says government airstrikes have killed at least 20 civilians in a Damascus suburb. The Syrian coalition says regime aircraft launched more than 10 airstrikes on a school and a hospital. The US State Department called the attack appalling. Video shows terrified children scrambling for shelter as the airstrikes happened. Opposition groups say the government is trying to sabotage at tentative cease-fire in Syria.

In southeastern Turkey, seven police officers are dead, and at least 27 other people wounded after a car bomb blast. It happened in Diyarbakir near the main bus station. Most of the people who live in the city are Kurdish. This area of Turkey has been marred by violence since the cease-fire between the government and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party fell apart last year. It's not clear right now who's responsible for the attack.

And at least 14 people are dead after suicide attacks in two separate areas in northern Iraq. Officials tell CNN six Kurdish police were killed in Makhmour, where a car bomb targeted the mayoral building and exploded on Thursday. Another car bomb went off in a nearby village, targeting the main Peshmerga camp. Eight people were killed there. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Now, we're learning new details about the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al- Baghdadi. His former wife gave an interview about their brief marriage and said she was shocked when she found out what he had become. Our Brian Todd has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A new warning from top US officials to the terrorist leader of ISIS: we'll find you.

BRETT MCGURK, US ENVOY, COALITION AGAINST ISIS: Abu Bakr al- Baghdadi's days are numbered.

TODD: President Obama's anti-ISIS envoy says Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is most likely hiding in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, Syria. Could US intelligence have just picked up crucial information on Baghdadi from his ex-wife? Saja al-Dulaimi has just given a videotaped interview to the CNN Swedish affiliate Expressen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Why did you leave?

SAJA AL-DULAIMI, EX-WIFE OF ABU BAKR AL-BAGHDADI (through translator): I wasn't happy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Did you love him?

AL-DULAIMI (through translator): No.

TODD: Al-Dulaimi says it was a traditional arranged marriage after her previous husband had died. She says she was married to Baghdadi for just a few months in 2008. At that time, al-Dulaimi says, he was a university lecturer who went by the name Hisham Mohammad.

She says she didn't know he had terror connections at the time, even though Baghdadi had been held by the Americans at Camp Bucca years earlier.

MIA BLOOM, AUTHOR, "BOMBSHELL: WOMAN IN TERROR": It is conceivable he was living a double life, and the fact that he didn't tell her anything and he was mysterious was because she was not privy to the real side of him, the mujahid side of him.

TODD: Saja al-Dulaimi says she was shocked when she later found out her ex-husband is the most wanted man in the world. Baghdadi is said to have sexually assaulted American captive Kayla Mueller repeatedly, according to US officials. But in her interview, al-Dulaimi describes him as a, quote, "family man."

AL-DULAIMI (through translator): He was the children's ideal father. The way he was with children, he was a teacher. You know how teachers are. He knew how to deal with children better than how to deal with the mother.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Did you dare have discussions with him?

AL-DULAIMI (through translator): No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Why not?

AL-DULAIMI (through translator): He has a mysterious personality.

TODD: She says their relationship was shallow, that Baghdadi would boss her around. Al-Dulaimi says his other wife, who he'd married first, resented her. After just three months of marriage, she says, she left him, but not before becoming pregnant with the terror leaders now eight-year-old daughter, Hagar. CNN is not revealing her face. Analysts believe she may be in danger.

BLOOM: I think that these children are very much in danger, if not just from agents of al-Baghdadi, who might try to kidnap them, also people who are opposed to ISIS who may try to use them against Baghdadi.

TODD: Saja al-Dulaimi's other children are from other husbands. As for the eight-year-old daughter she had with Baghdadi, al-Dulaimi says the terror leader did tell her he'd take the child back if she remarried, which she has.

[00:34:55] US intelligence officials aren't commenting on any insights they might have gotten from this interview, but one counter terror official told us the account that Baghdadi is a bad husband should come as no surprise.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Well, for more on that interview, let's bring in CNN military analyst, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. He joins us live via Skype from La Quinta, California. Colonel Francona, always a pleasure to have you with us.

LIEUTENANT COLONEL RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Sure.

SESAY: So, give me your sense of how useful any information gleaned from Saja al-Dulaimi would really be, given that the last time she saw al-Baghdadi was back in 2009.

FRANCONA: Yes, that's my -- I think that's the key point. It's been a long time since she's actually had dealings with him, and the relationship was very shallow. She was married off to al-Baghdadi by her father.

It was her second marriage as well. The first time was married to a Saddam Hussein insider. This time it was to an up-and-coming member of what was then al Qaeda in Iraq.

So, obviously, she was used as a political pawn. Her feelings were really of no consequence, and as such, she probably had no real insight into the inner workings of what he was doing.

And when she was with him, it was before he became really radical. That happened later, mostly when he was at Camp Bucca. So, I don't see that she's going to give us much more insights than she already has.

SESAY: She says she's now scared for her safety and that of her children, and she actually wants to move to Europe. Do you see European countries being open to her resettling there? What's your take on that?

FRANCONA: Well, I don't -- I'm not sure. Many countries would probably take her, but they have to go through some sort of what we would call like a witness protection program. She'll have to change her identity, of course. She'll always be living in fear.

It's not so much that -- she's going to be a target for him. I think he's more interested in the children. The Arab men are very, very attached to their children, and she's remarried. I think he really meant what he said, if she remarried, he would come after the child. And I think that's her biggest fear right now.

SESAY: All right. Turning to events playing out in Syria, Colonel Francona, the Syrian coalition just put out a statement condemning the Assad regime for airstrikes in rural Damascus. We just showed our viewers some of the pictures there, and they're saying at least 20 civilians lost their lives.

As you well know, many analysts have said Russia is backing of Bashar al-Assad has given him the upper hand in this fight and changed the calculus of this conflict. Is that what's playing out now?

FRANCONA: Absolutely. The Russian air force came in in September with the stated purpose of taking on ISIS. But what we saw was at least 85 to 90 percent of their sorties went after anti-regime opposition groups, many of which were supported by the United States.

The purpose of that was to shore up the Bashar al-Assad regime, and the Russians were very effective. They used an indiscriminate bombing, they killed thousands of civilians, but they were able to turn the tide.

The Syrian army, which was on its heels, in fact, pulling back, giving up territory, was able to retake all that territory in Idlib province. They've gone all the way to Aleppo, which they're about to surround. They've retaken Palmyra in these recent battles.

So, the Syrian army is on -- is in momentum. Bashar al-Assad is back in power, and now he's making gestures, yes, I'm willing to talk to the opposition, because he knows they're not going to sit down and talk to him.

SESAY: Colonel Francona, always great to have you with us for that insider perspective. Thank you so much.

FRANCONA: Good to be with you, Isha.

SESAY: All right, we'll have more just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM LA. Do stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:40:40] SESAY: Hello, everyone. If you like roller coasters, you are going to love what I'm about to show you. At the Six Flags theme park just north of here in Los Angeles, they're blending a classic roller coaster with high-definition virtual reality to give you the ride of your life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: It looks and runs like a roller coaster.

(CROWD SCREAMING)

SESAY: But onboard the new Revolution, things aren't what they seem. For the first time, the folks at Six Flags are transforming the traditional roller coaster experience into a virtual world encounter.

(CROWD SCREAMING)

SAM RHODES, DESIGN DIRECTOR, SIX FLAGS: It is full virtual reality, so you can turn your head in any direction and look. This truly matches the G-forces of the roller coaster to the experience that you're seeing.

SESAY: Riders wear headsets that immerse them in 360-degree high- definition imagery. But only if they dare.

(MAN SCREAMING)

SESAY: That was a grown man yelling there.

And I just couldn't resist.

What was the best part?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The loop.

SESAY: The loop?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The loop, because you don't think it's coming, and then all of a sudden --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Loved it, absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- you just pull up, and you're flying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God!

SESAY: My turn, now.

RHODES: Put this over your head.

SESAY: The animation is switched on.

Ooh, wow! I am -- I'm in some kind of cityscape. Oh, I'm in the cockpit.

In our virtual world --

Here we go!

-- we're fighter pilots fending off alien intruders.

My goodness. Oh, God!

(SESAY SCREAMING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Much taller, much higher!

SESAY: Oh, my God!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a real ride.

SESAY: Oh, my God!

(CROWD SCREAMING)

(SESAY SCREAMING)

SESAY: I don't know that I made it.

(ROLLER COASTER ON TRACKS)

SESAY: I think I may be crying.

(LAUGHTER)

SESAY: Those are my screams you heard. Being up there in the sky and encountering the aliens just feels very, very real. The graphics are amazing. I'll never be the same again, but this takes roller coaster riding to a whole new level. We're going to do it again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: And in case you're wondering, yes, I screamed the entire ride. But it was a lot of fun.

Now, you've been watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay. "World Sport" is up next, then I'll be back with another hour of news from around the world. You're watching CNN.

[00:43:17] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WORLD SPORT AIRED)