Skip to main content

tv   Wolf  CNN  March 7, 2016 10:00am-11:01am PST

10:00 am
hello, i'm wolf blitzer. it is 1:00 p.m. here in washington. 6:00 p.m. in london, 8 p.m. in jerusalem. wherever you are watching around the world, thank you for joining us. we begin with the race for the white house here in the united states. the fight for votes in michigan. both hillary clinton and bernie sanders are campaigning in the state today after a fiery debate we saw here on cnn last night. clinton and sanders faced off in flint, michigan. the water crisis was front and center. clinton went after sanders over the bailout of the auto industry here in the united states and that led to this exchange. >> i voted to save the auto industry. he voted against the money that
10:01 am
ended up saving the auto industry. i think that is a pretty big difference. >> well, if you are talking about the wall street bailout, where some of your friends destroyed this economy. >> you know -- >> excuse me, i'm talking. >> fiery exchange there. democrats hold primaries tomorrow in michigan and mississippi. 36 delegates are available in mississippi and 3 /* 130 in michigan. >> clinton has 1147. that includes 471 so-called super delegates. toez are lektd leaders, party officials. sanders has 498 pledged delegates. he 22 super delegates. the michigan primary will be a test for the sanders campaign.
10:02 am
can he win in a state with a more diverse population? for clinton it is a chance to rack up more delegates as they move closer to locking up the nomination. our senior correspondent jeff zeleny and joe johns has been covering the candidates. wa are you hearing from clinton on the campaign trail today? what's her mess age. >> senator clinton is campaigning in grand rapids, michigan. at this hour she was touring a manufacturing plant earlier and will be making her way to detroit later today. her message is one we heard last night talking about the economy, about how she has plans for the future. she really is pointing out that she has real solutions. her plans last night at the debate were more detailed than bernie sanders plans. he kept coming back to wall street and her campaign believes that's why he is a single issue candidate. there is something playing on the radio in michigan that picks up where she left off last night.
10:03 am
that is on the auto bailout. let's listen to a bit of that new ad. >> america's auto companies asked for help, and president obama came through. now in sunday's debate, we learn only one candidate for president supported him -- hillary clinton. >> wolf, that is potentially a potent message here in the final 24 hours before the michigan primary. a fact check here. senator sanders voted for the auto bailout. one of the votes, at the end of december of 2008, the end of the bush administration, if you will, but in january of 2009, when it was voted on as part of the larger financial bailout, he voted against it in that sense. he supported michigan, auto bailout but voted against it because he did not like the large every help to the financial sector there. i was struck by he seemed unprepared for that moment last night at the debate. i think in the closing hours of
10:04 am
this michigan primary campaign her auto bailout message is a good one for her. >> she reminded everyone that the democratic senators who were there at the time, they were appealing to go ahead and vote for that legislation, even though there were other money for big business corporations, wall street or whatever. without that money, the auto industry, whether chrysler, general motors, in the state of michigan and elsewhere perhaps could have collapsed. >> absolutely. that is the life blood of the michigan economy. it seems like a long time ago. we all remember very well when the white house was trying to get the democratic senators on board here. this was litigated in the obama re-election campaign with mitt romney who of course is from michigan, as well. he was not in favor of the bailout. he said it didn't help create jobs in michigan. there are some antidotes and statistics on both sides of this. but the short hand of it, with
10:05 am
hillary clinton saying he did not help the auto industry i don't think it is a good closing message for bernie sanders going in to a state where he really hopes to win and do well here coming off of a big weekend of winning nebraska, kansas and maine. he would like to plant his flag in michigan where the economy is still central. we'll see if he can do that tomorrow. >> let's get joe johns in to this, as well. what are they saying, the sanders campaign about the issue of the auto bailout? >> wolf, they are trying to fix that problem that arose last night in the debate. the bernie sanders campaign is hitting it hard. he was in call ma zoo today. he called it dishonest distortion. strong words there. trying to make clear what we are talking about here is the troubled asset relief fund, $700 billion bill to bail out the banks an the automobile bailout was folded in to that bill. complicated stuff to try to
10:06 am
describe. the people on the ground here in michigan, who know that if they didn't get the auto bailout they may not have jobs at this point. they are trying to correct the record on that issue calling it a dishonest distortion. bernie sanders in kalamazoo earlier today talked more about his requirement or his request for hillary clinton to release transcripts of her speeches to wall street. listen. >> i will release all of the transcripts of the speeches i gave behind closed doors or open doors to wall street. here they are. [ cheers and applause ] >> if there is a large turnout, we are going to win here in michigan. [ cheers and applause ] >> so this is dearborn,
10:07 am
michigan, where i am right now. large crowd showing up here at the arts center to see bernie sanders in just a little while. i can tell you huge lines outside, which has been characteristic of his entire campaign. the bernie sanders campaign asserting if they get large turnout in michigan on tuesday, they expect to do much better than the polls are indicating. wolf? >> we will know soon enough. thank you very much. for more on the bernie sanders strategy, in michigan and beyond, let's bring in senator sanders campaign manager jeff weaver. thank you for joining us. let me get your immediate explanation. this auto bailout issue, apparently in a state like michigan which is so dependent on jobs an the auto industry, how did senator sanders handle this on this date today? >> funny you say that. i think it was jeff who mentioned he wasn't prepared to attack it.
10:08 am
i will tell you why. this campaign has had hard-hitting discussion of issues but at some level a modicum of honesty. i'm not going to use the "l" word here. auto rescue package, the auto industry was destroyed by the fact that people couldn't get credit and buy cars. but her characterization is not honest. people have to look at this. bernds voted for the stand-alone rescue auto package. is it true he didn't support the giant mammoth bailout for wall street that secretary clinton did, that's true. as you know, those interested are pouring money in to her super pact that she said she was going to use against republicans and has now spent millions of dollars against senator sanders, again, something that was said that was not true. she said he wasn't going negative. she has a hitman named david
10:09 am
roth who works for another superpact, another not true. and this guy peter doou works for david brock because his website is purchased by david brock, again not honest. at the end of the day when people say, do i believe sanders or hillary clinton? they have to come down on the side of believing bernie sanders. because bernie sanders for decades stood by the people of michigan to fight the disastrous trade deals that hillary clinton supported. out 0 sourcing benefitted the united states, i don't know any community that benefitted from outsourcing. >> let's clarify the auto bailout issue. the president of the united states, at the time president obama, democratic senators in michigan democratic leadership in michigan. even though a ton of money was in that t.a.r.p. bill for bailouts, without passing that legislation the auto industry in michigan and elsewhere in the united states could have crumbled.
10:10 am
that was the point she was trying to make. sometimes in the real of real politic in washington you have to go with what is the best of all worlds opposed to the perfect. >> look, wolf, i spent a lot of time working in the u.s. house and senate with bernie sanders. let me tell you something, a lot of real in politics is really selling out to special interest. bernie sanders strongly supported the auto rescue package. he voted for it. he would have supported it again and again and again. the fact that some chose to marry it with wall street money that was many, many, many times what was going to the auto industry, i understand why the senators of michigan were fighting for it. let me tell you, there were a lot of people in the congress for whom that was about wall street and not the auto industry. i find it ironic that hillary clinton's policies have cost tens --
10:11 am
10:12 am
he's the candidate that is speaking honestly, believable and that they know when he's in the white house he can be trusted. >> jeff weaver in the campaign manager for the bernie sanders campaign. thank you very much. we will hear from hillary clinton's campaign later this hour and get its response from what we heard and more. coming up, ted cruz picks up wins and delegates over the weekend. should the trump campaign be worried about losing momentum? and a leading house democrat outlines a plan for how to beat
10:13 am
isis. standing by to join us live. only glucerna has carbsteady, clinically proven to help minimize blood sugar spikes. so you stay steady ahead. we believe in the power of active management.management, by debating our research to find the best investments. by looking at global and local insights to benefit from different points of view. and by consistently breaking apart risk to focus on long-term value. we actively manage with expertise and conviction. so you can invest with more certainty. mfs. that's the power of active management.
10:14 am
10:15 am
10:16 am
that just tastes better. with more vitamins. and less saturated fat. only eggland's best. better taste. better nutrition. better eggs. donald trump right now wrapping up a campaign stop in
10:17 am
concord, north carolina, before heading to mississippi later today. cruz and trump are winning two states, they have won two states over the weekend. cruz got delegate lead a little bit. he has 389 for trump and cruz 302. rubio in third with 149 after winning puerto rico decisively yesterday. tomorrow's a big day for the republicans with 1 is 50 delegates up for grabs. 59 of those from michigan. donald trump is leading in the latest monmouth university michigan poll. he has 36% support among likely voters against ted cruz 23%. john kasich who's been campaigning hard in michigan is a close third with 21%. marco rubio down at 13%. i want to bring chris frates at the trump event in north carolina today. what is his bottom line message today? >> the message has not changed. what is interesting to watch is
10:18 am
donald trump saved most of the insults and fire on ted cruz. that's not a surprise. cruz picked up many in kansas and donald trump making fun of ted cruz for picking up, saying he was born in canada and that is almost a home state for him. talking about the politicians and saying ted cruz is a politician and he's going to lie to you. i want to give you one line that sounded new from donald trump today. he said ted cruz comes in bible high and lies to you. hit the theme that ted cruz is dishonest, can't be trusted and he's the guy for the people. tapping in to that anti-establishment fever we are seeing among trump supporters and saving insult for marco rubio as he calls him a feather weight, a light weight saying she a scoundrel and choker. and of course rubio picked up a win in puerto rico with 2 3
10:19 am
delegates there but the delegate race is on. donald trump leading 389 delegates. ted cruz not far behind with 302. really hitting the message of he's the only viable alternative to donald trump. when you listen to donald trump, i think he's starting to get that as he had most of his fire on ted cruz today. >> where is donald trump turning his attention next? >> donald trump is here in north carolina. that's -- also talking about florida a lot as well. that's no mistake. on march 15th, north carolina votes. so does florida. florida with 99 votes at stake. one of the winner take all states along with ohio. that is huge for donald trump. if he can win here in florida and ohio as well that will be very big for donald trump. marco rub yes trying to stop him in his home state of florida with a big win there. the establishment hoping that he
10:20 am
can hold on and put the brakes on the trump train. certainly he has rubio and cruz in his sights. >> trump wins in the florida and ohio on march 15th. looks like he will be a good shape indeed. thank you for that. this thursday the republican presidential candidates face off in a cnn debate in florida moderated by jake tapper. it starts 8:30 p.m. eastern here on cnn. up next, bernie sanders and hillary clinton didn't hold back in last night's debate. did either of them change michigan voters' minds? . >> i'm very glad, anderson that secretary clinton has discovered religion on this issue but it's a little bit too late. natuy helps suppth your digestive and immune health by combining... ... two types of good bacteria. trubiotics. be true to your health.
10:21 am
i...just me...me andrd my four daughters.... ah, there's a lot of dancing and pageants that go on in our kitchens and living rooms and things like that. i've had to learn to accept certain things like the fact that my toe nails and finger nails are going to be painted constantly. but it's really awesome to watch them at their own things. they're great kids... all of them. whatever home means to you, we'll help you find it. zillow.
10:22 am
10:23 am
10:24 am
we need to be ready for my name's scott strenfel and r i'm a meteorologist at pg&e. we make sure that our crews as well as our customers are prepared to how weather may impact their energy. so every single day we're monitoring the weather, and when storm events arise our forecast get crews out ahead of the storm to minimize any outages. during storm season we want our customers to be ready and stay safe. learn how you can be prepared at pge.com/beprepared. together, we're building a better california.
10:25 am
>> during last night's democratic presidential debate, cnn gave residents of flint, michigan a voice to share their concerns with the candidates. questions about the crime and economic problems were front and center. the debate between hillary clinton and bernie sanders did turn tense during an exchange about guns. watch. >> what you are essentially saying, what people are saying is if somebody who is crazy or a criminal or who able person goes around shooting people the manufacturer of the gun should be held liable. if that is your position, then what you are saying, essentially if that is the case as i understand it, but if that is the case than your position is there should not be any guns in
10:26 am
america, period. >> that's the nra's position -- >> can i finish, please? >> let's discuss this and a lot more with our panel joining us. the former democratic governor of michigan, senior adviser for corrector record, a hillary clinton super pact. and chief political correspondent for usa radio network, trump supporter and larry cohen a senior adviser for bernie sanders campaign, a former president of the communication workers of america. to all of you, thank you very much. larry, when did senator sanders decide to turn up the attack level on hillary clinton? >> i wouldn't say so much she turning up the attack level as pointing out differences in the campaign on key issues like trade. >> is he going to continue that strategy to go after her because earlier jeff weaver the campaign manager wouldn't use the "l"
10:27 am
word, liar, but he said that she was distorting bernie sanders position during the debate last night. >> i think this campaign is going to make it clear there are differences. there are differences about wall street, differences on trade, there are differences about how central it is to protect manufacturing jobs and that matters in michigan. it matters in other key industrial states. >> do you think bernie sanders' performance last night will help him? he's behind the polls in your home state of michigan right now. what do you think? what is the practical, political outcome of that debate in michigan? >> i think she did an amazing job and surprised a lot of people when she raised the fact that bernie sanders when push came to shove, when the hard vote happened, he voted against the awe i toe industry. what that meant is he is much more passionate about being anti-wall street than he is passionate about saving manufacturers in the united states.
10:28 am
in terms of investing in manufacturing and the auto industry, which is the backbone of the manufacturing economy. that was a surprise to people. >> respond to that. >> senator clinton, actually secretary clinton bragged about her work on the korea trade agreement. a total disaster for auto workers in mississippi and across the country. imports from korea have gone way up, trade deficit soared. as secretary of state she was a key author of this the transpacific partnership. we got no help. to this day no help convincing the democrats who voted for fast track to oppose tpp. the question is what are you doing with your actions, secretary clinton? not your words in a presidential campaign. >> yeah, i have to respond to this. first of all, on tpp, you have to admit, larry, she's a cabinet member working for a president. you don't see any cabinet members coming out against your own president.
10:29 am
what she said is you will take trade agreements one by one. why she voted against the central american free trade agreement. you raise nafta, she was the wife of the president. can you imagine nancy reagan coming out against a major policy of her husband? look at what she has said about nafta. she said it did not live up to the promise. that it should be renegotiated. she said she will put in place a trade prosecutor, triple enforcement a clear agenda with respect to trade and she will create jobs in america in a global economy and not off shoring. >> i want to move on. this is the sanders remark on mental health in the debate last night. listen to this. >> we are, if elected president, are going to invest a lot of money in to mental health. and if you watch the republican debates you know why. >> you probably know the clinton
10:30 am
staffer suggested that bernie sanders went too far. did he? was it in good humor, a jab that was appropriate or not? >>. >> look, i was not offended by this. i thought it was at a democratic debate in front of democratic viewers and voters. i thought it was actually pretty funny. i think even the most ardent conservative republicans would have to watch what is going on our side and laugh at the very least. i think what bernie did well last night was he -- i don't think he was attacking secretary clinton, but i think he did, you know, go after her in ways that we haven't seen him do thus far. you know, correcting her on her really preposterous distortion of his record whether on the auto bailout. this is a pattern for hillary clinton where she takes something that he's done and
10:31 am
omits actual important facts when chelsea clinton said he was going to dismantle obamacare for example, i thought that was silly. to see bernie sanders coming back at her and saying, wait a second that's not my record on guns, on the bailout, on obamacare. i thought that was healthy. i thought it was good for bernie sanders. >> you heard hillary clinton and bernie sanders insist they could beat the republican front runner, donald trump, in a general election campaign. how will republicans watching this debate from your perspective as a trump supporter? >> i think it was interesting the rnc released their talking points all about hillary not discounting anything that bernie said, fact checking what hillary said. i think the republicans are convinced that hillary will be the contender . last night's debate was a clue in to how one of our guys will have to handle hillary. you saw some of the the tough push back that bernie did to
10:32 am
hillary yet no charges of sexism. it will be interested to see if you will see that same when you have a republican candidate charges against her in one of these debates if they will say he is sexist. >> hold on. hold on. hold up for a moment. we will continue this conversation but i quickly want to go to an unrelated story. peyton manning is holding a press dmmpbs denver right now announcing his retirement from the broncos after the super bowl win. let's listen in braefly. >> a state dinner at saint elmos in indianapolis after a win. my battles with players named lynch, lewis, thomas, dawkins, urlacher, polamalu, harrison, woodson and reid. coaches like fisher, ryan, belichick, kippen, phillips, rivera, cornell, capers, lewis,
10:33 am
the late jimmie johnson and so many more. i always felt like i was playing against the middle linebacker or that safety or that defensive coach reggie sitting on the bench next to me and perfecting a fake handoff to james. i will miss thomas telling me he loved me and thanking me for coming to denver after every touchdown i threw to him. i will miss putting in a play with tom moore on sunday. on friday i will miss picking out the game balls with my equipment guys and talking football with the broadcast crews after the game and afterwards recapping the game with my dad and checking to see if the giants won and calling eli. i will miss the hand shake of tom brady and i miss the plane ride after a big win, with 53 teammates standing in the aisles laughing and celebrating during the whole fliechlt i will miss
10:34 am
playing in front of so many great fan, both at home and on the road. i will even miss the patriot fans in foxboro and they should miss me because they sure did get a lot of wins off of me. this is important, football fans everywhere need to know how much they meant to me over the years. fans, you were at the core of what makes this game remarkable. i received more letters from you than i can count. fan letters that have touched me, paed me made me think, act. i was made mistakes and learned it is a plat form that has given me a voice that can echo well beyond the game. football has taught me not to be led by 0 obstructions and set backs but instead to be led by dreams. due to good genes, i'm smart enough to know those lessons can enrich who i am and where i go from here. i'm totally convinced that the end of my football career is
10:35 am
just the beginning of something i haven't even discovered yet. life is not shrinkng for me. it's morphing in to a new world of possibilities. pundits will speculate that my effort and drive over the past 18 years were mabt mastery and working to master every aspect of the nfl game. don't believe them. because every moment, every drop of sweat, every blearied eye night of preparation, every note i took and every frame of film i watched was about one thing, reverence for this game. i look back at my neville career i know without a doubt i gave everything i had to help my team walk away with a win. other players were more talented but there was no one who could out prepare me. because of that i have no regrets. there's a scripture reading, ii timothy 4:7. i have fought the good fight,
10:36 am
finished the race. >> i fought the good fight, finished my football race and after 18 years it's time. god bless all of you and god bless football. >> a very emotional peyton manning spending half of his life as an nfl quarterback, 18 years, fresh off of a super bowl win announcing his retirement as an active player. there you see the management and team, the broncos wishing him only the best. peyton manning. only one 0 of the great quarterbacks of all times in the nfl. scotty, i know you are a big football fan and i want you to weigh in on this moment. you saw him choking back tears. he got emotional, which is understandable at a moment like this.
10:37 am
absolutely, wolf. i will be honest, i'm in the studio and all of us are watching and are involved. peyton manning, the year he won the national championship the year i was graduating. he has been a son to tennessee here. a lot of emotion in tennessee and we hope maybe he will come back and help our school teams. this means a lot to us. he made tennessee proud in his civic and what he has given to us and how he promoted his football life. this is a big day for us in tennessee and we are proud of everything he has done. >> all of us who are nfl football fans appreciate the great quarterback skills that he has showed all of these years. 18 years as a great quarterback in the nfl. he went through a lot as we know. we wish him the best. scott ty, stand by, more politics to discuss. we will turn the table and move back to that issue. the race for the white house, donald trump, ted cruz in complete agreement on one key issue, they both want marco rubio to drop out of the race. what are they doing to narrow
10:38 am
the field? and what about marco rubio's strategy to strike back? we will assess when we come back. keep moving. i know! try laxatives. been there, done that. my chronic constipation keeps coming back. i know. tell me something i don't know. vo: linzess works differently from laxatives. linzess treats adults with ibs with constipation or chronic constipation. it can help relieve your belly pain, and lets you have more frequent and complete bowel movements that are easier to pass. do not give linzess to children under six and it should not be given to children six to seventeen. it may harm them. don't take linzess if you have a bowel blockage. get immediate help if you develop unusual or severe stomach pain, especially with bloody or black stools. the most common side effect is diarrhea sometimes severe. if it's severe stop taking linzess and call your doctor right away. other side effects include gas, stomach-area pain and swelling. talk to your doctor about managing your symptoms proactively with linzess.
10:39 am
you premium like clockwork. month after month. year after year. then one night, you hydroplane into a ditch. yeah... surprise... your insurance company tells you to pay up again. why pay for insurance if you have to pay even more for using it? if you have liberty mutual deductible fund™, you could pay no deductible at all. sign up to immediately lower your deductible by $100. and keep lowering it $100 annually, until it's gone.
10:40 am
then continue to earn that $100 every year. there's no limit to how much you can earn and this savings applies to every vehicle on your policy. call to learn more. switch to liberty mutual and you could save up to $509. call liberty mutual for a free quote today at see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance.
10:41 am
10:42 am
there's some critical contests coming up in the presidential race that could change the course of several campaigns. this, as this erase between donald trump, ted cruz, marco rubio grows more intense. let's return to our discussion with our panel. i want to turn to the republican contest right now. jennifer, listen to this.
10:43 am
last week, as you know, the former republican presidential nominee, mitt romney, spoke out against the current front runner, donald trump. listen to romney yesterday on fox. >> no republican should say that. that makes no sense for someone to say if they were drafted by their country they would say no. what i can tell you is i'm not running for president. i'm not going to run for president. i'm going 0 to support one of these four people to be our nominee. >> i know you are a hillary clinton supporter, jennifer and a politician, from the perspective of the democrat, is romney leaving the door slightly open to a possible run if it comes down to some sort of contested convention? >> of course. you can read between the lines. of course he is. he is hoping for -- who knows what he is hoping for. he is not saying he would turn it down but i don't know if he would be more successful than last time should he decide to raise his hand. one point he makes in coming out
10:44 am
hard against donald trump is a good one. they have taken too long to try to take trump down. they waited so way too far in to this series of contests and now if trump takes ohio and florida, it's going to be unstoppable. i can understand why there's a pile on right now but i think it is too little too late. >> those contests are winner take all. critically important states. listen to this sound byte. this is something that donald trump and ted cruz both having something in common. they both want marco rubio to drop out. >> as long as the field is divided it gives donald an advantage. if you are not able to prevail or amass enough delegates, there comes a point where other campaigns have to pray or consider do i have a path going forward. >> rubio had a bad night and i call for him to drop out of the
10:45 am
race. i think it is time he drop out of the race. i really think so. >> any indications at all that marco rubio will listen to their advice? >> no. honor that point, ted cruz is right. ted cruz is right to call for rubio to drop out. he would benefit tremendously from his absence. drumpb, however is wrong to call for rubio to drop out. donald trump benefits from having the not trump vote divided two as many as people. marco rubio indicated he plans to stay on through florida. he won all of p pr's 23 delegates over the weekend and say what you want but there are a lot of puerto ricans in florida. so he is hoping that gives him an edge there. it is an up hill battle for sure. i'm sure he will stay on until
10:46 am
florida. >> larry, in your experience, these areas of political business, one of cruz's super pacs launched radio ads in florida to encourage him to drop out or for that matter to do poorly on march 15th. what do you think? do you think it is possible? you speak as a loyal democrat, bernie sanders supporter. >> i think it's not possible. i think he definitely has his eye on florida and beyond. it's not authentic to expect him to drop out. >> do you agree if trump wins in florida it's over for rubio and in trump wins in ohio on march 158th it is over for john kasich. >> i think that is true in both cases. if they don't win their home states i think they are finished. >> scotty, you are a trump supporter if that happens and it boils down to trump versus cruz, set the scene for us. how do you think it will turn
10:47 am
out? >> well, i think it will continue. before we get to trump versus cruz, illinois is next tuesday. that's a winner take all state that. is 69 points right. there and michigan because we have the former governor on, we have a poll from fox that said that kasich is beating cruz in second place. if i am rubio and ted cruz, i know they are going to try to take out trump but trump is starting to say i would go after kasich. i think he might be stronger than people give him credit for right now and if rubio got out i think kasich would be the fall to guy. >> he has to win ohio to stay in the race. jennifer, you know michigan. you know your state well. forget about the democrats for now. i know you are a hillary clinton supporter. what do you think will happen on the republican side? >> i think trump will win and i think kasich has a really good shot at second because people respect that he has taken a different tactic with respect to
10:48 am
these debates. he's not got in the gutter. number two, ohio is similar to michigan in terms of the copy and he's been a strong supporter of manufacturing. that will be his benefit. >> good discussion. we will see what happens. live coverage of course i will tomorrow. super tuesday two. and so many over events coming up. thank you very much. still ahead, there's breaking news we're getting in to cnn right now out of somalia about a u.s. attack on a suspected terrorist site there. we will update you on what we know. also a, democratic congressman is standing by to join us. we will talk about how he thinks the u.s. could beat isis in libya.
10:49 am
10:50 am
10:51 am
10:52 am
welcome back to our viewers in the united states and around the world. we have breaking news coming in to cnn for you right now. the u.s. says it has carried out an air strike involving both drones and manned aircraft killing accord to u.s. officials 150 al shabab fighters at a camp north of mogadishu in somalia.
10:53 am
this is an update we're getting from our pentagon correspondent barbara starr who told us before that this was not just a drone strike, barbara starr has been following all of these developments over at the pentagon. barbara, are you there, barbara, do you have more information you can share with us? unfortunately, we've lost contact with barbara starr, we're going to get back to barbara. there's other news on the whole battle against isis in libya. congressman adam schiff, the ranking member of the house permanent committee on intelligence. the attack on al shabab in somalia, have you been briefed on that already? 150 terrorists killed in these unmanned air strikes. that's a big deal. >> it is a big deal. we haven't gotten a formal briefing yet. this was evidently a group of a couple hundred fighters that were in the last stages of planning attacks on african forces or western targets. it's rare to see a group this large make itself a target like
10:54 am
this. but the combination of both manned and unmanned aircraft apparently took out the target and most of the people in it. this i think will be very important in protecting the lives of the african-american troops. >> barbara, update our viewers on what we know. it's not every day the u.s. launches manned an unmanned air strikes and kills, according to u.s. officials, 150 terrorists. >> that's right, wolf. i think this may well be one of the largest if not the largest air strike against a single group of terrorists ever at least in some years. this was north of mogadishu about 150 miles-plus north of mogadishu as the congressman just said, a training camp in a fairly remote area. they believe there were about 200 al shabab terrorists there. the drones and aircraft moved in, killing, they believe, 150 of them. a very significant operation. the u.s. had the camp under observation for some weeks we
10:55 am
are told. so what they were doing clearly, u.s. special operations, establishing a so-called pattern of life. keeping eyes on the camp through satellites, through drone imagery, however they could, to see how the fighters were training, how they came and went, where they were. by all accounts, it was when they on served the final stages of this training and then the fighters preparing perhaps to leave the camp that they moved in and decided to begin the air strike. the u.s. says that these fighters were in the final stages of carrying out what they called, the u.s. calls, an imminent threat against u.s. troops and african peacekeeping troops. in mogadishu it is well known, amongth those who follow it, there are indeed a small number of u.s. troops at the airport in mogadishu that interact with the african peace keepers, with the somali government such as it is
10:56 am
to help them out. so was the airport in mogadishu the actual target, to try to storm the airport and go after the u.s. troops who are there, we don't know at this point. the u.s. very tight-lipped about all of it. but, you know, you'll recall we saw al shabab bring down that airliner a few weeks ago and even today further violence attributed to al shabab in m mogadis mogadishu, wolf. >> very disturbing information. congressman schiff is still with us. it's part of a bigger u.s. military strategy to deal with al shabab, isis, other terror -- al qaeda, other terror groups, and you're specifically worried about what isis is now engaged in doing in north africa in libya. >> exactly right, wolf. if we're not careful, we could see isis establish the same kind of caliphate in places like libya and elsewhere and once they get firmly entrenched, once they have the capacity to draw oil revenues, to tax people
10:57 am
living with them, then it becomes very tough to uproot them. so i've been urging the administration to be mor gref aggressive in libya not only on the political end and trying to bring these rival factions together and form a unified government but not to wait. to go after them militarily. i think we really need to. >> libya, for all practical purposes, a failed state. you don't want u.s. ground troops. you're talking about what we just saw the u.s. do in somalia, air strikes. >> air strikes, exactly, and as well to see our european allies that have really the most at stake in libya gets out of hand as it would be a gateway to southern europe. to see our allies take the lead in terms of military action there. to push back, make sure that they don't expand that foothold insert. because if they do, it's going to be another nightmare. >> you think the administration's going to do that, the president's going to sign off on a more aggressive air campaign against isis in libya?
10:58 am
>> i think they'll have to. i think we saw the didn'ting of that with the strike that took out that tunisian leader who was recruiting and facilitating people moving into from tunisia to libya. but it has to be part of a broader strategy, quite frankly, in much of north south africa. boko haram is the most deadly of the terrorist affiliates. but also a growing presence in places like tunisia. tunisia contributing more foreign fighters to iraq and syria and libya than any other country. as isis becomes under more pressure in syria, in iraq, as its operating space there shrinks, it's going to seek to grow in other places like libya as well as lash out at places like europe and the west. >> you saw this report today that british police, british police, are preparing for what they call an enormous and spectacular potential attack on the uk by isis. what can you tell us about this? because when i saw that report, i was pretty disturbed.
10:59 am
>> i think britain, france, belgium, germany, they all are at grave risk of another paris kind of attack. there are just too many foreign fighters who have returned from the fight, too few resources directed to tracking them, and, really, it doesn't require as much, resourcewise, to launch attacks like this. uk are right to be on guard, as are other european partners, because the risks remain extremely high. >> the risks are high here in the united states as well. >> they are. frankly, they're highest for home-grown radicals, situation like what we saw in san bernardino, that people who are radicalized online. in europe, they're facing a different threat. that is, they're facing a threat from people who have actually gone to fight who have been trained who have now come back and are working on longevityics of attacks in europe. >> adam schiff.
11:00 am
obviously disturbing information indeed. thanks very much for joining us. that's it for me. to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. i'll be back at 5:00 p.m. eastern in "the situation room." for international viewers, "amanpour" is next. for viewers in north america, "newsroom" with brooke baldwin starts right now. wolf blitzer, thank you, my friend. great to be with you on this monday. i'm brooke baldwin. we may be on the cusp of a pivotal turn in the race for president. are we seeing the begins of the rise of senator cruz against front-runner donald trump? well, tomorrow could bring more clarity here. four states hold the republican nominated contests, 150 critical delegates will be at stake then and it may confirm a trend that happened saturday when