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Trump Accuses Republican Elites of Trying to Steal Nomination; Hunting Boko Haram; Plan to Make Interstellar Travel a Reality; Brazilian President May Face Impeachment; Suspicious Man Arrested at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam; Scientists Taking Images of Human Brain on LSD. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired April 13, 2016 - 03:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:00] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: Rigged, unfair, and stacked against him. Donald Trump accuses republican elites of trying to steal the nomination from him.

ERROL BARNETT, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: On the hunt for Boko Haram. We'll go inside the battle against the world's deadliest terror group and a live report.

CHURCH: And far out. The ambitious project to make interstellar travel a reality using a fleet of tiny robots.

Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. Thanks so much for staying with us. This is our second hour of CNN Newsroom.

BARNETT: I can't believe I'm actually saying this but a softer side of Trump. That's what the republican front-runner tried to present Tuesday night as he appeared with his family at a town hall sponsored by CNN.

CHURCH: With less than one week until the New York primaries, the latest Quinnipiac University poll shows Trump with a firm 55 percent of the republican vote. John Kasich is second there with 20 percent. And Ted Cruz is close behind. Despite his edge, Trump says the system is stacked against him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, AC360 SHOW HOST: You don't think the RNC wants you to get the nomination?

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, I don't think so.

COOPER: You think they're actively working against you?

TRUMP: I don't know. I mean, I don't see it. It's not like I have 15 miles of proof, but certainly they should want to have a vote of the people of Colorado. The people of Colorado, I would have won. I've won so many of the votes. I mean, the voting has been phenomenal.

That's why I've won so many more states than Ted Cruz and Kasich. You know why they change rules?

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: They have a better organization.

TRUMP: Because they saw how I was doing, and they didn't like it. Same thing in Florida. Now, I won Florida in a landslide, right? But they changed the rules so that the winner gets all because they thought Jeb Bush was going to win. He's the former governor, or Marco Rubio was going to win.

And then all of a sudden, the first poll came out and Trump was leading by a lot. And they said, what are we going to do, what are we going to do, because that was done so that I wouldn't get any delegates.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Now unfortunately, two of Donald Trump's children will not be voting for their father. It's not that they don't support him. It's just that they didn't register in time. Ivanka Trump tried to explain her and her brother's big mistake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVANKA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: New York has one of the most onerous rules in terms of registration, and it required us to register a long time ago, almost close to a year ago. And we didn't do that.

We found out about it sort of after the fact. But it was actually why I started making a series of videos to educate people in each of the individual states because every state is different. Most states you can register as late as the day of the actual primary.

COOPER: When did you realize you weren't?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And joining me now to talk more about the republican presidential town hall with Donald Trump is Philip Bump. He is a political reporter with The Washington Post. Thanks so much for being with us.

PHILIP BUMP, THE WASHINGTON POST POLITICAL REPORTER: Of course. My pleasure.

CHURCH: So, Trump says the system is stacked against him. He accuses the Republican Party of conspiring to stop him from getting the nomination. Is he right? Is that's what's going on here?

BUMP: I think there's two different issues, right? There's the question of whether or not the system is stacked against him, which I think is true. I think that the republican establishment which runs the primary process would rather he not be the nominee. I think it's been stacked against him in that regard from the beginning.

As far as the rules changing and how he was somehow cheated out of victories or delegates in Colorado, I don't buy that at all. I think he simply got outworked. I think Anderson Cooper is totally correct in saying that he ran a bad operation in Colorado.

If you look at what happened in Iowa, he was expected to win in Iowa, but he got beaten because Ted Cruz outworked him. It's the same thing that happened in Colorado. Ted Cruz outworked him. And just as happened in Iowa, after he lost, he started complaining about how Ted Cruz stole it from him, right?

It's the exact same thing we saw in Iowa. It's the same thing we're seeing in Colorado and it's the way Donald Trump responds when he loses.

CHURCH: So, given how the GOP appears to feel about Donald Trump, what do you think will likely happen at the republican convention in July?

BUMP: I think it's the -- well, one of the things that's fascinating to remember here is we're still months away from this, right? I mean, it seems as though we've been voting forever, but it started at the beginning of February. So, we still have a long time before the convention. It's a long time for the republican establishment to keep butting heads with the guy who right now leads in the delegate count.

And so, I'm curious to see how that dynamic shifts between now and July. I think if Donald Trump doesn't have the delegates he needs to win on the first vote, if he's a little bit short, I think it will probably be spotted to him and they'll figure out how they can get enough delegates from the unpledged pool to actually support him.

But if he's well short, then I think we're going to go to multiple votes and then I think it is a probably worst case scenario from the RNC from that standpoint.

CHURCH: Could you see Donald Trump going out on a third-party effort there if he doesn't get this?

[03:05:03] BUMP: Well, it's tough, right? Because he would essentially have to glom onto another party. He would have to become the designated candidate for a then actual third party as opposed to just running as an independent because otherwise he has to go through all of this leg work to get on the ballot.

And a lot of those deadlines are deadlines that are either imminent or have passed, and so he'd really need to run basically as the libertarian candidate, for example, or something along those lines. And that's a very, very high bar. I think that's sort of something that's in the back of people's heads but I think it's a lot harder than people realize.

CHURCH: And what about the family dynamic that played out in the Trump town hall? What stood out for you? BUMP: I mean I think it's fascinating that his kids are obviously so

supportive. He's their father. They're obviously a lot of love on the stage, and they see a side of Donald Trump that I think the rest of the world doesn't see, which is the non-aggressive, non-in your face, non-controversial side of Donald Trump that he's until now not really ever had to show over the course of this campaign.

And so, it's interesting to have them there sort of as the softening agent to make him seem like more of a real person. I think it's interesting. I think that all of the -- you know, whenever you get a chance to see a candidate with his family, it gives you a view into who they are that you wouldn't normally get.

I do, however, think it's fascinating that two of his kids aren't going to be able to vote for him because they didn't change their registration in time, which goes back to the question of is he actually doing a good job of organizing his campaign at all?

CHURCH: Yes. Interesting. All right. And it was indeed a very mellow Donald Trump sitting on the stage with his family there.

Philip Bump, thank you so much. Always a pleasure to chat with you.

BUMP: My pleasure.

CHURCH: And if you missed the CNN town hall with Donald Trump and his family, you can catch the replay right here on CNN in just a few hours, in fact, at 11 in the morning in London CNN will host a town hall with Ted Cruz and his wife Heidi on Wednesday in New York. It begins at 9 p.m. Eastern.

BARNETT: Meanwhile, Cruz, Trump calls him lyin' Ted, so Cruz has a nickname, a new one, for the republican front-runner. Losin' Donald.

CHURCH: CNN politics reporter Sara Murray has more including why Kasich says he would be the worst vice president ever.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: As Trump grows exasperated over the complicated fight for delegates, Ted Cruz is growing tired of Trump's complaints.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED CRUZ, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because we know in the State of California, wine is something best served with cheese.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Slamming Trump for complaining about the process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUZ: Donald loves to call people a loser. Donald wakes up at night in cold sweats that people will call him losin' Donald. That is his ultimate fear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Hitting the self-proclaimed management expert for his campaign short comings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUZ: Donald's whole pitch is he's a great businessman and yet his campaign right now, it appears he can't run a lemonade stand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Even RNC chair Reince Priebus is weighing in on the process, tweeting "the rules were set last year. Nothing mysterious, nothing new." Meanwhile, Trump is already eyeing the general election. Tearing into Hillary Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Her whole life has been a big, fat, beautiful lie. It's been a terrible, terrible lie. Everything about her is a lie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: And telling USA Today he's ready to forgive and forget and may ask a political rival like John Kasich, Marco Rubio, or Scott Walker to join the ticket. A suggestion Walker struggled to take seriously.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT WALKER, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I literally just heard it in the car and I said I laughed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: As for Kasich, he says he has no interest in a V.P. slot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KASICH, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would be the worst vice president the country ever saw. You know why? Because I'm not like a vice president. I'm a president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Meanwhile you've got U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan insisting that he has no intention of running for president this year.

CHURCH: Yes. Now, this comes amid persistent rumors that he might try to snag the republican nomination if it goes to a contested convention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL RYAN, U.S. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I believe that you should only choose from a person who has actually participated in the primary. Count me out. I simply believe that if you want to be the nominee for our party, to be the president, you should actually run for it. I chose not to do this. Therefore, I should not be considered, period, end of story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Now we want to round this out by showing you a new poll or tell you about a new poll where Hillary Clinton holds a double-digit lead over Bernie Sanders in New York. And in our next half hour, we'll show you how the democratic candidates are sharpening their attacks on each other.

CHURCH: Brazil's embattled president, who is facing another setback, the country's progressive party says it's leaving Dilma Rousseff's governing coalition. Now, that leaves even more isolated as lawmakers get ready to debate whether she should be impeached.

Opponents accuse Ms. Rousseff of breaking budget laws to win re- election in 2014, but she says her vice president is orchestrating a conspiracy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[03:10:08] DILMA ROUSSEFF, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (TRANSLATED): Yesterday it was clear that there are two leaders of the coup that are acting together and in a premeditated way. Even before the vote on an inconsistent request of impeachment, audio was distributed where one of the leaders of the conspiracy took on the position as president of republic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: The vice president, Michel Temer, denies plotting against the president, but his aides say he is preparing just in case he has to replace her.

CHURCH: Authorities in Panama have raided the global headquarters of the law firm at the center of the Panama papers investigation. They say prosecutors are looking for documents Mossack Fonseca might have to see if a crime was committed.

BARNETT: The firm is accused of creating shell companies and offshore accounts for some of the world's elite so they can dodge taxes. The company says it is cooperating with investigators and that nothing illegal was done.

CHURCH: A first round of Syrian peace talks is expected to take place in Geneva in the coming hours.

BARNETT: That's right. U.N. Special Envoy, Staffan de Mistura is leading the indirect negotiations between Syria's government and the opposition. Syria's five-year civil war has killed more than 270,000 people, created a huge refugee crisis, and allowed for the rise of ISIS.

CHURCH: South Korea says it is watching North Korea very closely for a possible nuclear test, and we will tell you what U.S. officials are saying about what would be an unprecedented missile launch.

BARNETT: Also ahead, the fight against Boko Haram and the kidnapped girls who inspire fear.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The young women came into this market pretending to seal wares to these vendors. The explosion so extreme, in blew off the roof.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RHIANNON JONES, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: I'm Rhiannon Jones with your CNN World Sports headlines.

There was the late drama at the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals as they got under way on Tuesday. Real Madrid has overturned a 2-0 deficit to Wolfsburg, thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo, they did exactly that. Real leveled the tie in quick fashion, scoring two first-half goals within the space of 86 seconds.

And his hat trick strike 13 minutes came from time. That sent Madrid through to the semi-finals 3-2 on aggregates in the night till the game, 3-2 is also the aggregate score as Manchester City knocked out Paris Saint-Germain to progress to the first semi-finals in their history. City were able to overcome Cheikhou Kouyate missed penalty as record signing Kevin De Bruyne calls home the winner in the 76th minute to break for Hart.

[03:15:10] A mixed martial arts fighter has died following a fight in Ireland that comes less than three weeks after English boxer Nick Blackwell was so badly hurt in a title about the doctors had to place him in an induced coma. The organizers of the total extreme fighting event in Dublin said they were deeply saddened by the death of Joao Carvalho.

The 28-year-old from Portugal was taken ill following the fight on Saturday after losing to Charlie Ward, a teammate of USC star Conor McGregor. Carvalho died after 48 hours of intensive care treatment in hospital.

That's a look at your sports headlines. I'm Rhiannon Jones.

BARNETT: South Korea says it's closely monitoring the possibility of another nuclear test by North Korea. This after two U.S. officials told CNN Pyongyang may be ready to test its first ever mobile ballistic missile.

CHURCH: Now, this kind of missile could potentially reach parts of United States, but as Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr explains, there's still a lot of uncertainty.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Kim Jong-un could be planning an unprecedented military move. U.S. spy satellites have detected early signs that North Korea may, for the first time, be preparing to test a mobile ballistic missile capable of hitting portions of the U.S. The mobile missiles are mounted on huge vehicles like these shown in

military parades. The launcher can move quickly, so an attack could come with little or no warning. Even a test launch would have huge international security implications.

(TECHNICAL PROBLEM)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... be changed in recent days or weeks. This has been an ongoing process really since the beginning of the year with that nuclear test and then followed by that satellite launch. Errol?

BARNETT: Yes. That's right. Now North Korea also very upset right now at recent defections possibly at a high-ranking official this week. Restaurant workers earlier than that. What new information do you have on that front?

[03:20:09] HANCOCKS: Well, North Korea has responded to one of those. This was the 13 restaurant workers who South Korea announced last week had defected from a North Korean restaurant in China. They're now here in South Korea. And the North Korean Red Cross, which is often said damning reports against the South Korean side, has said that they believe that this was a kidnapping.

They're accusing Seoul of actually kidnapping these 13 restaurant workers and saying that they should be returned back to North Korea. South Korea, though, does insist that they are defectors and they have come here claiming asylum.

BARNETT: Paula Hancocks live for us in Seoul, 4.20 in the afternoon there. Paula, thanks.

CHURCH: Well, there's an alarming trend growing in West Africa. Terrorists using children and bombs. UNICEF says the biggest culprit is Boko Haram, a group affiliated with ISIS.

BARNETT: The group says three-quarters of all child bombers used by Boko Haram are girls. The dramatic rise is being seen in Nigeria, Niger and Chad, but the biggest impact is in Cameroon.

CHURCH: And some say the increasing use of child bombers shows Boko Haram is under growing pressure.

CNN's David McKenzie traveled to northern Cameroon to see how the campaign against the terror group is going firsthand. And he joins us now live from Johannesburg. So, David, what are authorities doing? I believe he joins us. Have we still got him on the line? There we go. So, David, what are authorities doing to try to wipe out Boko Haram and just how big a challenge is this?

MCKENZIE: Rosemary, it's always a big challenge with these groups that are willing to use terror tactics, and it is a terror group, Boko Haram, to really stamp them out.

You have a multinational force from several countries including Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon of course, trying to squeeze Boko Haram into smaller and smaller territories. But as they've made some gains, Boko Haram uses these awful tactics, which is really changing the nature of this region.

Crossing into Nigeria on foot with Cameroonian soldiers. Headed to a remote outpost-overlooking the fight against ISIS-affiliated Boko Haram, the world's deadliest terrorist group. The soldiers say their forward-operating positions on the mountain come under frequent attack.

Boko Haram fighters are based in these villages in the valley. But the trouble is that positions like this can be ineffective against an increasingly unconventional fight.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MCKENZIE: So, Boko Haram still slips past the soldiers into villages like this one where they burnt out the pastor's house, destroyed the church, kidnapped scores of girls. And further from the front, in cities like Marwa, they use abducted girls to kill.

Young women came into this market pretending to sell wares to these vendors. The explosion so extreme it blew off the roof. Ten people were killed. A new report says that increasingly, girls and young women are being used in these attacks.

The UNICEF numbers show that the attacks have increased tenfold with Cameroon targeted the most. Now the market is often empty. Abdurahman witnessed the last attack.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MCKENZIE: even if they escape abduction, young girls like Matawata (ph). Both her parents were shot by Boko Haram.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MCKENZIE: More than a million children like her have been displaced by this war. To protect their school on the edge of the red zone, vigilante team's patrol, setting up checkpoints, armed with rudimentary weapons. They check every stranger to stop terror attacks, especially girls.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MCKENZIE: It's a society turned on its head. Girls should be protected here in the far north of Cameroon, they are feared.

[03:25:00] Well, many of the people we spoke to in that region say they want to change the situation, but just the security threat is such with all those attacks by children. And the worst of it is in Cameroon, as you said, Rosemary. It's very difficult for them to kind of get back to normalcy when those red zones still exist on the border regions between Cameroon and Nigeria. Rosemary?

CHURCH: And, David, of course it is so horrifying to think of these young girls going out with bombs strapped to them. There are instances, of course, where they're caught before those bombs explode. What happens to those girls when that happens?

MCKENZIE: Well, as we reported yesterday, sometimes there's a scenario that these girls are volunteering to be bombers so that they can perhaps escape when it comes to that critical moment that they're going to a market or approaching a village.

What we've seen frequently is that the girls try to go up to soldiers or alert people. Sometimes they are drugged in fact and don't really know what's going on, which is sort of equally tragic.

But INICEF and others say what is important is that if these girls are caught in time, before they detonate or someone detonates for them, they need to be treated as victims, not perpetrators. They need to be brought back into society and it must be made sure that they are, in fact, not feared and stigmatized as they often are because they were often kidnapped by Boko Haram.

It really is a terrible situation in these regions, and the military push against Boko Haram needs to be coupled, many say, with sort of developmental assistance to try and change things long-term.

CHURCH: It is such a nightmare for these young girls for sure and for their families. David McKenzie joining us live there from Johannesburg. Many thanks as always.

BARNETT: There are new warnings that Al Qaeda is thriving once again in Afghanistan. You'll hear from U.S. and Afghan officials about why the terror group may be picking up steam.

CHURCH: Plus, an ambitious plan to send tiny probes deep into space. We will tell you what some of the world's most brilliant minds hope to achieve. We're back in a moment.

[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARNETT: A warm welcome back to those of you watching all around the world. It's your last 30 minutes of CNN Newsroom with us. I'm Errol Barnett.

CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. It is time to check the headlines for you this hour.

Another setback for Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff who could face impeachment. The country's progressive party says it's splitting from her governing coalition.

She's accused of hiding a budget deficit to win re-election two years ago. Ms. Rousseff says her vice president is orchestrating a conspiracy to topple her. Lawmakers vote Sunday on whether to impeach her.

BARNETT: Military police in Amsterdam are questioning a man addressed at Schiphol Airport on Tuesday. Police say they received a phone call warning the man was suspicious. The bomb squad checked his luggage but found nothing. Part of the main terminal was evacuated but airport officials say flights were not affected. CHURCH: U.S. republican front-runner Donald Trump appeared at a town

hall meeting hosted by CNN with family members who lavished praise on him of course, but he repeated his claim that the republican establishment does not support him and says he's fighting a rigged delegate system.

BARNETT: Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton is beating Bernie Sanders by double-digit is in the latest poll.

CHURCH: Yes. The Quinnipiac University survey shows her leading by 13 percentage points among likely democratic voters in the state.

BARNETT: And this comes as the two candidates trade barbs before their next CNN debate and the crucial New York primary.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign hit a milestone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am absolutely thrilled to be here on this occasion, the one-year anniversary of my journey and my campaigns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Exactly one year ago, she announced her bid for the presidency like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I'm hitting the road to earn your vote because it's your time, and I hope you'll join me on this journey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: But this part of the journey has been longer than she ever imagined. She didn't mark the moment with a big celebration or rally. But Bernie Sanders did. Once again, his crowds dwarfing hers on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNIE SANDERS, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It doesn't look like we could get too many more people in this place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: The democratic rivals are locked in a bitter dual for next week's New York primary. As Clinton flew to Florida for three fund raisers to keep her primary campaign alive, Sanders reminded supporters in upstate New York he's raising money a bit differently.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SANDERS: We have shown the world that you can run a winning national campaign without being dependent on Wall Street and the big money interests.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: In Washington, President Obama stayed out of the back and forth but made clear he believes it's time for a woman to be president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PRESIDENT: I want them to be astonished that there was ever a time when women were vastly outnumbered in the boardroom or in Congress, that there was ever a time when a woman had never sat in the Oval Office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: But the Clinton team is hoping to slow Sanders' rise. Saying he's untested and trying to upend the process by urging super delegates to jump ship.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN FALLON, CLINTON CAMPAIGN PRESS SECRETARY: If anybody is trying to rig the system to overturn the will of the people, it's Senator Sanders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Bill Clinton had tough words of his own for Sanders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: He's been a democrat a little longer, he'll get used to it. He'll realize that our party is the best hope this country he's got.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Also a reminder the Clinton's have had their eye on Donald Trump for years. Newly released documents from the Clinton presidential library show that back in 1999, the president's team was trying to sort out if Trump was serious about a White House bid in 2000.

His team urged him to respond to a potential candidacy like this. "It may say something about the way the media covers politics these days, but I have the utmost confidence in the American people to sort out the wheat from the chaff."

Jeff Zeleny. CNN, New York.

CHURCH: And be sure to join us on Thursday as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders face off in their last scheduled presidential debate live from New York. That's 9 p.m. Eastern, 2 a.m. London time Friday morning.

BARNETT: A warning from Afghanistan's defense minister. He says there's an alarming resurgence of Al Qaeda in his country, and the group's renewed partnership with the Taliban is also of great concern.

[03:35:05] CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joins us live from Kabul with more details on this. Nick, more than a trillion dollars spent by the U.S. in 15 years to combat terrorism there, and it just isn't enough. How and why is Al Qaeda making progress today?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It appears they are exploiting the chaos caused by the Taliban getting on its front foot and taking more territory. They seem to have found safe havens more so than had initially been thought.

And importantly, while ISIS are making a bit of song and dance about their presence in the east with social media videos and trying to perhaps sound bigger than they necessarily are, Al Qaeda seemed to be taking the opposite approach, staying out of the limelight, off the radar, more or less in the shadows and using their partnership with the Taliban to grow their presence here.

Remember why the United States came to Afghanistan? Well, Al Qaeda are back and thriving. A big threat finding safe haven here, according to Afghanistan's defense chief. Even U.S. officials here admit there's a lot they don't know, and there could be hundreds of Al Qaeda core members here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED MASOOM STANEKZAI, AFGHANISTAN'S ACTING DEFENSE MINISTER: They are really very active. They are working and quite organizing themselves and preparing themselves for more bigger. They are working behind other networks, again giving them the support, giving them the experience they had in different places. They are not talking too much. They are not making too many press statements. But they are a big threat.

WALSH: But a big threat.

STANEKZAI: Yes, it is a big threat.

WALSH: A big threat they say because the Taliban, who was said to have regretted harboring Bin Laden, have again decided to get close to Al Qaeda.

STANEKZAI: Their big cover is Taliban. Because they are enabling the Al Qaeda, the ISIL.

WALSH: The phrase renewed partnership is what John Campbell used, the U.S. commander here.

STANEKZAI: And because as you know, they need the fighters. They need the support. They need the experience and they need the recruitment from other places and this is why that they embrace them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALSH: Alarms were raised by a 30 square mile camp found and obliterated by Afghan and U.S. forces in a remote part of Kandahar late last year. Revealing Al Qaeda's true strength to Afghan and U.S. officials.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF BUCHANAN, U.S. DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF RESOLUTE SUPPORT: Very sophisticated ties back into Al Qaeda and a subset, which is called Al Qaeda in the Indian sub-continent. To find them in Afghanistan also caused us quite a bit of concern.

If you go back to last year, there were a lot of Intel estimates that said that within Afghanistan, Al Qaeda probably has 50 to 100 operators or 50 to 100 actual Al Qaeda members in Afghanistan. Well, at this one camp, you know, we found more than 150. So, I think that...

WALSH: That's a pretty big gap in your knowledge to what our officer do.

BUCHANAN: I think there is. I think, you know, there's not thousands of them, but clearly in remote parts of Afghanistan, there are Al Qaeda leaders that we're concerned about and what they're capable of doing.

WALSH: And they're plotting still attacks against the west?

BUCHANAN: Absolutely.

WALSH: That's their core concern?

BUCHANAN: That is their core concern. They've made those announcements, and they've never backed off of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALSH: So attacks against the west, you can be deeply concerned about that. But it also poses a huge problem for the key plank of American and Afghan policy here. They want to negotiate a diplomatic political settlement with the Taliban. And that's pretty hard to do if the Taliban, rather than distancing international terrorism as the U.S. and Afghanistan say they must do for those talks to begin, the Taliban are in fact getting closer to them.

The new deputy of the new Taliban leader, Mohammad Mansour is a man called Siraj Haqqani, who is according to the U.S., the leading Al Qaeda facilitator here in Afghanistan. In fact, Zawahiri, the nominal Al Qaeda leader at this stage pledged allegiance to Mullah Mansour, the new Taliban leader.

Those ties are forming part of, quote, "a renewed partnership." And it is of course concern that that is not only providing safe havens potentially here for Al Qaeda, who are staying off the radar, plotting attacks not in Afghanistan but outside of Afghanistan, it also potentially derails the peace talks that the U.S. really say is the way to stop violence here. Errol, Rosemary?

BARNETT: And they are staying in those remote areas, which of course is very difficult for the U.S. and any of the forces to access. So, they're gaining strength in some of their strong holds.

Nick Paton Walsh, live for us in Kabul, just past noon there. Nick, thanks.

CHURCH: All right. We'll take a break right here, but still to come, the next big thing in space exploration may actually be tiny. We are talking spacecraft the size of a butterfly. And they could go further than ever imagined. We'll explain.

BARNETT: And also something to open your mind. LSD had a dubious reputation for decades, and now some scientists are rethinking the psychedelic drug. We're back with that and more after this.

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BARNETT: All right. Imagine spacecraft smaller than an iPhone using light beams to travel up to 100 million miles per hour.

CHURCH: Yes. It is an ambitious undertaking with some of the world's most brilliant and its wealthiest people leading the way. Physicist Stephen Hawking, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and Russian billionaire Yuri Milner announced the project Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YURI MILNER, BREAKTHROUGH STARSHOT PROJECT LAUNCHER: Breakthrough Starshot is a $100 million research and engineering program. It plans to demonstrate proof of concept of high-speed, light-driven Nano crafts and to lay the foundations for an eventual voyage to Alpha Centauri.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Now, the plan here is to build hundreds of these small space probes with built-in cameras. They'll have tiny sails and laser beams from earth would push them to Alpha Centauri, our closest star system, to collect images and data.

CHURCH: Now, the project leaders say any launch would cost billions of dollars and is many years away, but the technology already exists to make this a reality. Very exciting.

BARNETT: Now I got more advancements for you here. For the first time, scientists are able to show what happens to the human brain when someone takes LSD.

CHURCH: Yes. Researchers in London produced these images. The one on the right shows a brain lit up with activity from the visual hallucinations associated with the drug. It's illegal in much of the world, but scientists are now rethinking its status and potential for treating a number of psychiatric disorders. BARNETT: Robin Carhart-Harris is a researcher at Imperial College,

London, and the first author on this study. He joins us now live this morning. Robin, thanks for being with us. You led this study in part to see if there are any benefits to be extrapolated from what most people consider a dangerous drug. What surprised you most when you saw all the brain activity light up?

[03:45:07] ROBIN CARHART-HARRIS, IMPERIAL COLLEGE RESEARCHER: Well, it was very interesting when we looked at the whole of the brain. We found that regions that normally don't talk to each other were beginning to talk to each other much more.

So, there was a kind of global sort of integration in the brain that was quite surprising. It sort of spoke to the more flexible, open, kind of hyper associative quality of consciousness in the LSD state.

BARNETT: Just curious, have you ever taken LSD?

CARHART-HARRIS: No, I haven't. It's illegal.

BARNETT: Well, believe in this part of this scientific study, tell us about the people who were taking the drug, what their experiences were, and how you got to the graph we see on our screens.

CARHART-HARRIS: So, they had quite interesting experiences. The graph, you can see there, is looking at the communication of the visual system at the back of the brain. Ordinarily on placebo, you can see that's at the top. Most of the communication is confined to the visual system.

But what we see under LSD is that there's this really marked the expansion of contribution of brain regions to the visual experience. And this actually correlated with our volunteers' ratings of the complex dreamlike visions that they experienced under LSD.

BARNETT: And if you look at what many people who have taken LSD over the decades say about it, it speaks to what you're saying there. There's an opening of consciousness, a widening of the mind, and some have gone on to have successful careers even though they've taken this drug.

But I'm wondering if there are serious -- since there are serious dangers to taking such a powerful hallucinogenic and considering how addictive it is, does a study like this run the risk of glamorizing LSD in some ways.

CARHART-HARRIS: Well, I need to correct you on LSD. You said LSD is addictive. There's no evidence that use of LSD is habit-forming in either animals or humans.

BARNETT: OK.

CARHART-HARRIS: Typically people after having an LSD experience don't want to repeat it for a long time. It can be quite a frightening experience, but also it can be very psychologically rich. And I think it's because of that that people find it interesting as a tool for psychological exploration but also potentially as a tool to facilitate psychotherapy because people can see very deeply into their own minds.

The actual term psychedelic means to reveal the soul essentially. So, the whole of the mind. That's really why we think these drugs are particularly interesting and important to study.

BARNETT: Now, MDMA, Methylenedioxymethamphetamine was used in the '80s for couples in therapy to bring them closer together. Today, it's known as ecstasy or molly and is used by young people. That can be dangerous and deadly. But do you hope that LSD one day become becomes legal or that research like this paves the way to that?

CARHART-HARRIS: The policy issue is something that I kind of distance myself from because my expertise is the science. That's what I want to concentrate on. To do the research, the legal issue kind of makes it a bit harder to do the research. So, in that sense, if the scheduling at the moment LSD classed a schedule 1, which means it has no recognized medicinal value and also some significant potential for abuse.

I'm not sure if that's true. I think perhaps in time that might need to be revised. If it is revised, it would mean that people like me doing the science, looking at the potential for drugs like LSD to be used really for the betterment of society, to potentially help people who are suffering often with very debilitating disorders like depression and addiction to potentially be helped by these compounds. So, really, you know, I want to be able to utilize this tool and use it in the best way.

BARNETT: I've certainly learned a lot looking at your research. It's eye-opening and obviously mind-opening stuff as well. I appreciate you joining us to speak about it. Robin Carhart-Harris, a researcher at Imperial College of London, thanks for your time today.

CARHART-HARRIS: Thank you.

CHURCH: The duke and duchess of Cambridge are having another busy day in India. Their schedule coming up in a live report.

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PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good day to you. Pedram Javaheri with you on Weather Watch for the Americas.

Watch the corner of your screen as my name says good-bye. The storm system in place there comes in from Eastern Texas really goes to quickly moves across parts of the Gulf coast states. That's where I think some of the heavy storms are going to be expected for your Wednesday across this region.

Notice we're talking about rainfall amounts that could really get up to the oranges, the areas of yellow there. That's more than 100 to 150 millimeters. Southern Alabama, certainly southern Louisiana as well, it gets in on some of the strong storms.

The next couple of days we have temps into the tees around Atlanta, Georgia, Chicago also around 14 degrees. Just as mild as they come for a spring day. In Denver, still can't rule out some snow showers. Over the next coming of weeks across that area but 23 will take it there for your Wednesday forecast in the mile-high city.

And notice the trend there it begins to really moderate as we go in from Saturday into Sunday. And we get that warm air that not only shifts into the northern portion of the United States but also southern Canada gets in on some spring-like conditions.

So, Washington will take you up to 19 degrees. New York City into the 17 range. And Atlanta eventually up to around 21 degrees. Back to the West, they're paying for it with some wintery weather coming into the next couple of days, at least the intermountain west. The higher elevations get in on some snow showers in the coming few days.

How about Guatemala City, we go to 27. Mexico City starting to really warm up now, around 31. Bogota looking at some thunderstorms. Temps should range around 20 or so degrees.

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CHURCH: New this hour, Prince William and his wife Catherine have just wrapped up a jeep safari in northern India.

BARNETT: That's right. On Tuesday, the royal couple received a warm welcome to the Kaziranga National Park with this camp fire dance. Wednesday's itinerary includes a visit to an animal sanctuary.

CHURCH: So let's bring in CNN's Sumnima Udas for more. She joins us now from New Delhi. So, Sumnima, what other activities are planned for the royal couple Wednesday and how has everything been going so far?

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been going very well, Rosemary. This is their chance in Assam, the northeastern part of India to really get a sense of rural India and also in Asia. We all know about Prince William, in particular, his interest in nature and conservation and the environment.

So, after that lovely camp fire dinner where a lot of the locals were performing for the royal couple, it was also the New Year celebration there in that part of India. So after that, early this morning, they went on a safari in an open-top jeep. This is in the Kaziranga National Park, which is one of the biggest populations of the one- horned rhino.

And we've seen some video of them actually seeing some of those rhinos. And they were very excited about that. But the main focus of this trip in Assam is really to focus on the human-animal conflict. It's something that we've been talking about for quite some time as the population in India increases.

A lot of these villages are moving to areas that were once ancient corridors for animals, for tigers, for elephants and rhinoceros.

[03:55:02] So, you know, because of that, a lot of these animals end up coming to villages. So, we've seen leopards in, you know, in schools and swimming pools. We've seen elephants trampling over entire villages. So, the couple, the royal couple is really there to understand why

this is happening, what can be done about it. They're visiting villages that have been relocated to make way for these ancient corridors again. So, you know, and then of course after that, they'll be visiting an elephant sanctuary as well. So, expect a lot of good fun pictures from that.

But the highlight for their trip in Assam will be when Prince William tries the hottest chili in the world. That's supposed to happen anytime today. It's apparently 400 times hotter than Tabasco, and we know that Prince William has said in the past that he doesn't like hot food. So, we'll have to see how that goes. Rosemary.

BARNETT: Oh, no.

CHURCH: We want pictures. We want pictures from that.

BARNETT: That's a terrible idea. Yes.

CHURCH: All right. Sumnima Udas, many thanks. Joining us there live from New Delhi.

BARNETT: Thanks, Sumnima. Now a tourist in St. Bart's had a near-miss with a plane while trying to take a picture. Surely you've seen this. Mekki Jaidi just ducked right in time to save his head when the aircraft came in for a landing. He said it was instinct, but man, that was pure luck as well.

CHURCH: Yes. We talked to Jaidi earlier, and he said he was looking in the view finder and never realized just how close the plane was. The St. Bart's Airport is known as one of the most dangerous in the world because of its tough landing strip. And there, there we see it.

BARNETT: I hope that picture was worth it. It better be a stunner, right, after all that?

CHURCH: Exactly. A lesson to us all. Thanks for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. Remember to connect with us on social media anytime. It's great to hear from you.

CHURCH: Another edition of CNN Newsroom begins after the break.

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