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WORLD RIGHT NOW WITH HALA GORANI

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Aired March 4, 2016 - 15:00:00   ET

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


(HEADLINES)

ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Zain Asher live from CNN Center sitting in for Hala Gorani, and this is THE WORLD RIGHT NOW.

As if you needed reminding, it was a murder case that shocked the United States and pretty much the entire world. In 1995, O.J. Simpson was

famously acquitted in the brutal stabbing death of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

But now a possible stunning new development. Los Angeles Police are examining a knife, this is a knife that was reportedly found at Simpson's

former estate. The captain of the department spoke just a few hours ago. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW NEIMAN, LOS ANGELES POLICE CAPTAIN: Within the last month, LAPD became aware of an item that was allegedly recovered by a citizen at the

demolition of the site. We need to vet that. We still don't know if that's an accurate account of how this item came into our possession.

The actual item is described as a knife. I'm not going to go into the description of the knife because that could be germane to determining

whether or not this actual piece of evidence is in fact evidence or it's just a facsimile or made up story, so we need to look into that. And our

robbery homicide is going to look into that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Of course, we are still filling in the blanks. It's not known whether that object found relates to the 1990s crime. The murder weapon

was actually never located.

Mark Geragos is a CNN legal analyst and defense attorney, who has represented among other people, Michael Jackson and Mike Tyson as well.

Mark joins me live now from New York.

So, Mark, you've had a lot of experience in high profile legal cases. What are your thoughts on this development?

MARK GERAGOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it's either one of two, if it turns out that they're able to extract or come up with some DNA evidence or

forensic evidence on that knife, then, obviously there's a whole lot of questions that need to be asked and determined, like where was the knife?

Who had it? Why wasn't it turned over sooner?

If there's nothing on it whatsoever then you have to think that this is either a hoax or somebody is promoting Jeff Toobin's book inspired TV

series that's on right now.

ASHER: But do you think that we're actually going to hear from the police officer and hear his side of the story in all this?

GERAGOS: I think without a doubt you're going to hear from the police officer of this. He was described, although, I don't think they played

that portion of the PIO, but apparently this is somebody who is an off-duty in Los Angeles was working a TV filming or a filmed showing of some kind.

ASHER: And do you think that he's going to face charges if this is the case that he held this knife for many, many years, obstruction of justice,

perhaps?

GERAGOS: It's interesting. If this turns out to be a knife that actually has some evidentiary value and the only way it would have evidentiary value

is it either have fingerprints or it has DNA on it of the victims in this case. And if it turns out that in fact he had this suspected that and

never turned it over, then yes, I could see where there would be some legal jeopardy so to speak.

ASHER: There is irony in all this because O.J. Simpson is already sitting in jail, right now, for another crime. If this knife is in any way linked

to him, he's completely immune, right, because he's already been tried for this crime.

GERAGOS: Well, he couldn't be tried again for murder under the double jeopardy clause, there is an argument that someone could try him federally

if the statute of limitations has not expired for a violation of civil rights. That's a whole different discussion and that's way down the line

hypothetically.

ASHER: There's no statute of limitations expiring in a murder case, though.

GERAGOS: In a murder case, but you can't try him on the federal murder charges and he was acquitted in the state so that the double jeopardy bar

would prohibit California from trying him again.

ASHER: He has parole hearings coming up, could this in any way affect that do you think at all?

GERAGOS: If there was an evidentiary value to this knife and it turned out that the knife was linked to him, absolutely. That is the one thing that I

could see realistically, that's a great question you asked by the way. That's the one thing that I could see that could have affect him or that

this could give him some legal jeopardy himself.

ASHER: All right, Mark Geragos, thank you so much for your perspective. Appreciate that.

GERAGOS: Thank you.

ASHER: I want to bring in a man who was directly involved in the O.J. Simpson trial. This is fascinating. Lawyer and Harvard professor, Alan

Dershowitz joins me live now from Cambridge, Massachusetts.

[15:05:00]He was an appellate advisor for Simpson's defense team. So Alan, it's great to have you on the show. You were part of the defense team for

O.J. Simpson. I would love to hear your reaction to this development.

ALAN DERSHOWITZ, FORMER O.J. SIMPSON DEFENSE APPELATE ADVISOR: Well, I'm amazed that if there is a knife the police didn't find it, but the police

in competence in this case was limitless. You know there was a knife that O.J. Simpson had in a drawer behind a bureau in his own bedroom.

And the police never bothered to move the mirror and find the drawers. We the defense team found the knife and turned it over to the court. Of

course, the knife had nothing to do with the case at all.

It had no DNA. It had never been used. But the police incompetence in this case was just boundless. And if this is relevant piece of evidence,

obviously it should have been found by the police, they tore his whole house apart.

There are two verdicts in every case. There's the verdict of trial and that can't be reversed because of the double jeopardy and then there is the

verdict of history.

The verdict of history is no statute of limitations, no double jeopardy clause so historians have the right to reassess any case and if they can

conclude that this is evidence that proves different from the verdict, that history's right and the people have the right to know that.

ASHER: Alan, as you mentioned the LAPD didn't exactly have the best reputation in the 1990s, but then the fact that you now have a police

officer who apparently held this knife for years, what does that do in terms of damages to the LAPD's reputation, do you think?

DERSHOWITZ: Well, I think it's going to continue to damage the reputation. Remember, too that the police in the O.J. Simpson case took home with them

the vile of blood and the sock.

And one of the police officers, Van Adder poured blood on the sock in order to create a piece of evidence that he thought would convict somebody he

believed was guilty.

We're able to prove that because the blood on the sock had a chemical not found in the body, but found in a test tubes to prevent coagulation.

Also the sock had mirror images of the blood on all four sides that wouldn't have happened, had the blood spilled on it when a defendant or

person was running through a murder field.

So already we know that they tampered with some evidence. Here we have evidence that's been sitting around for a long time. There's no chain of

custody.

So this would not be admissible in any court proceeding, but as I said, history doesn't have to comply by legal rules of evidence, and I'm as

curious as anybody else to find out if this was relevant.

ASHER: So Alan, walk us through the next stage in this process. This knife gets tested. How long does it take to get the results? What are

they looking for, blood, DNA, fingerprints?

DERSHOWITZ: Well, first they have to find out if there's anything on the knife, if there is blood. Then the second stage if there is blood, is it

testable, is there enough? Is the quality good enough to test the DNA?

And third, if it has DNA, does it have DNA of any of the victims or any other individual. And then, once all that is decided, then the verdict of

history, forensic analysts will come in and give their opinion.

And the public will be entitled to either change their mind or reconfirm their views, but it will have no impact on the law. My friend, Mr.

Geragos, is brilliant lawyer, talked about the possibility of a federal civil rights prosecution.

I think that's unrealistic. As far as his parole status is concerned, it's ironic. He's already serving time in jail, essentially because the judge

in Nevada believed that he was guilty of a crime in California.

Nobody gets the kind of sentence that O.J. Simpson got for what he was convicted of in Nevada. He was essentially convicted for the crime for

which he was acquitted. So I think he's already been punished. For that to have an effect in his parole would not seem fair to me.

ASHER: But obviously we talked about the double jeopardy. The fact that you can't be tried for the same case twice. If this knife perhaps does end

up being linked to that case back in the 1990s, the death of Nicole Brown Simpson, how do the victims or the families of the victims end up getting

justice, do you think?

DERSHOWITZ: Well, they have sued and they prevailed. And remember, two juries came two different verdicts based on different evidence and

different requirement of proof. One beyond a reasonable doubt and the other by preponderance.

So they've gotten their symbolic justice. They haven't been able to collect from O.J. Simpson. They should be able to. I don't know why there

are so many barriers to collecting.

But in the end, they will have to be satisfied if the verdict of history, which already is on their side, I mean most people today, if you ask them

will tell you they think O.J. Simpson was guilty despite the verdict of the jury so --

ASHER: It's very divided -- it was very divided along racial lines though.

DERSHOWITZ: But you'll see those who still think he is innocent will say that the evidence was planted, that the same police department that planted

the sock may very well have planted this to vindicate themselves. Why did it come out why it is on television? Was this an attempt to resurrect the

reputation of the LAPD? Will it help the LAPD? Will it hurt the LAPD?

[15:10:10]These are all questions for historians and media experts to ponder. The law is clear, O.J. Simpson cannot be retried for a murder from

which he was acquitted whether or not he is factually guilty. He's been legally determined not to be guilty.

ASHER: Fascinating perspective especially because you were involved in that case. Alan Dershowitz, pleasure. Thank you so much.

DERSHOWITZ: Thank you so much.

ASHER: Still to come, what does height or hand size have to do with leading the United States? We're not sure either. And once again,

stinging at jabs and personal attacks dominate a Republican presidential debate. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: Just when you think we have heard it all, we realize the raucous bickering in the Republican race for U.S. president hasn't reached bottom

yet. The latest debate was marked by more vicious personal attacks, but this time, it even descended into the vulgar.

Phil Mattingly has the highlights or the low lights depending on your point of view, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Off color --

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He hit my hands. Nobody has ever hit my hands. I've never heard of this. Look at those hands. Are

they small hands? And, he referred to my hands if they're small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there's no problem. I guarantee you.

MATTINGLY: Then off the rail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a policy question for you, sir.

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let's see if he answers it --

TRUMP: I will, don't worry about it, Marco. Don't worry about it little Marco, I will.

RUBIO: Let's hear a big -- big Donald.

TRUMP: Don't worry about it little Marco.

MATTINGLY: In mere minutes, Thursday night's Republican debate turned into a personal affair and stayed that way all night.

SENATOR TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Count to ten, Donald. Count to ten.

MATTINGLY: Three candidates desperate to the stop one, Donald Trump. Florida Senator Marco Rubio on full attack, just trying to stay alive with

a big March 15th win in his home state of Florida.

RUBIO: And he's asking us to make him the president of the United States of America.

TRUMP: I know --

RUBIO: This is not a game.

MATTINGLY: Texas Senator Ted Cruz joining the fight, pushing for a one-on- one match-up with Trump.

CRUZ: But if in fact you went to Manhattan and said, I'm lying to the American people, then the voters have a right to know.

TRUMP: You're the liar. You're the lying guy up here.

CRUZ: Why don't you release the statement?

TRUMP: Excuse me, I've given my answer, lying Ted.

MATTINGLY: Ohio Governor John Kasich continuing to believe his lower volume pitch will get him through his own must-win March 15th contest in

his home state.

JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have never tried to go and get into these kind of scrums that we're seeing here on the stage. And people

say everywhere I go, you seem to be the adult on the stage.

MATTINGLY: Time running out for all of Trump's challengers. Attacking in an effort to stop his momentum. Targeting his political donations.

[15:15:04]CRUZ: Donald Trump has written checks to Hillary Clinton, not once, not twice, not three times, ten times. Donald Trump in 2008 wrote

four checks to elect Hillary Clinton as president.

MATTINGLY: His business practices.

RUBIO: Never heard of Trump steaks?

TRUMP: You know what? Take a look at Trump steaks.

MATTINGLY: And even his character.

RUBIO: He has spent a career of convincing Americans that he's something that he's not in exchange for their money. Now he's trying to do the same

exchange for their country.

MATTINGLY: Everyone from candidates to moderators attempting to pin Trump down. Citing two interviews with CNN's "NEW DAY" where Trump appeared to

flip-flop.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": What about in Afghanistan? Do you believe that American boots should stay on the ground in Afghanistan to

stabilize the situation?

TRUMP (via telephone): We've made a terrible mistake getting involved there in the first place. That thing will collapse two seconds after they

leave. Just as I said that Iraq was going to collapse after we leave.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": About Afghanistan? You said we made a terrible mistake. Getting involved there in the first place.

TRUMP: We made a mistake going into Iraq. I never said we made a mistake --

CAMEROTA: Our question was about Afghanistan.

TRUMP: OK, I never said that.

MEGYN KELLY, MODERATOR: How is any of this telling it like it is?

TRUMP: Afghanistan, I did mean Iraq and that one if you noticed, I corrected it the second day.

MATTINGLY: In fact, CNN's reporting was prevalent in the debate.

TRUMP: CNN came out with a poll, excuse me, the national poll, a national poll, where he's at 15, he's at 14, and I'm at 49. Are you at 15 in the

new CNN poll? Do you believe in CNN?

CRUZ: I watched the CNN interview that Donald did --

MATTINGLY: This network being brought up a dozen times. . The clock is now ticking for Trump's competitors to stop him before he moves on to the

next battle.

TRUMP: I beat Hillary Clinton in many polls, the Q poll just came out. I beat Hillary Clinton in a recent Fox poll. I beat Hillary Clinton in "USA

Today." I beat her today in a poll in Ohio. I beat -- I'm the only one that beats Hillary Clinton. I beat -- and I have not started on Hillary

yet. Believe me. I will start soon. I haven't even started.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: We are seeing a great political party shatter before our eyes. Those words today from a respected Republican voice, a former speech writer

for Ronald Reagan on the state of her party today. The establishment is desperate to stop Donald Trump from winning the nomination, but the

question is, is it too little too late?

We're joined now by John Phillips, a talk radio host, who supports Donald Trump. Thank you for being with us. He's also a political columnist for

the "Orange County Register" as well.

CNN political commentator, Maria Cardona, joins us as well. She's a Democratic strategist who supports Hillary Clinton. John, I want to start

with you. Because for international audience, we haven't really seen anything like this.

When it comes to the tone, the tenure, the vulgarity, the frontrunner for the Republican Party discussing his manhood on television. Explain to our

international viewers why is that OK in a presidential race?

JOHN PHILLIPS, POLITICAL COLUMNIST, "ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER": I don't know about that. I've seen some British parliament on C-Span before and

sometimes that --

ASHER: But not quite that bad.

PHILLIPS: But what you saw last night, look, I know a lot of people are trashing it. It was aggressive. It was at times vulgar, but I also think

there's a certain degree of honesty you saw at that debate.

Typically in these debates you see them go after one another, it's passive aggressive. They're holding back. These guys don't like each other, and

they were overtly aggressive instead of passive aggressive.

And I got to tell you, I think it feeds into Donald Trump's narrative that the establishment is coming after him. Earlier in the day, we saw Mitt

Romney, the former Republican nominee back in 2012, essentially try to issue a takedown of him.

A lot of the things that he brought up in that speech were repeated by the other two leading candidates in this case, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and it

looked like the establishment was ganging up on him to try to take him out in that debate.

And as the any establishment guy, the guy who made his bones, the guy who made highs stripe by being the guy that took on the Republican

establishment. I think he comes out on top.

ASHER: John, it's not just about the tone, OK. When you think about Donald Trump's policies, the fact that can he supported Hillary Clinton,

his immigration flip-flopping back and forth. His attacks on former President George W. Bush, his attacks on Mitt Romney who was a darling of

the GOP, and his views on abortion as well. He was pro-choice, is this someone that you think really represents conservative views?

PHILLIPS: Look, I don't think we live in a blue plate special anymore where you buy into the Republican Party down the line or the Democratic

Party down the line. Sure, there are people that are like that, that exist, but I think most live in an ala cart world.

It's possible to be for gay marriage and for keeping criminals in jail for a really long time. So I think the fact that Donald is an ala cart

candidate almost is more of a modern version of what people in the heartland of the country feel and think.

So I don't think that's going to hurt him. He's also bringing in independents and Democrats who look at the numbers in some of these states

that have already voted. Record turnout, New Hampshire, record turnout in South Carolina, record turnout in Iowa.

[15:20:10]He is bringing new people to the party and these people don't demand ideological purity like the Ted Cruz audience does. These people

like the fact that he's willing to tell the Republican establishment that they're wrong.

ASHER: Maria, I want to bring you to respond to that because it is true that Donald Trump is bringing new people into the party. On the other

hand, Democrat turnout is down. Why?

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think the Democratic turnout is down because people much prefer to see a circus and a circus is exactly

what we're getting on the other side.

And look, to your original question, the tone and the tenor of the debate last night was not OK. And I feel like, as an American, I really need to

apologize to your international audience for what they saw on stage last night by candidates who are asking voters give them the highest office in

the world.

And what I would say is, there's such a big difference between this, this kind of conversation that I don't think I would even call it a

conversation, I would call it a WWF brawl, a wrestling brawl, compared to the conversation that is happening on the Democratic side.

And while folks might find it boring, it is at least focused on robust and passionate ideas on substance about what they're going to do to fix the

biggest problems that are facing our country.

And that, when it comes to the general election, Zain, is going to be great for whoever the Democratic nominee is going to be. I believe it's going to

be Hillary Clinton. And I think on the other side, I believe it's going to be Donald Trump.

And when Donald Trump can't even tell you how he's going to pay for the wall that he wants to put up on our southern border, and when Hillary

Clinton can tell you that that wall is wrong and she has the support of over 90 percent of the Latino vote in this country, there's no way that we

will ever see a president Donald Trump in the United States.

ASHER: And speaking of the two potential nominees, John, if I could just bring you in because we had a recent CNN/ORC poll showed that if Donald

Trump was matched up with Hillary Clinton, that Hillary Clinton would win, 52 percent to 44 percent. What do you say to that?

PHILLIPS: Well, these polls are very early out. We don't know who the Republican nominee is going to be for sure. We don't even necessarily know

that Hillary Clinton is going to be the Democratic nominee, although at this point, it's safe to say that she is the heavy favorite.

What you've seen happen in the Republican primary is you've seen Donald Trump go at it and feud with various politicians. And there's a common

pattern that we've seen play out when he feuds with these people.

When he first started with Rick Perry, guess what, Rick Perry dropped out. Then he and Lindsey Graham started going at one another, then he dropped

out. Then down the line all the way to the remaining people that are still in the race, and when Donald goes after them, their poll numbers plummet.

He only briefly went after Hillary Clinton, this was when Hillary Clinton called him a sexist and hit back on the women that Hillary Clinton

intimidated alleged sexual assault against her husband, Bill.

And that's really when you saw the poll numbers of Bernie Sanders start to take off like a rocket ship. She has a glass jaw. She hasn't taken very

much punches in this election. As soon as Donald starts in on her, I think you'll see her numbers plummet as well.

ASHER: Maria, you're laughing, do you want to respond to that?

CARDONA: Yes, I think Hillary Clinton and everybody around the world, I think will agree with me is probably the politician that has been most

attacked for more than 30 years of her life by her Republican nemesis who the only thing they want to do is bring her down.

And in this election, when you have seen a candidate like Donald Trump who was complaining about standing up on the debate stage for three hours

because that was way too long to answer questions from the moderators.

Versus a candidate in Hillary Clinton who stood up against Congress for an 11-hour testimony that she gave on Benghazi, and essentially, wiped the

floor with all of them, I will put my money on Hillary Clinton.

ASHER: All right. Fascinating discussion, guys, although some people might say though that despite all of that, Hillary Clinton should perhaps

be taking Trump more seriously.

CARDONA: She is. There's no question about that, Zain. She is absolutely taking him seriously.

ASHER: And both of you, I have to leave it there sadly. Maria Cardona, John Phillips, thank you so much, appreciate that.

CARDONA: Thank you, Zain.

PHILLIPS: Thank you.

ASHER: Coming up --

(VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Protesters clash with police in Brazil, they're angry about a raid on the home of a popular president. What prosecutors allege, coming up

next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:26:30]

ASHER: Welcome back, everybody. Brazilian police have questioned the former president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in connection with a massive

bribery and money laundering scheme.

Some 200 police officers also participated in raids on one of his homes and several other buildings linked to the former president. Federal

prosecutors believed that Lula benefitted from a scheme involving the national oil company, Petrobas.

Shasta Darlington is live for us now in Rio with all the details. So, Shasta, we know that police raided his home and several buildings, they

were searching for evidence. What did they find?

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, it's really a dramatic development in a long running corruption scandal. They questioned the

former President Lula for about three hours in Sao Paulo, a media circus there, and things got chaotic at his home.

That's where police were carrying out a search warrant. They ended up clashing with some of the supporters outside of his house. In fact, they

carried out 33 search warrants, 11 temporary detentions.

Now, they say they aren't arresting him, at least not yet and they haven't filed any charges, but the former president told his supporters that he

nonetheless felt like a prisoner. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, FORMER BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I felt like a prisoner this morning. I have been through a lot during my

life. I am not a man who holds grudges, but I don't think our country can go on like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DARLINGTON: Now, what investigators say is that they want to take a look at specifically about $8 million in speaking fees and donations for the

Lula Institute that they believe could have actually been bribe money in part of this big scheme.

The allegations are that construction companies were paying huge bribes to politicians and to executives at the state-run oil company, Petrobas, in

exchange for lucrative contracts.

So they want to find out if some of this money ended up in Lula's pockets, especially because those speaking fees and donations came from the same

construction companies involved in the investigation.

They're also taking a close look at two properties that they say that Lula could have received again, as part of this scheme. Of course, the former

president has denied these accusations, the chief of his party came out saying an encouraging supporters to organize acts of solidarity around the

country.

And the former president's hand-picked successor, current president, Dilma Rousseff held an emergency cabinet meeting. We expect to hear from her at

any moment.

While it's a long running investigation, the fact that it's circling in and coming so close to the former president, really sends the signal that the

government is in the limelight and we could really see some more actions goings forward -- Zain.

ASHER: And Shasta, just walk us through what is exactly at stake in all of this especially when it comes to the former president's legacy.

DARLINGTON: Obviously the former president's legacy is at stake. He's by far the most popular president that Brazil has had in recent history, but I

think more important is what's going to happen to the current government.

President Dilma Rousseff has rock bottom approval ratings, prolonged recession and it was really the support of Former President Lula that was

helping prop her up. There have been massive demonstrations asking for her impeachment.

The feelings is those could really pick up momentum now. The opposition parties have been looking for various ways to have this government removed.

[15:30:00]

DARLINGTON: And ironically, if you look at markets today, the stock prices are up, the currency is rebounding because so many people are intent on

really turning a page. And for them, that means not only getting rid of this government, but moving on to a different party. Not the party that the

former President Lula stands for, Zain.

ASHER: All right, Shasta Darlington live for us there, thank you so much. Appreciate that.

And coming up next, could these guys end up fighting all the way to the convention this summer?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: I'll look at the possibility of a brokered Republican convention with our very own political Mann, that's Jonathan Mann coming up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: Los Angeles police are examining a knife that was reportedly found at the former estate of O.J. Simpson who was famously acquitted in the

brutal stabbing death of his ex-wife, and her friend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: It is not known whether the object found relates to 1990s crime. The murder weapon was never located.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: All of the U.S. Republican Presidential candidates have agreed to support their party's eventual nominee, but that's about all they agreed on

during Thursday's -- Thursday night's debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Insults flew left and right as they traded personal attacks. With Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz directing most of their fire, of course, at Donald

trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Brazilian police questioned the former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in connection with a massive bribery and money laundering scheme.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Federal prosecutors believe Lula benefited from a scheme involving the national oil company, Petrobras.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: And the E.U. Council President says consensus is finally emerging on how to solve the migrant crisis in Europe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Donald Tusk was in Istanbul meeting with President Erdogan ahead of a crucial summit Monday between the E.U. and Turkey. It comes after a

record 1.2million people registered for asylum in the European Union in 2015 alone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: An anti-Trump coalition continues to gain steam inside the Republican Party. And it's possible, possible, Donald Trump could fail to

win a majority of delegates before the party convention this summer. Those conditions could result in a showdown on the convention floor. Political

Mann host Jonathan Mann joins me live now to explain.

So Jon, just walk us through what a contested or brokered convention actually is and how it would work.

JONATHAN MANN, HOST, POLITICAL MANN: Well let's just remind people what everything has been about so far, the primaries, caucuses are all about

choosing delegates, those delegates head to the convention that will actually choose the party's presidential nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The next President of the United States of America, Mitt Romney.

[15:35:02]

MANN: The modern American party convention is as scripted as anything you'll see on T.V. State delegates selected by the primaries and caucuses

nominate the Presidential candidate they've chosen months earlier.

Last time the Republicans gathered, for example, Mitt Romney was so far ahead, there was a crushing majority and no suspense, he had 90% of the

delegates. But what if Donald Trump's rivals can get enough delegates to keep him from getting a majority? He doesn't have one yet.

The convention could turn into the a real competition, voting until it can find a consensus. It hasn't happened in decades, but it's known as a

contested convention. Or if voting doesn't deliver a nominee, party leaders could intervene to guide the outcome. What's known as a brokered

convention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANN: All this is theoretical, but if Donald Trump starts losing, it could in fact happen. So what some people are talking about, and what some of his

opponents are waiting to see is John Kasich start winning primaries. Ted Cruz, start winning primaries. Marco Rubio, start winning primaries. If

they can win enough to keep him from 51 %, there will be suspense going into the convention. It's going to be hard, but Zain, it could happen.

ASHER: But it's interesting because the head of the RNC actually came out and said you know a contested convention is highly unlikely to happen. Is

he right about that?

MANN: He's absolutely right about that because really, right now -- Donald Trump, forgive me, Donald Trump has nearly 50% of the votes. So he's on his

way to getting his 50%. And it's going to get harder to catch up with him because, what's going to happen now is that instead of votes in each of the

primaries and caucuses being distributed proportionately among the people who have done well. It's going to be winner take all. And so whoever starts

winning starts winning by leaps and bound.

ASHER: They win big.

MANN: They win big. Which is why Trump's opponents don't necessarily agree that this could happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KASICH, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I win Ohio, and I'll be doing better in other northern states as well, this thing's going

to go to the convention. I mean that's what I think is going to happen. It's going to be a very exciting time and why not?

TED CRUZ, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In my view, a brokered convention ain't going to happen. And if the Washington deal makers tried

to steal the nomination from the people, I think it would be a disaster. It would cause a revolt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANN: And that's the point. 46% of Republican voters have already said they want Donald Trump to be their nominee. And if it went any other way, 46% of

the most active passionate people that the party has, those are the people who vote in primaries and caucuses clearly half of this record turnout is

going to be frustrated and even angrier than they are now.

ASHER: And by the way, if there is some kind of contested convention, correct me if I'm wrong, but then Donald Trump would likely run as an

independent.

MANN: Who knows what could happen. Who knows what could happen. Because he's taken a pledge that he won't run as an independent. If there's a

contested convention, he could still end up winning it. I mean we're talking about theoretical possibilities.

Right now it's a measure of a party's desperation that they're even considering this. It's like, you know, it's like writing bad checks to make

up for the bad checks you've already written. The party leadership that doesn't like Donald Trump is way behind. They're disorganized. They haven't

raised enough money. They haven't taken the threat seriously. They haven't backed just one candidate. They've been backing a series of rivals who've

been attacking each other.

So right now they are trying very hard to come up with some possible solution, it's possible, but it doesn't look likely.

ASHER: Can I just say, you are incredibly lucky to be a political anchor at this the moment in history. Just incredible, Jonathan Mann, live for us

there.

MANN: You can't make this up.

ASHER: You cannot. Thank you so much. And CNN's "Political Mann" has the U.S. Presidential race covered from the candidate's position to their

platforms. Join host, Jonathan Mann Saturdays at 7:00 p.m. London time as he guides you through the world's wildest and most expensive exercise of

democracy.

Meanwhile Mitt Romney says he won't make a last minute run for the Presidency to stop Donald Trump. His comments came a day after he attacked

the billionaire in a scathing speech, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, FORMER U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: There's no question, I'm going to do everything within the normal political bounds to

make sure that we don't nominate Donald Trump. I think he would be terribly unfit for office. I don't think he has the temperament to be President. And

so I want to see one of the other three become the nominee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Let's talk more about Romney's role in playing the Republican contest. Ryan Williams joins me live now via Skype from Boston. He was a

spokesperson for Romney when he was the Massachusetts Governor and running for President as well.

OK. Thank you so much for being with us. Ryan, so Mitt Romney did say yesterday that people should vote for Rubio in Florida and Kasich in Ohio.

Is Romney pushing for some kind of contested convention here do you think?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN WILLIAMS, FORMER SPOKESMAN FOR MITT ROMNEY: Well, I think Governor Romney made it very clear yesterday that Donald Trump is the wrong person

to be the nominee for the Republican party. At this point, we do not have a consensus behind, you know, who would be the anti-Trump candidate. There

was not one candidate that emerged from Super Tuesday with the clear mantle to be the anti-Trump candidate. And I think what the governor is saying is

look, vote for the other candidates, the other three which he said are all good candidates, where you think they'll do the best, and see what happens.

And I think that could potentially mean a contested convention.

Donald trump needs 1,237 delegates to win the nomination out right. He has less than 400 right now and so if he doesn't get that the number, he's

going to head to the convention, there will be a fight to see who are secure the nomination at the convention.

[15:40:36]

ASHER: If there is a contested convention, can I just ask you, is there any sort of possibility, in your mind at least, that Mitt Romney could come to

the floor again as perhaps some kind of nominee?

WILLIAMS: No, I don't see that happening. I don't see any circumstances where Romney would run at the convention or anywhere else (inaudible) a

number of crazy rumors that have been out there.

The Governor is simply coming forward because he wanted to talk about why Donald Trump is the wrong person to be the nominee of the party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: That he's a candidate that has offended so many people that he would lose to Hillary Clinton in November. We don't to want hand the keys

to the White House to Hillary Clinton, there's a lot at stake in this election. So he talked about that. And he also talked I think directly to

the working men and women in this country who have been taken by Donald Trump's populous message. And he highlighted why Donald Trump is a con man.

He's someone who said he'd stand up for American jobs, yet he produces his (inaudible) clothing line in China. He says he doesn't to want have foreign

workers replacing American workers, yet he hires foreign workers to staff his country club in Palm Beach, Florida. He laid out very effectively why

Donald Trump is a fraud and I think that's a message he wanted to convey before others states vote.

ASHER: But Ryan, if Mitt Romney is so adamant that Donald Trump is a fraud as you say, why did Mitt Romney wait until after Super Tuesday to condemn

Donald Trump in that way?

WILLIAMS: Governor Romney is a party elder and a statesman. And you know, his speech was extraordinary. This is not something that happens generally

in American politics. But Donald Trump's comments are so offensive, his plans are so outrageous and he is so woefully unprepared to be the

President that governor Romney felt he had to come forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: It's not a speech the governor wanted to give. I think he was hoping that the candidates would sort it out themselves and make the case

against Donald Trump. The candidates running against Trump have not effectively made the case so governor Romney felt he couldn't stay silent

anymore and he came forward. It's not a speech he wants to give as a former nominee of the Republican Party, but he felt compelled to do it before

Trump secures the nomination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Well, there are more states tomorrow voting as you know. We'll see if Governor Romney's voice had any kind of impact. Ryan Williams, thank you

so much, appreciate that.

And Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will face off on stage once again in a CNN Democratic debate. It is live from Flint, Michigan, Anderson Cooper

is going to be the moderator, and that is at 1:00 o'clock in the morning, London time on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Coming up on "The World Right Now," Flint, Michigan, is taking the first step to fixing the city's toxic water crisis. But many angry

residents say the damage has already been done. That's coming up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:15]

ASHER: Flint, Michigan, has been at the center of a water crisis for months after tests revealed residents were exposed to unhealthy levels of lead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: And until now, not a single pipe has been replaced. But hours ago the city kicked off a program to change the contaminated pipes. It comes

too late for some families who may now be coping with the effects of lead poisoning. Here's our Sarah Sidner with more.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, we'll I hope you out, just get that on. Put that one on and I'll help you with that one.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nakiya Wakes moved to Flint with her family in 2014, just as the city changed to a different water supply. Wakes

eventually became pregnant with twins, and was using the tap water like everyone else.

NAKIYA WAKES, FLINT RESIDENT: I noticed that every time that I took a shower or took a bath, I would have breakouts.

SIDNER: Then at five weeks pregnant, she miscarried one of the twin babies, but the other survived.

WAKES: I was like, you know, this is going to be my miracle child.

SIDNER: Then at 13 weeks, she miscarried again. Her sorrow turned to rage when she returned from the hospital.

WAKES: I come home and look at my mailbox and I see something from the city of Flint saying that pregnant women and people 55 and over should not be

drinking this water. And I'm like, are you serious? And I'm just coming home to losing my babies, and now this could have been the water that did

this?

SIDNER: Residents still had no idea lead was leeching into their tap water. When Wakes finally did hear about the lead, she had her children tested.

Both had lead in their bloodstream. Then Wakes found out lead in pregnant women can cause miscarriages, no one knows for sure if that's what happened

to Wakes.

Michigan state officials are now investigating whether the water crisis has had any effect on the number of miscarriages in Flint, so far, it's too

early to tell. In the meantime, the furry of residents is only growing.

With the recent e-mails released by the governors office, even before lead was discovered in the water supply, one exchange reveals some of his top

aides warned there were problems with the water supply, and that it should be switched back ASAP.

In 2014 the Governor's Deputy Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor e-mails his Chief of Staff and others saying they stop using the Flint river as a water

source due to health concerns. I see this as an urgent matter to fix, she writes.

Minutes later, the Governor's Legal Counsel responds by saying with, "my mom is a city resident, the notion that I would be getting my drinking

water from the Flint river is downright scary." But it took a full year before officials made the switch back to the original safer water supply.

What should happen to the people responsible?

WAKES: I really feel like they should be incarcerated. A resign is really like a slap in the face to me.

SIDNER: Put in jail?

WAKES: Yes, I think they should be put in jail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: That was CNN's Sarah Sidner reporting from Flint, Michigan, there.

It kills over 8 million people worldwide every year. Now British scientists say they've made a ground breaking discovery in the battle against cancer.

A way to more effectively target and destroy cancerous tumors. Here's our Kelly Morgan with more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY MORGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery, this is how cancer has largely been treated. But now, a different approach holds

promise. Think of it as a battle in evolution, the body's immune system has soldiers known as T-cells which have the ability to recognize disease

including cancer cells and then attack them. Tumors though have their own defense system. Their cancer cells disguise themselves by mutating,

confusing, and overwhelming the T-cells.

But a team of British cancer experts has discovered what they believe may be a chink in that armor.

CHARLES SWANTON, FRANCIS CRICK INSTITUTE: We hope that this is an Achilles heel because we're using what Charles Darwin taught us about evolution.

MORGAN: That is each mutated cell shares a trait denoted here in yellow with the original cancer cell, and we do have T-cells that can target it.

SWANTON: The problem is the cancer has put that T-cell to sleep. So those T-cells aren't present in very large numbers. So that present in very

minute numbers, and it's our job to identify those T-cells and expand them and give them back to patients to hopefully overwhelm the tumor.

MORGAN: Up until now, immunotherapy, treatments that harness the immune system have only been able to target some cancer cells and not others. This

approach could essentially create a supreme cancer fighting force within the body that can destroy the entire tumor, but it's not one size fits all.

[15:50:04]

SWANTON: This is going to be different from patient to patient. So if this is ever going to work, there'll have to be a unique approach on a patient

by patient basis.

MORGAN: While good in theory, even Swanton admits they've yet to prove this bespoke treatment will work in reality. Let alone, be affordable. Human

trials are still at least two years away, but the study is being hailed as a significant step that could help in the development of new therapies that

better target cancer cells.

Kelly Morgan, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Still to come on "The World Right Now," he took photos that were out of this world, now he's talking about his time in space. Astronaut Scott

Kelly on living in zero gravity and coming down to earth, that's next.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: U.S. Astronaut Scott Kelly has just completed a record breaking year in space. Kelly spoke about his experiences during the mission on the

international space station at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, just a few hours ago. He says he's experiencing more muscle soreness and

fatigue than he did after his last mission and that he's getting used to being back home. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT KELLY, ASTRONAUT: I've been very because since I got back. So I don't -- I don't think it's really hit me yet. And I think there'll be a point

here pretty soon where I'll you know start maybe feeling that kind of, you know, culture shock or, you know, whatever else you would want to call that

from, you know, having so little on the space station and, you know, so few, like choices about what you're going to do every day. What's available

to you to basically having just about anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: To talk more about Kelly's year in space and the physical toll, long-term space travel can take, we're joined now by CNN digital

correspondent Rachel Crane who's joining us live now from Los Angeles.

Rachel, good to see you. I find it fascinating that he grew about a couple inches or just under a couple inches and that he's now back to normal

height. But what is Mr. Kelly saying about his time in space?

RACHEL CRANE, CNN DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he's now back to his original height. He grew about an inch and a half because he didn't have

the force of gravity compressing his spine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRANE: Now, he kept reiterating that a year in space is a long, long time. And that in space he also became an environmentalist. Seeing the earth from

that vantage point, seeing the pollution over Asia. He said you could barely even see the ground. The fires in California, the unpredictable

weather patterns. He kept saying that it reminded him about the fragility of our planet and how we have to take care of it.

ASHER: And Rachel, what can NASA learn specifically about the human body from Mark Kelly's travels?

CRANE: Well look NASA's ultimate goal is to put boots on Mars by the 2030s. In order to do that we have to better understand how our bodies respond to

a micro gravity environment. Up to this point, NASA has only had data on the six month missions to the International Space Station. We now, from

those missions we know that our bones become brittle. We know that muscle atrophy. We know that there's fluid shifts that happen in the body, but we

don't know the long lasting impact of those changes. So by now having this data set from Kelly's mission. It will greatly enhance our understanding of

what happens to our bodies in space.

[15:55:04]

ASHER: And the fact that Mark Kelly is a twin, that actually helps in all of this, right?

CRANE: Yes. No, they have the perfect control because obviously, his identical twin, they have nearly the identical genetic make-up, so NASA's

actually now being able to test if there's any genetic mutation that happen as a result of being in space. And also if these changes that they - that

they see in Scott Kelly's body, if they are in fact natural or if they are the results of his time spent in space.

ASHER: And just walk us through the recovery process. After you spend one year on the International Space Station, I know that he grew slightly and

that now he's back to normal height. But what is the recovery process needed in this?

CRANE: Well, listen, the former astronauts that I've spoken to, they reference the experience coming back here to earth and experience gravity

as almost the worst hangover you've ever had in your entire life. And Scott Kelly this afternoon spoke about the soreness that he's feeling in his

body, his muscles, his bones, the fatigue that he's feeling. He also talked about the skin sensitivity that he's experiencing.

So over you know the next couple of days, the coming weeks that will get better hopefully for him and he won't be experiencing that horrible

hangover sickness that astronauts describe.

But this data collection for this twin study, for the one year mission, it will continue until September. So just because this mission is over, does

not mean that the science stops.

ASHER: Fascinating. OK, Rachel Crane, live for us there. Thank you so much, appreciate that.

CRANE: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: And we leave you with this story, let us hope that fourth time is the charm for Rupert Murdoch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: The media mogul tied the knot with model Jerry Hall on Friday. They were married in a civil service in London and shortly afterwards, Mr.

Murdoch took to twitter saying, "no more tweets for ten days or ever. I feel like the luckiest and happiest man in the world."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Hall previously had a long-term relationship with rock star Mick Jagger, she and Rupert Murdoch have actually ten children between them.

Just a reminder for you, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will face off on the stage once again in the CNN Democratic debate. It is live from

Flint, Michigan. Anderson Cooper is going to be moderating, that is at 1:00 o'clock in the morning, very early Monday London time.

All right. This has been "The World Right Now," thank you so much for watching. "Quest Means Business" is up next, you're watching CNN.

END