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Police in Belgium Have Charged Terror Suspect Mohamed Abrini; Democratic Caucuses in Wyoming Under Way; Donald Trump Hired A Convention Manager. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired April 9, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:00:17] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right. Hello again, everyone. And thanks so much for joining me. I am Fredricka Whitfield.

We are following developments in the race for president and the war on terror. There are delegates on both sides up for grabs out west in the race for the White House. As we speak, the Democratic caucuses in Wyoming have just begun. Live pictures of people there in Cheyenne.

And in Colorado, it is day two of that state's Republican convention in Colorado Springs. Senator Ted Cruz will be delivering remarks there momentarily after others who are on stage right now finish. So far Cruz has won all of the delegates up for grabs in that state thus far. The final 13 delegates will be awarded today. We will bring you more on politics in a moment.

But first.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: This out of Brussels right now. Police in Belgium have charged Mohamed Abrini for participating in the activities of a terrorist group. Abrini was arrested in raids on Friday. Prosecutors still won't confirm if he is the man in the hat seen at the Brussels airport before the bombings. They have also identified Usama Krayem as the second present at the subway attack in Brussels.

Police also carrying out new raids today in a neighborhood of (INAUDIBLE). Dozens of police officers moving into the area as residents there evacuate.

CNN producer Kellie Morgan is in Brussels for us and terror analyst Bob Baer is also standing by.

So Kellie, let me begin with you. What more can you tell us about charges announced today?

KELLIE MORGAN, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Yes. Charges against to some of those suspects that were arrested yesterday. He said the key suspects says the Paris men wanted in connection to the Paris attacks, Mohamed Abrini. Now, what we are learning is that he is also being charged in

connection to the Brussels attacks. So one man involved in both attacks. So we are getting a clear link here of the breach of the terror cell.

Now, interestingly as well, you mentioned Usama Krayem. This man, prosecutors say they also have evidence. And he was the man who bought suitcases and bags used in those blast. Now, we also know that one of the properties that was raided yesterday was that is believed to be that of Abrini. That happened after the dramatic arrest. You remember the pictures seeing him walking along a street in plain sight when he was pounced on by those police and taken into custody.

Now this is being treated as a coup by Belgian authority for two reasons. Abrini, of course, now (INAUDIBLE) in both in the Paris and the Belgium attacks. So we are starting to get a better idea of the reach of the terror cell, how well coordinated it is. Then secondly, with having Krayem identified as the airport second bomber, and if indeed as widely being reported in the Belgian media that Abrini is confirmed as the third airport bomber, what we essentially have here are two men who walked away from those blasts. Now the question is why? Did they simply back out at the last minute or is this something slightly more sinister in that they are coordinators of those attacks and they needed to survive because there are other plots in the planning. And that is the concern for police. They are in custody now and they will be questioning those men as much as they can to find out what else is going on and what else is in the planning.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kellie Morgan, thank you so much for that.

All right. I want to bring in now Bob Baer. He is a CNN intelligence and security analyst, a former CIA operative.

All right. Good to see you.

So what about the last point that Kellie was making about whether authorities are trying to figure out the two recently arrested, they were part of the plots. Did they chicken out at the last minute or are they part of another operation, some of the planners of what could be another operation. How will investigators get to the bottom of that?

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Fred, I think you have to look at Abrini, if that indeed was him at the airport in Brussels. He is wearing a hat, special hair, big glasses, big heavy jacket. It looks like to me he was evading coverage by CCTV cameras. So I am only going to go on a limb, say he was probably the minder, to make sure these guys went through with the attack. They may have had some sort a dead man switch on those carts. So if they changed their mind, it would still blow up. And the other Krayem was probably the minor for the subway bombers. And yes, we can assume that they were planning other attacks.

But Fredricka, the other thing is they arrested a sixth suspect today that had been under house arrest. He had gone to Syria where he lost a leg, came back. They knew he was there, a member of the Islamic state. They simply let him go on 15th of March. So these people are very much operating in the open. It is like a hostile army in parts of Brussels that are sort of doing what they will.

[13:05:15] WHITFIELD: So with these arrests, I mean, potentially they have got so much information to divulge, but will they, would they divulge, I mean, what are your expectations about how law enforcement would be able to get information from them before they were to be prosecuted?

BAER: I have spent years talking to these people in various prisons around the world, Jihadists, and I have yet to see any of them confess, give up information. They're still committed. They'll probably tell a whole string of lies.

I think what the Belgian police are doing is the right thing. You just have to knock down doors, get into computers, find out what's in their pockets, connect these people. You can't do this any longer by data mining. You simply have to do raids. And they're doing the right thing.

WHITFIELD: And do you feel like with the arrests the people thus far involved, particularly as we talk about the Brussels attack, that they are really are the tip of the iceberg that perhaps the network there in Brussels is far larger than anyone's expectations?

BAER: I think that anybody who is gone to Syria engaged in that very, very nasty civil war there is going to come back committed jihadist and are liable to carry out attacks. Belgium has most number of people in terms of population going to Syria, so I do think it is tip of the iceberg. Anybody coming back from Syria is potentially a suicide bomber.

WHITFIELD: All right, Bob Baer, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Good to see you.

All right. Still ahead, the fight for Democratic delegates is under way. Voters in Wyoming are caucusing to give at least one candidate their delegates. We will get an inside look from Wyoming, a lawmaker there, next.

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[13:10:06] WHITFIELD: All right, two major political events happening right now. On the left, Democratic caucuses in Wyoming under way. And on the right of your screen, the Colorado state Republican convention in Colorado Springs under way.

So let's begin in Wyoming. That's where Bernie Sanders is hoping to cut off Clinton's delegate lead today. Clinton is hoping for a big win after collecting key endorsements from the state's top Democrats.

Let's talk more about it with Democratic Wyoming state representative and Bernie Sanders supporter Charles Pelkey who is joining us on the phone.

So representative, who should feel confident in Wyoming now? REP. CHARLES PELKEY (D), WYOMING (on the phone): Well, if Laramie is

any indication, Bernie Sanders is going to do very well here today. I mean, we have a massive turnout at the Albany county caucus. And I would guess at least 80 percent of those people are Bernie supporters, maybe a little bit less, but it is a big turnout. And I think that, you know, the caucus structure tends to favor Bernie Sanders I think largely because it requires a degree of enthusiasm and that certainly that is -- this campaign has generated quite a bit of enthusiasm, particularly among young people.

WHITFIELD: Right. So Bernie Sanders has a trend going. You know, he does well. He does much better than Hillary Clinton does in the caucuses. But in the case of Wyoming where Hillary Clinton and her camp maybe went into this feeling confident because there were so many, you know, delegates or superdelegates or even, you know, leaders who endorsed Hillary Clinton. Does that give her a false sense of security?

PELKEY: Well, I mean, in terms of superdelegates in the state, we have four. All four of them have committed to Hillary Clinton already, but you know. I mean, one of the things that we are hoping for is to send a strong message to party leadership that they ought to listen to the voters. And if we have a very strong turnout for Bernie Sanders in the state today, and I think we will, I think it will send a message. I don't think those uncommitted or superdelegates are solid.

WHITFIELD: Is Wyoming more significantly part of the equation in this caucusing this year?

PELKEY: I'm having trouble hearing you.

PELKEY: OK. Well, how about now? It does seem like a lot of interference on our line. OK. Now hopefully it is a little bit better. Do you feel like Wyoming is in the race different this election season than presidential years prior?

PELKEY: Well, I mean, we have in 2008, we had a very, very strong turnout for Barack Obama. You know, I mean, Wyoming Democrats are a very small minority. I mean, there are 60 members in the House of Representatives and only nine of us are Democrats. That said, I think that the committed Democratic Party members tend to be more progressive than even in other states.

WHITFIELD: So right now you are a Bernie Sanders supporter, but if it is Hillary Clinton who becomes the party nominee, would you be supporting her?

PELKEY: Absolutely. I mean, you look at the alternatives, you know. What do we have? We have Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. There are a lot of people I would vote for before I consider voting for them. So -- and I will definitely support my party's nominee. I just -- my only hope is that if she gets the nomination, she does it on her own and not with the sole support of superdelegates.

WHITFIELD: All right. Representative Charles Pelkey of Wyoming, thanks so much for your time. Happy caucusing today.

PELKEY: Take care. Have a good day.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you.

All right. And now I believe we are going to some breaking news here. This is out of Brussels. Mohamed Abrini admitting to be the man in the hat at the Brussels airport. Mohamed Abrini has admitted to being the third suspect seen on surveillance video with Brussels airport bombers. The Belgian federal prosecutor is telling CNN this. Again, you're seeing that video shortly after the explosion taking place at the airport.

In this statement, the federal prosecutor's office can now confirm that the man that you see walking there in that video is that of Mohamed Abrini right there in that shot to the far right. You know the other two suicide bombers to the left, pushing the carts, killed in the explosion that killed 30 people roughly and the person who had been widely searched for in that trench coat, and wearing that rain hat there now apparently according to the Brussels authorities, the person who was arrested in raids earlier, Mohamed Abrini.

Mohamed Abrini now telling authorities in Brussels that that is indeed him, the man in the trench coat and rain hat there that they had this extensive search looking for him for a very long time.

Kelly Morgan is now joining us from Brussels right now.

What more can you tell us about this, I guess, admission, right, that's how prosecutors are putting it, authorities are putting it, an admission from Mohamed Abrini that he was the man in the trench coat. Tell us more.

Reporter: Hello, Fred. Is that a question to me? So I think I missed it.

WHITFIELD: Yes, indeed. Question to you. So authorities are now saying indeed, he admitted to this, right, Mohamed Abrini admitting to this. Why do they believe him?

MORGAN: Well, that is the question, isn't it? I mean, how can you believe someone who allegedly carries out these kind of attacks? Extraordinary developments really. He has told police that he's dumped his distinctive white coat in a garbage bin on his escape that he made between the airport and the city center and extraordinarily that he sold his hat. Extraordinary confession really. And as you say, do police believe it? We do know that he definitely got rid of the jacket, we saw the CCTV footage that police released on Thursday appealing for public help in trying to identify this man. And here we are two days later, he's in custody. He has identified himself as the third airport bomber. And also we have the other man that police were hunting, the second metro bomber who has been identified as well.

So we've got two men here we have been searching for them more than two and a half weeks now, finally have them in custody. And you would assume they are being questioned by police to find out whether or not they were involved in any other plots were in the planning.

WHITFIELD: So Kellie, are investigators revealing more as to how this confession came about? I Mean, was this is after many hours of probing, was this strictly voluntary on his part? Do we know any details like that?

MORGAN: We haven't been given any detail about that. I mean, he has been in custody for around 24 hours now. And of course, we had that raid today. So there seems to have been some information that has been forthcoming because we had this raid earlier today in an area of Brussels that was thought to be the safe house of the terror cell. That we are being told there was no ammunition or explosives found there, so it is very difficult to say. And we are kind of getting this information, these development just dropped to us at various times in the day. So we must keep the interest in the story going, it feels that way.

But just a short while ago prosecutors were saying that they couldn't confirm that he was the third airport bomber and here we are saying that he has made the confession and he, indeed, was.

WHITFIELD: Very important development.

All right. Thank you so much, Kellie Morgan bringing us that from Brussels.

We'll be right back.

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[13:22:07] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I am Fredricka Whitfield. This breaking news out of Belgium, among those arrested in the recent raids there just a month after those horrific, deadly explosions at the Brussels airport as well as a subway, among those arrested Mohamed Abrini now telling law enforcement that he is that third suspect in the airport, the one in the hat. The man in the hat, the man in the trench coat that authorities have been looking for.

You remember the surveillance video showing three believed suspects involved in the bombing at that Brussels airport, two men who were pushing a cart. They were the suicide bombers. And then this man you see here that has circled in the trench coat. He, too, was accompanying the suicide bombers.

Intelligence expert Bob Baer with us now.

So Bob now, your reaction to what we are hearing from authorities there in Brussels saying that Mohamed Abrini confessed saying I'm the man in the hat, the man in the trench coat. What's your feeling on this?

BAER: This is great. I mean, the Belgian police are finally doing their job. They're putting the pieces together, arresting people, connecting the dots, which they should have been doing since November 13th, since the Paris attacks. I mean, now they are going to ask the question were you the minder, and how was that bomb built, you know, how was this directed and the rest of it. So, you know, getting these people behind bars is key to breaking down this cell.

WHITFIELD: And, you know, based on our conversation less than 15 minutes ago, I think you did a great job of explaining how so infrequently suspects of this caliber would reveal anything, and that this suspect would then admit to and say I am the man in the hat, the man in that trench coat. You know, why would that suspect be compelled to do that because now, you know, he is offering an opening, that there might be more information I can divulge? Why would he do that?

BAER: Well, I am sure by now they have his DNA from the bombing site, from the safe house and the rest of it. So I mean, he just confronted with facts. Often these prisoners would just admit to facts that the police already know, can establish scientifically. You know, the question is, is he going to cut a deal to give up the rest of the cell. And like I said before, that is very rare, and it takes a good interrogator to get it done.

And remember, the Belgians don't - they don't torture. They are not going to put any physical pressure on this person. So they just have to keep wear him out in a cell and the rest of it. And often sometimes these people will be loyal to family and they will do favors for the family. But again, that's very rare.

WHITFIELD: And then, Bob, help explain what potentially would his role have been? Here's that image. Here is that image of the two on the left, you know, where the suicide bombers who carried out the attack. Here he is in the trench coat and the hat, if that's indeed, you know, Mohamed Abrini. He admits to being that person. That he would be playing a role of making sure the other two executed, carry out the plan and he potentially would move on helping to plot other potential plans? Help explain the dynamic potentially.

[13:25:29] BAER: Well, you know, typically you will have a minder in one of these operations that if the suicide bomber changes his mind, you can remotely detonate the charge because what you don't want to do is leave these guys in the airport to throw up their hands, give everything to the police. So I mean, this obviously is a brutal business. And they like an outsider to be able to ultimately control the switches. We will find that out, but you know, in the past they have done that.

WHITFIELD: OK. Also joining us, Fred Pleitgen.

Fred, you have been covering this since it happened. Tell us more about what investigators are willing to reveal, maybe they reveal some circumstances in to which this Mohamed Abrini made the confession?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. I mean, it is one of the things they were actually very keen to tell us, Fredricka. We were on the phone with a federal prosecutor just a couple of minutes ago. But they also put out that statement. And I want to read it to you because it does shed a little bit of light as to why potentially Mohamed Abrini did reveal that he was in fact that so-called man in the hat. So the federal prosecutors says and I quote, the federal prosecutors'

office can now confirm that Mohamed Abrini indeed is the third man present at the Brussels national airport attacks. After being confronted with the results of the different expert examinations, he confessed his presence at the crime scene. He explained having thrown away his vest in a garbage bin, and having sold his hat afterwards, we spoke to the federal prosecutor as I said a couple minutes ago. And he told us that the tools that they use were apparently electronic facial recognition tools. And it was when Mohamed Abrini was confronted with that that at some point he confessed that yes, indeed, he was the man in the hat. And then later, also told them about how exactly he went about leaving the airport.

Remember, a couple days ago the authorities here in Belgium put forward those video images essentially showing him going from the airport all the way into town where he left the airport building, then he went past a rental car counter. And at some point then you could see him, and he had gotten rid of the jacket. And now he says he dumped the jacket. He apparently sold the hat, he claims. And he said that that's how he made his getaway.

How much is he talking at this point? That is very much unclear. But certainly the information that the federal prosecutor's office here in Belgium has disclosed today both about Mohamed Abrini but also about Usama Krayem, as well. Him, having essentially been the second person at the metro bombing that happened on the same day, that's certainly is a lot of new information that the authorities have been able to gather in a very, very short period of time after the arrests. And of course only happened yesterday evening.

WHITFIELD: All right. Extraordinary detail. Thank you so much, Fred and Bob. We are not done talking about this.

Again, stay with us. We are just learning that a terror suspect arrested is the person who admits to being the man in the hat right there, the man in the trench coat at the Brussels airport during the terror attacks. We'll have much more right after this.

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[13:31:51] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. This breaking news in Belgium. Authorities say now they have that third suspect from the Brussels airport bombing that led to the deaths of 30 people. The bombing that took place there at the airport as well as in the subway. The third suspect, the person who are being circled there, the man in the hat, Mohamed Abrini, arrested during recent raids, now admitting according to Brussels authorities to be the man in the hat.

We continue our coverage now with CNN intelligence expert Bob Baer as well as Fred Pleitgen who has been covering the story sine it happened a month ago.

So Fred, back to you on the details that we are now learning. Authorities revealing he admits to being the man in the hat, the man in the trench coat there, but under what circumstances did the admission come? PLEITGEN: Yes. It was interesting, Fredricka. When we spoke to the

federal prosecutor, (INAUDIBLE) said a couple minutes ago, he really made a point to tell us that this was not something that was only relying on circumstantial evidence. He said that this was more than them just doing the tests and facial recognition as well. They made clear that he actually admitted to this after being confronted with some of the evidence that they presented.

Now, they said most of that was indeed electronic, facial recognition tools that they used. And then when he was confronted with them at some point he said yes, it is me on that picture. And then later also apparently told them the exact way that he then left that airport.

And it is interesting. If you remember, a couple of days ago there was that video that was put out by the Belgian authorities that essentially showed that man in the hat leaving the airport, and they are going all the way into the town fairly casually. And he now described that that's exactly what he did. That he dumped his coat. And then he essentially sold the hat that he was wearing, which apparently was also part of the disguise.

The authorities here, of course, we are going to continue to question him. But he has now been charged with being part of a terrorist operation. And so certainly, they can keep him in detention. We will keep try to squeeze information out of him, not just of course about the Brussels attacks but about the Paris attacks as well where he, of course, is also implicated as having been the person to essentially drive Salah Abdeslam and some of the others to Paris to conduct the attacks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And Bob, what would be the method, the technique in your view that interrogators or police there in Brussels would be able to, you know, use, execute in order to get this kind of admission out of him?

BAER: Well, Fred, what they will do is simply drive home the facts they know which is, you know, forensics, DNA, facial recognition. You know, they are going to ask him about the hat, for instance. Why were you in disguise in the airport, if indeed you intended to blow yourself up? Doesn't make sense.

There's a lot of inconsistencies in his story like selling his hat. I mean, that doesn't make sense. You throw it away. What happened to the vest? Why hasn't that been recovered? For instance, why didn't you blow yourself up right then and there? Were you going to hit first responders which is a typical ISIS tactic, set up an explosion, wait for the police and ambulance to show up, then blow yourself up?

There are so many things they are just going to be able to drive home with him because they know so much at this point, and they will catch him in lies. And you can count on it. He is not going to exactly be truthful from the beginning. So this could take a very long process. We will say we know everything, and you help us here or we will just take the facts we know and do you in with that.

[13:35:125] WHITFIELD: So Fred, did investigators reveal anything about, you know, his role specifically? I mean, we talk about him, the man in the hat. But then his role, was he indeed a miner to try to make sure the other two carried out, you know, their attack that they did, you know, set off their explosives. Is there any kind of suspicion as to whether he was going to be involved in another planned attack? Are investigators saying anything about what next, what his plan may have been and his role?

PLEITGEN: No. That is the big question. Certainly, it is not something that they have, at least, told us. That they found anything out about. First of all, what could be planned in the future? And that, of course, is that's a question here on the ground in Belgium. Remember after Salah Abdeslam was captured, it was only three days later that the Brussels attacks took place. Whether or not there are plenty other people out there.

But one of the other things that investigators here will be very, very interested in as well is why did they target the targets that they did? Why did they hit the metro station? Why did they target Brussels for instance and not, for instance, Paris. Again, if you remember back to the investigation of the Brussels attacks, one of the laptops that was found from one of the suicide bombers described that suicide bomber as saying that he felt they were on the run. That the police were onto them. And that they essentially decided very quickly to then conduct these Brussels attacks.

Now, the big question is was there something bigger in the works? Was there a larger plan? Was there something longer term that perhaps got thwarted by the fact that Salah Abdeslam got captured? And is there any more insight that Mohamed Abrini could give as far as the logistics are concern.

As far as the - we have been speaking to the investigators. He is apparently always been treated as someone who was fairly senior in all this. He was obviously very close to Salah Abdeslam. He was among the people who drove that Renault car to Paris right before the Paris attacks were conducted. He was apparently also at the apartment in Schaerbeek which was used as the main weapons lab for the Brussels attacks. And so, certainly, he is someone who is very much on the radar of the police, and someone who they were definitely seeking to catch in someone who they always treated as being fairly senior in the plots both in Paris but in Brussels as well.

WHITFIELD: And Fred, this arrest came as a result of the raids we have been seeing over the last, you know, 24 to 48 hours. Are investigators revealing anything more about more arrests anticipated, other people being watched and the parameters of those raids, or do they feel like, you know, this was the big catch they were looking for?

PLEITGEN: Well, they certainly seem to believe that there could still be other people on the run. And it is certainly the history of the arrests that we have seen so far in this case seem to indicate that at the very least there were people who helped facilitate and helped hide these people after the Paris attacks and leading up to the Brussels attacks. If you look at the case of Salah Abdeslam, when he was apprehended by

the authorities in Molenbeek, there were several people inside that apartment with him. When another apartment was raided in the forest district here in Brussels, there were several people in that apartment as well. And if you look at Abrini when he was taken in by the police there last night, there were two other people. So certainly, the police does believe that at least there are some people who might have known about this cell and helped facilitate this cell being able to operate, whether or not they're in the inner circle is certainly something that is still very much questionable.

Now, there was a big raid that happened earlier today in the (INAUDIBLE) that I saw firsthand for several hours. And the police then later told us that there was no explosives, no weapons found in an apartment that they raided there in (INAUDIBLE), but they do believe that an apartment in that complex may have been used by these terror suspects as a safe house. And that's something that certainly does appear to be in line with the sort of pattern that we have been seeing around the Brussels attacks where an apartment that the police thought was empty all of a sudden had several terror suspects in there, one senior terror suspect was shot there in the forest apartment. The apartment in Schaerbeek that was used as the main weapons lab, they thought that was empty as well.

And so, it has appeared to be a pattern, that there was a series of safe houses in the city. And certainly, there might still be some out there.

WHITFIELD: All right, Fred Pleitgen, Bob Baer, thank you so much. We will continue this conversation after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:43:18] WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Let's talk the road to the White House. Has Republican frontrunner Donald Trump modified his style a little bit? For example, his tweets a little less provocative than what we are used to. Here is the latest one last night saying quote "isn't it a shame that the person who will have by far the most delegates and many millions more votes than anyone else, me, still must fight." This following the hiring of his new convention manager, Paul Manafort.

So, will we start to see a tamer Trump? Are we already seeing a tamer Trump?

Let's bring in Ben Ferguson, CNN political commentator and Michael Toner. He is a CNN delegate analyst. Good to see you guys.

Ben, you first. Well, are we going to get more of this? Is it a tamer Trump or just, you know, a rest pit for a moment?

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No. I don't think you are going to see a tamer Donald Trump. And what he said in co-word here is a narrative that if somehow if he goes to convention, and it is not his convention and he is not the nominee, that it was stolen from him.

The fact is Donald Trump knew the rules when he got into the race. He understood there was a magic number, 1237. And he is not going to get to that number looks like before the convention. I'll even use Donald Trump's own standard for this. He said that Mitt Romney was a huge loser. Mitt Romney was even able to get this number and secure the nomination. He also said John McCain was a loser. John McCain was also able to get 1237 and secure the nomination. I think it tells you just how weak of a candidate Donald Trump is and also tells you how many people are voting against him instead of for him. And the fact is Donald Trump understands winning better than anybody. He talks about it all the time. And he also understands losing. He calls everyone else losers. So guess what, he may be a loser going into the convention.

[13:45:18] WHITFIELD: So Michael, weak a candidate as Ben would say or clever because while, you know, Donald Trump seems to be spontaneous, we also know that, you know, a lot of this is very much planned. And now, he has hired Paul Manafort to help him win this Republican nomination. In fact, this is what Paul had to say on the air with us about why he believes Trump even hired him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL MANAFORT, DONALD TRUMP'S CONVENTION MANAGER: That there becomes a time when winning isn't enough. But it is how you win and how much you win. And he recognized this was the time and he reached out to some people who suggested me. We got together. I have known Donald since the 1980s, and we talked about it. And he felt I could help him as I felt and he made the changes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So Michael, is this the start of something new in Donald Trump's campaign?

MICHAEL TONIER, CNN DELEGATE ANALYST: Well, I think it is start of a new phase in this presidential campaign. Paul Manafort, by the way, a terrific hire, very knowledgeable of party rules, and he has worked a large number of conventions.

As Ben pointed out, the magic number, 1237, Donald Trump has two ways to get nominated. First way is to get over 1237 before the convention. There's a chance. He can do that, although statistically, it is challenging. But the second way is that Donald Trump is short of 1237. There will be a pool of unbound delegates, perhaps as many as 150 to 200 unbound delegates. And if Donald Trump gets enough of those unbound delegates to join the delegates he has already won, he can get over the top that way as well. And that after all is how Gerald Ford was nominated in 1976, which was the last national convention where we could not know who would be nominated in the convention began. President Ford was short of majority threshold going into convention, but he got enough of the unbound delegates to go over the top and defeat Ronald Reagan in 1976.

FERGUSON: Fredricka? WHITFIELD: Yes. Go ahead, Ben.

FERGUSON: One big thing here is you may see Donald Trump change his tone because you have to be friendly with people if you need them to come to your side at a convention. One of his biggest liabilities has been how nasty he has been toward every other candidate, how much trash talking he has done.

And so, if you're a delegate that was leaning toward someone else or you were initially a Rubio delegate, for example, or a Kasich delegate if it comes down to him dropping out, Ben Carson even, are you going to like going to Donald Trump's side when he has been so nasty to Rubio, little Rubio, Jeb Bush, all these things play into it. And it does not play to his favor now.

WHITFIELD: So I wonder also, you know, gentlemen, if Donald Trump feels like, you know, Ted Cruz, well, you know, delegate count, you know, may be quite lopsided, while he still may feel a Ted Cruz kind of nipping at his heels, particularly Colorado. It looks like Ted Cruz is doing very well. Donald Trump so far, he hasn't gotten any of those delegates. Today, 13 up for grab. We will see what happens at the end of the day.

But you know, Michael, is this also an indicator that Trump sees, that OK, you have to get to 1237. If he doesn't have that, and like you said, he has got to endear himself to those who are, you know, undecided that could sway, that really it is, you know, Ted Cruz who might sneak up on him in a very serious way.

TONER: Well, Ted Cruz is clearly invested significant resources in the delegate selection process over the last - many months. They have been very organized, very focused. But Donald Trump is ramping up his resources here, the hiring of Paul Manafort, the broadening the delegate team. We will have to see how it goes over the next two months.

I think everyone understands this is going to go all the way to the California, New Jersey primary in early June. Because until we get past the California and New Jersey primary, we are not going to know if any candidate gets over 1237. It is really not possible for any candidate to go over 1237 until the California and New Jersey primary. So really we have the next 60 days to see how the various campaigns do in this arena.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much. Go ahead real quick.

FERGUSON: Yes. It also shows I think that the holds that Donald Trump has on his campaign structure. He basically thought he was going to be able to win this. And he didn't have to worry about delegates. He didn't have a ground game virtually anywhere when it came to delegates. He is coming very late to the party. And this is one of those weaknesses I think in his leadership. He said I am going to do it my way. Well, doing it his way has cost him. And the only person he can blame is himself for this one. As an executive, he should have known better, and should have that ground game ready.

WHITFIELD: OK. We will leave it right there. Ben Ferguson, Michael Toner, thanks so much, gentlemen. Appreciate it.

FERGUSON: Thanks.

TONER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. John Kerry, meantime, the secretary of state making a surprise visit to Afghanistan today. We will go live to Kabul and hear why he had a stern message over growing division in that country's leadership.

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[13:53:34] WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. So right now, U.S. secretary of state John Kerry is wrapping up a trip to Afghanistan. He met with Afghan leaders to push them to improve security in Afghanistan and ease political in-fighting.

I want to bring in Nick Paton Walsh in Kabul.

No Nick, Kerry helped broker a unity deal back in 2014 in Afghanistan. Is that pact crumbling or was the meeting today in any way connected to the work he had already done?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think most people view Kerry's trips here as a way being politically timely. There will be no greater political sense of crisis, frankly, in the past few weeks, but many have criticized lack of action and cohesion in this national unity government within Kabul.

But the key issue here, security, brought home in the last minutes here. Behind us, pretty much, according to pool notes we have been getting from the journalists traveling with secretary Kerry, his plane has been taking off before pretty loud explosions of rocked what seems to be - we can't tell precisely because of dark behind us. But what's around the diplomatic area here of Kabul. That's where the U.S. has its embassy, where other countries have their embassies, too.

Let's say we don't know precisely what caused the explosions they have. The sound familiar you might hear from when a shell land which will be pretty regular here for Kabul. But the timing, frankly, impossible to ignore as John Kerry makes this visit here where security is frankly top of the list. It's clear these four separate explosions are highly unlikely to being some ill-timed repetitive accident. They are much more likely be related to insurgent activity.

And this comes really ahead potentially the most powerless what is called fighting season that Afghanistan seen for years. (INAUDIBLE) when the weather warms up. There is always more high level of violence here and many concerned that the Taliban are so much on the offensive in the south of the country particularly in (INAUDIBLE). They could in fact take its key capital at some point in the near future here.

Those blasts behind me just echo, really, the level of violence that is swirling around the capital. In the country as a whole, according to U.S. figures responsible for 5.5 thousand Afghan soldiers keep losing their lives just last year alone. That is way more than NATO lost in the entire war here. And sadly, Afghan civilians saw 11,000 casualties dead and injured last year alone, 3500 deaths.

The numbers are astronomical at this stage. And I think no real greater way of proving how poor security is here in Afghanistan. It is just moments after the U.S. secretary of state pulls out of the capital you hear four explosions take off.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much in Kabul.

All right, we will be back at the top of the hour with the latest on the major terrorism arrest in Belgium. Authorities say they now have the so-called man in the hat, the third suspect in the airport bombing in custody.

We'll be right back.

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