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Extradition of Key Terror Suspect to France could Take Weeks; ISIS Reportedly Taken Over 300 Workers at Cement Factory Hostage; Activists in Bangladesh Outraged After Secular Blogger Murdered; Janet Yellen Dismisses Concerns of U.S. Bubble; Presidential Campaigns Target New York; The Final "American Idol" Winner. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired April 8, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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


[00:00:08] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world; I'm John Vause. This is "CNN Newsroom" live from Los Angeles. This hour we have the new video that shows the missing suspect from the Brussels bombing as he fled the airport; we'll show you his escape route.

In the race for the White House, the focus shifts to the state of New York, and accusations of flying, tension escalating among all after the candidates.

And, after 15-years, "American Idol," an American institution, signs off, but is this good-bye or just see you later?

We begin with the investigation into the terror attacks in Brussels and Paris. Belgium is extending the detention of a key suspect. The lawyer for Abdeslam says his extradition to France could take a few weeks. The Belgian police have released now surveillance images showing the surviving bomber of the attack at the Brussels airport. Our Chief U.S. Security Correspondent, Jim Sciutto traces how he got away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: In the horrific aftermath of the Brussels attacks, one of the suspected terrorists calmly turned and walked away, the beginning of a long meandering two- hour escape from the carnage. Today Belgian police released a series of surveillance videos of the suspect, tracking his every move and appeal to the public for help finding him before he can strike again.

ERIC VAN DER SYPT, BELGIAN FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: It concerns the third person present on the scene during the attacks in Brussels airport, the so-called "man with the hat" as well as the vest he was wearing at the time. We the especially appeal to people who might have filmed or taken a photograph of the suspect or think they can provide information on this issue.

SCUITTO: At 7:58 a.m. Belgium authorities say the suspect leaves the airport terminal, walks past a Sheraton Hotel, seen here, then turns right, exiting through an Avis parking lot where he briefly breaks into a jog. Always on foot, the suspect takes this long route towards the city

center where nearly an hour later, at 8:50 a.m., he is seen again, walking, sleeves rolled up, and without his light colored jacket, which he appears to have left along the way. He walks along this route for another 50 minutes.

At 9:42 a.m., surveillance cameras catch him here as he walks in the Brussels area of Schaarbeek, the neighborhood where investigators believe the attackers built their bombs. He continues making his way through that neighborhood where at 9:49 a.m. he is seen on camera again, this time seemingly talking on a cell phone and elbow patches clearly visible on his shirt.

As the desperate search continues, startling new information that one of the suicide bombers who struck the Brussels airport previously had worked as a part-time cleaner at the European Parliament in the Belgian capital, work that routinely put him in close proximity of many senior European leaders.

About two hours after the attacks, Belgian police lost track of the suspect. They are releasing these videos to the public now because his trail has gone cold and they want to try to catch him before he can strike again.

Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Less than 50 kilometers from the heart of the Syrian capital, ISIS has reportedly overrun an industrial plant and taken more than 300 workers hostage. Syrian state media reports it happened at a cement factory just east of Damascus. The company says the militants are holding the workers nearby but it has not had any contact with them so far. It happened in the town of Al-Dhmeir. Syrian forces have been battling intense ISIS offenses around the town and reports say dozens of people have been killed.

In northern Iraq the country's forces have liberated many villages from ISIS control. Our Senior International Correspondent, Arwa Damon, talked with ISIS survivors for this exclusive report about their horrific ordeal. They told us about their physical and emotional scars and how some were used as human shields.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The initial phase of the operation has push towards Mosul has come to a halt until the Iraqi army says it receives reinforcements but they have managed to wrestle back control from ISIS in a handful of villages. When we spoke to the civilians that lived there, their stories were horrific.

The latest arrivals at this refugee camp are not those who fled ISIS, they are those who say ISIS used them as human shields and didn't let them leave. They are from a handful of villages, the Iraqi army recently recaptured from ISIS. The men are kept at the camp's mosque, a security precaution amid concerns ISIS fighters may be among them. ISIS put five families into each home in the middle of the village,

Abu Resta [00:05:01] (ps) recalls. Like many here, he does not want his identity revealed. He still has loved ones at the mercy of ISIS and has already witnessed and lost too much.

Abu Resta and his family could hear the army's advance, hope finally that they would be saved; but in the fierce clashes Abu Resta's younger brother was hit as he pulled his niece from the window. He shouted, I am shot, get me, Abu Resta says. The memory of that moment, so painful he can no longer control his emotions.

He said I don't want to die but he bled out in Abu Resta's arms.

With us Abu Resta's able to leave the mosque grounds and we head to see the rest of his family. He says they did not flee when ISIS first arrived, nearly two years ago because his elderly mother could not run away.

A mother who has buried her son; what is left, she now questions. At least god spared the rest.

Their stories under ISIS make your skin crawl. Abu Resta worked at a hospital in Mosul. He was forced to keep working. He said, if you don't keep working I will leave your head on the hospital gate, he tells us. Once he was stopped in the street and forced to witness a public mass execution. In another instance, on the way to the market, he says we saw people hanging from the electricity pole. We asked why. They said, they were trying to leave. If you try to escape this will be your fate.

The women also hide their faces but little can hide the lingering fear, the overwhelming psychological trauma or the pain. This woman says her house ISIS held her family in as the Iraqi army advanced was hit by a mortar. She was injured, her 15-year-old son killed. Her last image of him, with blood coming out of his eyes, nose, mouth. It's all memories she says, before it becomes too much and she walks away.

The accounts of ISIS using the civilian population as human shields is one that is of utmost concern, both to the Iraqis and to the United States. As they advance on Mosul, the country's second largest city, there are potentially 1.5 to 2 million people whose lives will be at risk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And not far from the frontline engineers are waging another battle to save what's being called the most dangerous dam in the world. In her next report Arwa takes us inside the dam in Mosul. She went to find out how, after all the fighting in the region, it's still standing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAMON: Workers are drilling bore holes. This one will go down 150 meters, or around 500 feet. Drilling that particular distance takes about a week and then the

machines go up and down along the length of the dam, breaking up and then repouring cement to try to ensure the stability of the dam's foundation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: We're taking you to the frontlines against ISIS in Iraq. That premiers Friday 11:00 p.m. in Hong Kong, only here on CNN.

Activists in Bangladesh are outraged after a secular blogger was murdered in the street. A gang armed with machetes hacked Nazimuddin Samad to death on Wednesday. Police say the attackers then fled on motorcycles. The Home Minister of Bangladesh Asaduzzaman Khan says the government is doing its best to catch those who are responsible but he also says "so-called bloggers do not have any rights to use these kind of languages that attack religion." Khan adds that "No one has the right to attack religious leaders - be it Prophet Muhammad, Guru Nanak or Jesus."

Senior International Correspondent Ivan Watson joins us now live from Hong Kong. Ivan, Samad was just one blogger, apparently on a hit list of dozens of atheist bloggers in Bangladesh.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The State Department now has come out condemning this murder and promising to help Bangladesh battle against terrorism, but as you rightly pointed out, he is at least the sixth now writer or publisher who has dared to criticize extremist Islam, in writing, to have be murdered in Bangladesh in a period of just 14 months.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Police in Bangladesh tell CNN a group of attackers ambushed the 26-year-old Nazimuddin Samad on his way home from evening university classes. They hacked him with machetes and then shot him. Witnesses heard the attackers shout "Allahu Akbar" as they fled.

Authorities say the attack was planned ahead of time. Samad appears to be the latest in a series of assassinations targeting secularist writers.

[00:10:02] Bangladesh is a majority Muslim country, with a Hindu religious minority, but some writers, who describe themselves as free thinkers, have challenged religion's role in society, criticizing extremism and militancy.

The country's constitution promises to uphold the principle of secularism, but authorities suggest some murdered critics crossed the line with their writing.

A top police officer also told CNN in February bloggers need to speak up if they want protection.

MONNIMUL ISLAM, POLICE COMMISSIONER, BANGLADESH: If we do not get any information from anyone, even if he does not report to the police, we could -- it is difficult for police to provide -- provide any corrective measures.

WATSON: A friend says the writer went into hiding last year for several months fearing for his life, but Samad later wrote, "it's better to die rather than living by keeping my head down."

Samad is the sixth secularist writer or publisher to have been murdered Dakah in 14 months. Others include Niloy Chattopadhyay; Ahmed Rajib Haider; Ananta Bijoy; and Avijit Roy, whose widow barely survived the machete attack that killed her husband.

FAFID AHMED, WIDOW, AVIJIT ROY: I had four stabs, machete stabs on my head.

WATSON: Why do you think these people attacked you?

AHMED: We have got to a point where criticizing Islam is becoming a very big crime, or a sin, in Bangladesh.

WATSON: Bangladeshi students took to the streets Wednesday for their murdered classmate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, via translator: We are protesting here because one of our law students at the university was brutally killed. We want proper investigation and we want justice for the killing.

WATSON: Tributes for the victim poured in on social media. One friend calls Nazimuddin Samad a courageous free thinker. Another asks for an end to this brutality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: So, John, what is striking here is that the Bangladeshi government insists that it's going to bring these murderers to justice and also insists that it is taking the threats against these writers very seriously, but what was very strange is when the Home Minister spoke to CNN, to our producer, Sugum Pocurol (ps) last night, he also, in the same breath, basically started criticizing the atheist and secular bloggers and, almost implicitly, suggesting that they were asking for this, saying that they were breaking the law by effectively insulting religion with their criticism of Islam and other religions and repeating atheist thoughts, and that is part of why people in this shrinking and very frightened community that call themselves free- thinkers, secularists, atheists in Bangladesh are so frightened right now, and so angry with their own government. John?

VAUSE: It must be terrifying. Ivan, thank you. Ivan Watson, live there in Hong Kong this hour. Thanks, Ivan.

A short break here. When we come back, all aboard for the U.S. presidential candidates. Hillary Clinton rides the subway. She's buckling up for

a bumpy ride against Bernie Sanders. The New York tabloids offering

directions, in a New York kind of way, to Republican Ted Cruz.

You're watching "CNN Newsroom" live from Los Angeles. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:15:33] VAUSE: U.S. Federal Reserve Chair, Janet Yellen, is talking to CNN about the strength of the U.S. economy and dismissing concerns that a bubble is ready to burst. Those comments came during a panel discussion with Fareed Zakaria and three former Reserve Chairs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are we in an economic bubble? Is the economy as perilous as some people on the political campaign trail are suggesting?

JANET YELLEN, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR: So I would say the U.S. economy has made tremendous progress in recovering from the damage from the financial crisis. Slowly but surely the labor market is healing. For well over a year we've averaged about 225,000 jobs a month. The unemployment rate now stands at 5-percent. So we're coming close to our assigned congressional goal of maximum employment.

Inflation, which my colleagues here, Paul and Allen spent much of their time as chair bringing inflation down from unacceptably high levels; for a number of years now, inflation has been running under our 2-percent goal and we're focused on moving it up to 2-percent. But we think that it's partly transitory influences, namely declining oil prices and the strong dollar that are responsible for pulling inflation below the 2-percent level. We think it's most desirable. So I think we're making progress there as well.

This is an economy on a solid course, not a bubble economy. We tried carefully to look at evidence of a potential financial instability that might be brewing and some of the hallmarks of that clearly overvalued asset prices, high leverage, rising leverages and rapid credit growth. We're certain we don't see those imbalances. So although interest rates are low and that is something that can encourage reach for yield behavior I certainly wouldn't describe this as a bubble economy.

We have relatively weak global growth, but the U.S. economy has been doing well and domestic strength has been propelling us forward in spite of the fact that we're suffering drag from the global economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And be sure to tune in to CNN's Fareed Zakaria: GPS this weekend where you can watch that entire discussion. In Los Angeles it's programmed at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday and 4:00 a.m. on Sunday.

Now to the race for the White House and why one New York tabloid is not holding back when it comes to Republican Ted Cruz. Take a look at the front page of the "New York Daily News". It's a response to an attack line Senator Cruz used on Donald Trump back in January, accusing the billionaire businessman of having "New York values." Ted Cruz isn't the only one railroaded by the New York media. A number of candidates have the dubious honor of gracing the tabloid front pages. Voters go to the polls in New York in less than two weeks. and Trump

is a heavy favorite there, with Cruz polling a distant third. CNN's Jim Acosta has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No California delegate dreamin' for Donald Trump, after scrapping a planned trip to the West Coast, the GOP front-runner is in a New York state of mind.

TRUMP: You remember during the debate when he started lecturing me on New York values, like we're no good.

ACOSTA: The real estate tycoon is not only slamming Ted Cruz for once hitting Trump's New York values --

CRUZ: Most people know exactly what New York values are.

ACOSTA: A comment Trump says forgets what happened after the 9/11 attacks -

TRUMP: We all lived through it. We all know people that died. And I've got this guy standing over there looking at me, talking about New York values, with scorn on his face, with hatred - with hatred of New York.

[00:20:01] ACOSTA: Trump is aiming for a blowout in the New York primary. Instead of stumping in California, a top Trump advisor tells CNN, the campaign is focused on capturing all 95 delegates up for grabs in New York, as that would shrink the percentage of delegates needed to clinch the nomination to a more manageable number. And Trump is expanding his delegate operation announcing he's named newly hired strategist, Paul Manafort, as his convention manager to work alongside campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski.

CRUZ: You guys are doing a great job.

ACOSTA: Helping make New York children make matzah in Brooklyn, Cruz is standing by his values jab, saying he just wants to highlight Trump's past support for the state's liberal democrats.

CRUZ: Our friends in the media are very comfortable with the New York liberal who has supported Andrew Cuomo and Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer for decades and they really want to see a general election between two New York liberals.

ACOSTA: But that could be a short sell. The "New York Daily News" telling Cruz to take the FU Train.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "New Yorkers aren't stupid, Ted. After we were hit, we rallied; we built."

ACOSTA: In a new pro-John Kasich Super PAC ad is piling on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "now you come here and conveniently say you love New York. Forget about it, Ted." JOHN KASICH (R-OH) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We love New York values.

ACOSTA: Taking a big bite in the Big Apple, Kasich stopped at a Bronx deli -

KASICH: Momma Mia.

ACOSTA: -- and that said he's poised at starting to eat away at Trump's delegate lead.

KASICH: We are now getting to a place where we feel we have the best chance of being able to accumulate delegates.

ACOSTA: The delegate battle is also heating up in California, where a well-organized Republican stop Trump movement is gearing up.

ROB STUTZMAN, STOP TRUMP MOVEMENT: Here in California, where Republicans are shrinking due to demographics, and we're trying desperately to turn that around and expand, Trump is an unmitigated disaster for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta joins us now from the L.A. Newsroom. Jim, good to see you. Right now Donald Trump is doing well in the polls here, but maybe California is looking a little shaky?

ACOSTA: Yes, possibly John. There is a new poll out that shows that Donald Trump's lead here in California is not the same size he has in New York. He's leading in double digits from New York, only 7 points here in California. That is a shaky lead this far out from the California primary, and you add to that some of the high profile opposition that he has here, remember the former governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is backing John Kasich.

Now the Trump campaign says not to worry about this press conference that they cancelled in Los Angeles on Friday. They say there are more events in the works and we'll see those in the coming weeks.

VAUSE: It's all becoming about the delegates now, about the delegate math, the delegate count. Is it becoming obvious that, you know, for Trump, the lack of a ground game when it comes to the delegates and the rules, is that sort of becoming the Achilles heel of his campaign at this point?

ACOSTA: It's becoming a major problem. I mean, we've seen Ted Cruz peel away delegates in states like Louisiana, a state that Donald Trump won. Ted Cruz is making a place for delegates in North Dakota and Tennessee; there's even some talk of this possibly happening in South Carolina, according to a GOP source that I've talked to. So this is a major concern for Donald Trump. That's why today he announced that Paul Manafort, who just signed on as a senior strategist of the campaign, is now going to be the "convention manager" and is going to be working alongside Corey Lewandowski, the campaign manager for Donald Trump.

So yes, this is something they're focused on, but keep in mind, John, some of the problems that Donald Trump has right now are self- inflicted. If you go back to those abortion comments that happened before the Wisconsin primary; if you look at the fact that he was doing a radio call-in show with somebody who was with the neverTrump movement and did not realize that, his staff did not warn him of that, there are just some structural problems and problems with the candidate himself that are causing headaches inside the Trump campaign right now. John?

VAUSE: Yes, well he does say he's not a professional politician so there are -

ACOSTA: That's true.

VAUSE: -- bound to be hiccups along the way, I guess. Jim Acosta, thanks for being with us.

Democrat Hillary Clinton is looking for a big win in the New York primary. So to show she's a real New Yorker she rode the subway on Thursday, accompanied by reporters and secret service. Earlier she struggled a little with the turnstile, hasn't done this in a while, apparently. Still, Secretary Clinton is expected to have an advantage in New York, a state she represented in the Senate. She also slammed Bernie Sanders for saying she was unqualified to be present.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIIFED MALE: I understand Bernie Sanders seems to think you're not qualified.

CLINTON: Well, it's kind of a silly thing to say, but I'm going to trust the voters of New York who know me and have voted for me three times, twice for senate and once in the presidential primary. Look, I don't know why he's saying that, but I will take Bernie Sanders over Donald Trump or Ted Cruz any time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:25:01] VAUSE: Meantime, Senator Sanders is defending his comment questioning whether Secretary Clinton is prepared for the White House. He says if Hillary Clinton can ask whether he is ready to lead the country, he can do the same.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLIE ROSE, NEWS REPORTER, CBS NEWS: Do you believe Secretary Clinton is unqualified to be president?

SANDERS: Well, does Secretary Clinton believe that I am unqualified to be president.

ROSE: Why can't you just simply say yes, she has some of the - a first rate resume, in terms of a life in public service and she's one of the most qualified people to run?

SANDERS: She has years of experience. She is extremely intelligent.

ROSE: So what would you say?

SANDERS: Because she is - you know, I have some experience too. I have a pretty good record in Congress as a senator, as a mayor. I think I am qualified to be president. So to answer your question, you're right, we should not get into this tit for tat. We should be debating the American issues facing the American --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Singer/Songwriter Clay Aiken ran for a U.S. Congressional seat in North Carolina in 2014. These days he's actively supporting Bernie Sanders Presidential campaign. He joins us now here in Los Angeles. Clay, thank you for coming in. It's nice to have you here in Los Angeles.

Last month you declared your support for Bernie Sanders. You wrote this Op-Ed for the "Huffington Post." You said you liked Hillary Clinton; you expected that she would actually end up getting the party nomination and then you went on to write "I think she's more qualified than anyone who has run for president in decades, and I agree with her on most issues, I wish she could embrace some of the more progressive ideals that Senator Sanders talks so enthusiastically about. She needs to be better. She needs to learn from the Bern."

What I took away from that is that seems very, very different from what a lot of Bernie Sanders supporters because from then there seems to be a lot of real anger directed towards Secretary Clinton; why is that?

CLAY AIKEN, SINGER/SONGWRITE, DEMOCRAT: Well, listen, I'm a Democrat first and I think the democratic nominee, whether it's Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton, is who I want to see in the White House in January of next year.

I think a lot of people that support Bernie Sanders, and I'm one of them to some degree, appreciate the fact that he's not a normal politician, that he's already willing to do things and say things that normal politicians will not do. He didn't take advantage of the Hillary Clinton email scandal -

VAUSE: Exactly.

AIKEN: -- which a lot of typical, seasoned politicians would do, but it's a very honest move on his part. I think a lot of people who support him appreciate that about him.

When Hillary Clinton has, over the course of this campaign, up till now, used somewhat typical political attacks at Bernie Sanders, saying he's running one of the most negative campaigns in history, --

VAUSE: Right. AIKEN: -- I mean, I don't know where she was in 2008, but that was pretty nasty.

VAUSE: Sure.

AIKEN: Certainly saying he wanted to get rid of people's healthcare, get rid of their Obamacare, I think that probably upsets a lot of people who are Bernie Sanders supporters.

VAUSE: Okay; does it worry you that the race on this democratic side, which has been pretty tame up until now, has really escalated in, I guess, the nastiness, if you like, with the attacks as happened really, really quickly, could this happen in the hard run in the long run, when it comes to November?

AIKEN: Do I think it will hurt the party in the long run?

VAUSE: Yes.

AIKEN: Probably not, when you look in comparison to what's happening on the republican side.

VAUSE: Sure.

AIKEN: Absolutely we still look quite tame compared to that circus. That said, I'm a Bernie Sanders supporter who's also perfectly willing to be objective and say I don't think it was necessarily the most responsibly move to say that Hillary Clinton is not qualified; she certainly is. I still believe the most qualified. I also don't think it's necessarily responsible for the Sanders campaign at this point to start saying that it should be up to the super delegates to decide when a few months ago they didn't want super delegates to decide.

So I still believe that Bernie Sanders should stay in the race as long as possible. I'd like to see him stay in the convention and get some concessions out of the Platform Committee -

VAUSE: Which seems to be the strategy here.

AIKEN: Yes, and I think it's part to have his part of the discussion.

VAUSE: Okay; it is getting feisty out there. Former President Bill Clinton, he was out campaigning for his wife. There was this heated exchange with a protester from the "Black Lives Matter" group. They're angry over a 1994 crime bill which he signed, and they say it put more non-violent offenders in prison for longer periods of time. Let's listen to some of that exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT UNITED STATES: I don't know how you would characterize the gang leaders who got 13-year-old kids hopped up on

crack and sent them out on the street to murder other African-American children. Maybe you thought they were good citizens. She didn't. She didn't. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You know, we haven't seen Bill Clinton like that for a long time. Does something like this help Hillary Clinton or does it hurt Hillary Clinton?

AIKEN: I don't think it does necessarily, either.

VAUSE: Right.

AIKEN: I think that - you know, I just came from the "Idol" finale tonight.

VAUSE: Right.

AIKEN: Came right over; watching that, being there, kind of reminds you about the spirit of competition in a way, and the closer you get to success, to winning, the more almost desperate you become. For Bernie Sanders, he's gotten further than I think maybe even he expected. For Hillary Clinton, she's finding herself in a race that's a lot closer than she ever planned. So we're seeing her get frustrated, certainly Bill Clinton is starting to get frustrated at how much of a fight Senator Sanders, and his supporters are putting up. He had some protestors at that rally, and he probably got very frustrated that, here we are in the mid to late April and we're finding that Hillary Clinton hasn't wrapped up the nomination.

[00:30:02]VAUSE: I mean, this is the point, isn't it, because at this point in the campaign, by April, the Clinton campaign thought that they'd be resting, raising money, getting ready for the general election, but yet Sanders keeps hanging in there, even though it's a path to victory, it's a really, really difficult one.

AIKEN: And I think that's something that's very important for Secretary Clinton to continue to address, is the fact that there is a faction and a part of the democratic party that wants these progressive ideals embraced, that wants her to continue to move to the left on things like trade, like she's done in the wake of Michigan. She did that to change her stance going into Ohio. I think she needs to continue to embrace that.

I think attacking Bernie Sanders, at this point, is probably not responsible because she's going to have to get those folks to vote for them in November.

VAUSE: Okay; we need a little Kumbaya come November. Clay Aiken, thank you so much for coming in.

AIKEN: Thank you.

VAUSE: We'll take a short break here, but you mentioned the American Idol --sad night for you? It's all over?

AIKEN: It's a little bittersweet, yes.

VAUSE: Okay, well, when we come back we'll look back at 15 years of American Idol and the shows impact all around the world.

Also ahead, a driver leads police on a wild speed chase here in Los Angeles. The wild pursuit that had both TV and social media all abuzz.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching "CNN Newsroom" live from Los Angeles; I'm John Vause. Let's check the headlines this hour.

Belgian police are asking the public to help finding the man in this newly released surveillance video. It shows him walking away from the Brussels airport after the March 22nd terrorist attacks. He's the same suspect show in images from the airport before the bombings.

Less than 50 kilometers east of the Syrian capital, ISIS has reportedly overrun a large cement plant and taken more than 300 work workers captive. Syrian forces have been battling ISIS in the area and reports say dozens of people have been killed.

In Bangladesh, the brutal murder of this man killed right here are showing the dangers of criticizing religion in that country. Police say a gang armed with machetes hacked secular writer Nazimuddin Samad to death in the streets of Dhaka on Wednesday. Samad is the sixth writer critical of religious extremism killed in Dhaka in the last 14 months.

Well, here in Los Angeles it's not uncommon to turn on the local news and catch a car chase on your TV screen, but one wild pursuit, which made the headlines on Thursday, a little crazier than usual. Here's Sara Sidner

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The range just makes it that much worse.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Only in L.A. A high speed chase in a convertible.

UNIDENTIIFED MALE: You see this guy, he's kind of standing, like, leaning out of his car.

[00:35:01] SIDNER: The occupant, suspected of burglary and (inaudible) while fleeing. Dancing, then doing donuts.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: Yeah, look at that. Whoa!

SIDNER: After donuts on Hollywood Boulevard, a view of the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; then police move in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa! Got some spike strips. Got some spike strips.

SIDNER: The car escapes with one less tire, but gets back on the Freeway. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't want to give props to somebody, but whatever the manufacturer of those tires, got to give them kudos for sure. TMZ! Look at that truck.

SIDNER: Then a TMZ tour bus changing lanes, blocks the drivers path. The fleeing passenger throws something at it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, that was a Hollywood moment, for sure. Spiderman was pointing at him.

SIDNER: Crowds begin to gather on the street, harkening back to this: L.A's most famous chase, the O.J. Simpson pursuit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at all those cars stopped on the Freeway above it, and overpassed.

SIDNER: Same celebrity culture, but this time with social media in mind. As the chase ends, the driver poses on the hood. Selfies are taken, and #pursuit trends on Twitter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those are sheriff's.

SIDNER: Police finally swoop in, detaining three people. The chase entertaining to some, but utterly dangerous. The latest statistics available from the National Institutes of Health, on average 320 people are killed each year in police chases.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Wow! And, CNN's Sara Sidner is here with us now for more on the car chasing. We were all watching this earlier here today, in L.A. You know, Los Angeles has car chases, but this seemed to be unusual. They're not often like this.

SIDNER: We weren't the only ones watching. I mean, it trended on Twitter; social media went wild with this; people watching every single thing, because this car chase had some extra entertainment, if you will.

Yes, they are extremely dangerous. If you look at the video, you can see a couple of times when the driver is nearly hitting other cars.

VAUSE: Sure.

SIDNER: He does hit a car, but what you also saw was guys who were playing to the cameras. Everyone in this city knows that when there's a car chase, if you happen to be in one, there's always a helicopter above; always watching what you're doing. So they started playing to these helicopters and then at the end, they started taking selfies.

VAUSE: Which was incredible, but this was like a shared moment, social media moment; wasn't it? That's what was so bizarre about it.

SIDNER: Yet it very much was. Right, so once people got hold of social media and they see this happening in their neighborhoods, everyone starts sharing. It really speaks to the celebrity culture, doesn't it? I mean, these people -

VAUSE: Especially here in L.A.

SIDNER: Exactly, and across the country really because this wasn't just trending in L.A. I mean, people started paying attention to this all over the place and it speaks to the sort of oh, my gosh, look at that. It's that sort of thing, like, you can't look away.

It also speaks to something else, which worries law enforcement, which is if people start playing to cameras while they're doing this sort of thing and they want their 15 minutes of fame, they can very easily do it by doing something terrible and this could have ended very, very badly.

VAUSE: Okay, so what happens in the two people in that car right now? Obviously there's some criminal proceedings and maybe a reality TV show when they come out.

SIDNER: Probably. So what you're probably going to see from police, because they're going to look through that video, and look at every singling instance where there was a traffic violation, and there were many, if you take a look at that video. They hit a car. They were speeding through lights, I mean, all sorts of things.

VAUSE: Donuts on the Freeway.

SIDNER: Donuts on the Freeway, public nuisance, but they are also suspected of burglary. So of course, that investigation has to go on too. So they're going to look at all these things in conjunction with each other and then figure out what to charge them with.

VAUSE: It was, as we said, an incredible moment.

SIDNER: Yes it was.

VAUSE: Sara, thank you. Well, American Idol is saying good-bye after 15 seasons and when we come back, a little nostalgia. A little time to relive those memories. Stay with us.

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VAUSE: Trent Harmon, from Mississippi, the last winner ever, of all time, of the legendary talent show "American Idol" after the last 15 years. Millions of fans are now looking back on a truly remarkable run for this franchise.

Our Brian Stelter was there to see the lights dim for the last time there. It was -- I got a little nostalgic. I got a little sad.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I did too.

VAUSE: Looking back, I mean, we grew up with this show.

STELTER: It felt like a festive funeral there at the Dolby Theatre a couple of hours ago. Everyone super aware, hyper aware, this show was ending, although I have to add, maybe not forever. We'll see. I have a feeling this program will be back. It's too good to retire forever, but for now it is in retirement and it won't be back for a couple of years.

VAUSE: Seacrest did the old "Seacrest out for now".

STELTER: Right, you noticed that; right?

VAUSE: Yes.

STELTER: Good night, for now, and I think he would like to be back some day. There's a lot of young singers out there that would love to audition someday, but you, know, Idol does need to be reinvented. It was getting long in the tooth. When I was there a few weeks ago, at the studio, people agreed it's sort of time to retire this franchise.

Let's think about how huge it was. 30, 40 million people watching every night, about ten years ago.

VAUSE: Absolutely.

STELTER: We're never going to see anything like that again.

VAUSE: What was ma -- you don't get the President to appear on your last episode ever unless there's something special going on.

STELTER: And he said it in four words: this show transformed television.

VAUSE: Yes, absolutely. The other thing too which I think was interesting, we had the original judges back, you know, Randy "Dawg" -

STELTER: This was the best part, Simon Cowell back.

BAUSE: Actually, Simon Cowell was back, and he was the usual Simon Cowell. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON COWELL, FORMER JUDGE, "AMERICAN IDOL": I just thought this would be a good opportune on behalf of myself, Randy, Ryan for Paula to apologize, over the years for being so mean to the contestants, when we were trying to be nurturing, helpful, you were really horrible and I think now is the time to apologize to America.

RYAN SEACREST, HOST, "AMERICAN IDOL": It's a good point.

PAULA ABDUL, FORMER JUDGE, "AMERICAN IDOL": Unbelievable. Unbelievable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: He hasn't changed a bit. I'm just wondering when the moment though, the moment when Simon Cowell left the show as a judge -

STELTER: Yes.

VAUSE: -- was that kind of the turning point? Did it go downhill from there?

STELTER: I think it was death by a thousand cuts, as one former FOX executive said, but I think Cowell was the biggest cut of all. Certainly there's no one like him. There was no way to replace him. Producers tried and tried and tried and weren't able to do so. When I say there were 30, 40 million viewers, watching ten years ago, the slide did happen when he left. Nowadays you get 10 million, which is still great for primetime TV in 2016, but the show is not what it used to be.

It was so innovative at the time. It introduced interactivity, letting you call in to vote.

VAUSE: And the text.

STELTER: It was a big deal back then.

VAUSE: You could dial on your phone, yes.

STELTER: And now days you take that for granted. So whatever this show is going to become, if it is going to come back, it will have to be reinvented.

VAUSE: Let's talk about - this started out as Pop Idol from the U.K. -

STELTER: Yes, we've got to give the Brits credit for this one.

VAUSE: Absolutely; everyone copied the American Idol format. They copied it all around the world, in more than 50 countries, and there were some amazing scenes on these international versions of Idol.

One of my favorites, take a look at this. You'll probably remember this; it came from Bulgarian idol.

That was (inaudible) Mariah Carey song, "Can't live".

STELTER: I don't know I would call it singing, but it was something.

VAUSE: I guess the question though, you know, can they ever repeat this? We think it might be back, but are the conditions there for something like this to be repeated? With the internet now, we've got so many other choices.

STELTER: You know, in so many ways anyone can become an American idol now through Instagram and Facebook and Twitter and SnapChat. Teenagers, singers can become famous themselves without a TV show like "American Idol" but I do think we'll see a live streaming version of this kind of thing because a singing competition, a talent search is as basic as apple pie. It's as basic as Coke or Pepsi. It's something that's such a part of the American brand, it's also expected all around the world.

VAUSE: Exactly; that was the thing it did. It was like you can go out there, you can be great, you can try your heart out and you can succeed. STELTER: It's basic storytelling and always a basic yearning for that.

VAUSE: So good to see you here in Los Angeles. Thanks for joining me; and thank you for watching "CNN Newsroom" live. World sport is up next. you're watching CNN.

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