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Ted Cruz Fires Chief Spokesman Rick Tyler; Countdown to Ceasefire in Syria; Alleged Uber Gunman in Court; Protests in India; Will U.K. Stay in the European Union?; New Study on Diversity in Hollywood. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired February 23, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:19] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is "CNN NEWSROOM" live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour: Ted Cruz under fire. The Republican Presidential Candidate dumped his chief spokesman amid growing allegations his campaign is resorting to dirty tricks and shady tactics; a countdown to a ceasefire in Syria. Washington and Moscow agree on a partial truce, but key Syrian groups have yet to formally sign on; and, the alleged Uber gunman in court charged with murdering six people, once again raising questions about the safety of Uber passengers.

Hello, everybody; thanks for joining us. I'm John Vause. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

In just a few hours' voters in the state of Nevada will weigh in on the Republican Presidential candidates. Frontrunner Donald Trump just wrapped up a speech in Las Vegas. The real estate mogul has a solid lead in Nevada, among the five remaining candidates. He riled up the crowd with a now familiar rallying cry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Who knew this was going to happen? I figured maybe we'd be in the middle of the pack by this time, that we were going to edge it out at the end, you know, like the race horse. We'd edge it out, we'd win in the end. But we have a big lead and we don't want to blow it and you know, frankly, we've got to go all the way. We're going to make America great again, folks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Meanwhile Ted Cruz has fired a senior aide. His Communications Director posted a blatantly misleading video about rival, Marco Rubio. It's the latest blow between these two candidates, fighting it out for second place. Jim Acosta has more now from Nevada.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Riding high into Nevada Donald Trump is holding the best hand in the battle for the GOP nomination. For starters his two main rivals, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, are busy attacking each other. SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Every single day something comes out of the Cruz campaign that's deceptive and untrue.

ACOSTA: Rubio began the day demanding that they fire somebody over a video distributed by the Texas Senator's campaign that falsely accused the Florida Republican of dismissing the bible. The video misquotes Rubio as saying, about the Bible, "Got a good book there, not many answers in it" but actually, Rubio says "all of the answers are in it"; a blatant fabrication. Top Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler, who circulated the video, apologized to Rubio on Facebook for "posting an inaccurate story about him," but Rubio snapped, "that's not good enough."

RUBIO: At some point there has to be some level of accountability; otherwise you're running the operation where you're sending the message to the people that work for you, go out and do anything you want to do and if we get caught, we'll just apologize but we'll keep doing it.

ACOSTA: Hours later Cruz stunned the campaign world, announcing he's asked Tyler to step down.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIATE: And this morning I asked for Rick Tyler's resignation. I had made clear in this campaign that we will conduct this campaign with the very highest standards of integrity.

ACOSTA: The bogus attack on Rubio is the latest incident raising questions about how Cruz has conducted his campaign. Trump seized on the flap tweeting, "More dirty tricks."

Trump is also getting help in the form of an unforced error from John Kasich whose awkward remark about the women backing his first (inaudible) Senate campaign in the late 1970's annoyed one supporter.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've just got an army of people who, um, and many women who left their kitchens to go out and go door to door and put yard signs up for me.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: First off I want to say you're comment earlier about the women came out of the kitchen to support you, I'll come to support you but I won't be coming out of the kitchen.

KASICH: I got you. I got you.

ACOSTA: Kasich later explained it was just an off-the-cuff remark.

KASICH: I'm real and maybe sometimes I might say something that isn't artfully said as well as it should be.

ACOSTA: Trump, who holds a commanding lead in the delegate count, and is poised in the polls to wrap up another big victory in Nevada, is boasting his support comes in all shapes and sizes.

TRUMP: So we won with everything. We won with highly educated, pretty well educated and poorly educated but we won with everything. Tall people, short people, fat people, skinny people, just won.

ACOSTA: But Rubio, who spent part of his childhood in Nevada, and his supporters are getting aggressive. A pro-Rubio Super PAC started airing this new attack ad, pounding Trump and Cruz.

(Rubio video played)

ACOSTA: And Rubio is attracting more establishment support, picking up new GOP endorsements.

TOM PAWLENTY, FORMER GOVERNOR, MINNESOTA: This is a three-way race at the moment. As a practical matter it's between Rubio, Cruz and Trump. There's some others in the race but I don't think they'll be in the race that much longer.

[00:05:01] ACOSTA: Some in the party want Kasich to drop out, to funnel their support to Rubio. Kasich laughed off that idea.

KASICH: I think it's funny. I think it's funny. I think it's ridiculous.

Ryan Lizza is a CNN Political Commentator and correspondent for "The New Yorker." He joins us now from Washington. So, Ryan, is it surprising that Cruz's spokesman was so abruptly fired? I mean, campaign staff has seemed to have done a lot worse and they kept their jobs?

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely; I agree with you. I'm a little surprised that this guy got the death penalty for what seems like could be a minor offense in another campaign. Why not just let him apologize and move on? Instead, by asking him to resign, or firing him, they've basically turned this into at least a two-day story. It makes them seem like they are more guilty than -- guilty of something worse than they are actually are and I think the answer is this argument that Trump and Rubio are prosecuting against Cruz that he is not honest, that he engages in dirty tricks. I think the Cruz campaign clearly is sensitive to those attacks so they felt like they had to get rid of Rick Tyler. He had to fall on his sword.

VAUSE: Donald Trump did open up the live flood gates. He was the first one to do it. He hasn't held back and before the spokesperson was fired he tweeted this out: "The reason Ted Cruz lost the evangelicals in South Carolina is because he's a world-class liar and evangelicals do not like liars." I guess the point he's making is making, heading in to Super Tuesday, is that evangelicals for Ted Cruz will be crucial and to your point, maybe this narrative of the dirty tricks and the dishonesty, maybe that's starting to stick and Cruz is sensing some problems?

LIZZA: Yes, and if you've noticed, if you see Cruz at any event, what is behind him? He has this banner that says "TrusTed," right? And the whole ethos of his campaign is based on his personal integrity. Look, like a lot of times, there's always a germ of truth in a lot of what Donald Trump says and that is an important issue for a lot of more religious evangelical voters and Cruz is sort of losing that battle right now, and he's losing it from both sides. He's got Rubio on one side calling him a liar and Trump on the other. Cruz's problem is he's sipping from a very shallow pool of very conservative voters and he needs to break - he needs to not only consolidate those very conservative voters but branch out into the more moderate electorate and Trump and Rubio are squeezing him. It's going to be very interesting to see if he stays in the race, if he has a poor showing on March 1st.

VAUSE: Okay; let's head to the Democrats now. All the exit polls show the big weakness for Secretary Clinton is trust and honesty. Is Bernie Sanders kind of blowing this now by not going after Clinton over the e-mail scandals?

LIZZA: You know, I think that's a great point. I think he's a little bit trapped on this. On the one hand, if you look at the data, any candidate running against Hillary Clinton would go after those qualities. They would attack her on those issues. He's hemmed-in because he has said from the beginning that he won't run a negative campaign. He's bragged about the fact that all of his campaigns, he argues, in Vermont were always about the issues and positive and that he never got into any kind of gutter politics; and yet, his path to victory, in some way, runs through raising those issues about Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama faced the same issue in 2008 and frankly, this is a little bit lost to history because people forget how Obama won, but frankly Obama started doing better when he started subtly raising trust and character issues against Hillary Clinton in the Fall of 2007 and I think Sanders has been reluctant to do that, with the serious exception of talking about campaign finance reform and arguing that some of her policy positions are influenced by money. That's no small thing for him to accuse her of, but on other issues he has not been willing to engage in a really tough knife fight with her on those issues, and he may regret that if he loses this race.

VAUSE: If we look at the Sanders campaign right now, is it too early to say he's moved on from feel the Bern to now sort of flaming out?

LIZZA: I think you've got to see what happens in South Carolina. If he can defy expectations, he's down by many points in the polls. If he can keep her, say, in single digits, I think people will say, wait a second. Maybe there's something here. He has to show improvement; right? Maybe he doesn't have enough to win South Carolina but he has to show some improvement with groups where he has not done well with. Obviously African-Americans being the most constituency in the South Carolina Democratic electorate. If he can continue to prove that than he can say, wait a second, this isn't over and he can continue to improve in the March 1st states; prove that he can win a few of the northern, mid-western states. Then I think people will give him a second look.

[00:10:04] But there have been quite a few red flags in the results in Nevada where he seemed to improve a little bit among Hispanics but he did not crack into her support among African-Americans and he needs to do that to win.

VAUSE: Ryan, good to speak with you; thank you.

LIZZA: You got it. VAUSE: Ahead of Saturday's Democratic Primary in South Carolina Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders comes face to face with voters right here on CNN. Chris Cuomo hosts a Town Hall live from Columbia, South Carolina. You can see it Wednesday morning 9:00 a.m. for our viewers in Hong Kong; and the five remaining Republicans will face off in a debate in Houston, Texas. CNN's Wolf Blitzer will be your moderator for the evening. You can see that right here, watching from Hong Kong, Friday morning at 9:30.

After talks between U.S. and Russia, the so-called "cessation of hostilities" is set to take effect in Syria midnight Friday. Syria's main opposition group has given preliminary approval but ISIS and the (inaudible) front are not part of this deal. As Barbara Starr reports their deadly attacks show no signs of letting up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Suicide bombers striking in Damascus, the Syrian capital; scores killed, nearly 200 wounded and the massive bomb attack in Homs where the Assad regime is supposed to be in control. ISIS claimed responsibility for the devastation. Now the U.S. and Russia announcing a plan for a ceasefire, but not with ISIS.

President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the telephone about the agreement scheduled to go into effect this weekend. Questions already about how secure the deal is. The U.S. warning it may be tough to get all sides to adhere to the agreement.

MARK TONER, DEPUTY SPOKESMAN, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: You can't pull the switch and so it's going to take a little bit of time for us to actually implement it.

STARR: And an extraordinary admission on how the U.S. will keep tabs on the agreement, in part by watching aide groups.

TONER: There's not going to be any monitors on the ground to look at this, other than where we get information from, in terms of intelligence from but also through NGO's reporting on the ground and journalist's, frankly, who give feedback as to who's being hit by whom.

STARR: At stake, the immediate fate of tens of thousands of Syrian civilians, bombed by Russia and the Syrian regime; starving and lacking medical care. Russia currently is dropping about 100 bombs a day, claiming it's bombing ISIS. The U.S. says Moscow is bombing civilians and

Bashar al-Assad's opposition forces with help from Iran and the regime.

SEC. JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Russia has to talk with Iran and with the Syria Regime and we have to talk with the opposition.

STARR: Putin saying he will get his side on board. VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT, RUSSIA, via translator: We will do whatever is necessary with Damascus, with the legitimate Syrian authorities.

BASHAR AL-ASSAD, PRESIDENT, SYRIA: We have to fight the terrorist -

STARR: Assad told the Spanish newspaper he definitely supports the deal, but warned that could change if others try to improve their battlefield positions.

ISIS and al-Qaeda are not party to the agreement. U.S. air strikes against ISIS will continue and nobody expects ISIS to stop its attacks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: For more on this, joining us now CNN Military Analyst, retired Lieutenant Colonel, Rick Francona. He's also a former U.S. military attache in Syria. Colonel, good to have you with us. It's one thing for officials in Washington and Moscow to agree to a ceasefire; it's another for the Syrians to actually stop the firing. From what you're seen, is there any will on the ground, at this point, to stop the bloodshed?

RICK FRANCONA, RETIRED LIEUTENANT COLONEL, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I don't think so. I mean, we all support a ceasefire. We want to stop the bloodshed, but I don't think this agreement is going to do much of that. As we saw yesterday over 100 civilians killed by ISIS in a city, as Barbara said, controlled by the Regime and the Syrian Air Force announced later the -- earlier this evening that they regard anybody that's not supporting the Regime to be terrorists and they're going to attack them because terrorists are specifically excluded. So I think we're going to run into a big game of semantics between who's a terrorist and who's a freedom fighter and who's an anti-regime rebel and I think both sides are going to try to take advantage of this. So I'm a little skeptical.

And the timing also, John, is a little troubling. Why are we waiting until Saturday? I think we're going to see a real push by the Syrian Army and the Russian Air Force over the next four days to try and cut off all those people in Aleppo.

VAUSE: One of the conditions of this ceasefire and, as you say, we'll have to wait and see if it works, is that the definition of a terrorist group will be defined by the United Nations; but what we've seen in the past is that the Russians and the Syrians, the Syrian Regime, have carried out air strikes, claiming to be authorized, and it's actually been the moderate opposition groups.

[00:15:12] So I guess the mere fact that they can continue those air strikes, isn't that a loophole, I guess, for the Russians and the Syrians just to continue what they've been doing?

FRANCONA: Exactly, John. I think that's what we're going to see. I think it's a huge loophole and the Russians are going to run a truck right through it because if you look at the Russian public announcements after their (inaudible) they say they're striking ISIS targets when the Pentagon has said at least 85-percent of the targets that the Russians are hitting are not ISIS targets. They're in Idlib Province. There are very few isolated fighters in Idlib Province. Almost all the ordnance is going in there and we see no indication that the Russians going to stop that.

Over the next four days we're going to see increased attacks. After that Saturday deadline, then we'll see and I -- I venture to say that the Russians will continue to claim that they're bombing ISIS. We will continue to bomb ISIS, but our guys on the ground, the moderate Syrian rebels, are going to take the brunt of this and I think they're going to suffer a lot of losses because of this.

VAUSE: Okay. I guess one of the -- if you look at this, the real -- is the reality that this is all about trying to contain this conflict, allow for the delivery of aide rather than to find an end to the war? I mean, is that the best case here?

FRANCONA: Yes and, you know, I thought what they're trying to do, they're trying to get these people to stop killing each other and they figure a partial ceasefire is better than nothing and this would be the first step. If it works, great and then we could possibly build on that, but what happens if it does work? Then we've got to get together and continue to go after ISIS and el nusra. Are we going to cooperate with the Russians on that or are we not going to support the moderate rebels? This has just opened up a bunch of questions, but if it can stop the killing on the ground, that's a good thing. I'm very skeptical going to work though.

VAUSE: I think that is a sentiment which is overwhelmingly shared by pretty much everyone. Colonel, good to have you back. it's been a while.

FRANCONA: Thanks; yes.

VAUSE: The Afghan military has retreated from two hard-won districts in Helmand Providence according to a government spokesman. Officials say it was a tactical move to concentrate security forces elsewhere, but this decision is raising concerns over the military's ability to take on Taliban fighters. Insurgents have (inaudible) in this opium producing region since the withdraw of international troops almost two years ago.

A short break here, but still to come, the Uber driver accused of a deadly shooting rampage has appeared in court. The killing spree once again raising concerns about the security and the safety for Uber's passengers. Also, a new report slamming Hollywood for continuing to be what it says is a "straight, white, boys club". That story later this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:21:42] VAUSE: Welcome back. The Uber driver accused of killing six people during a Saturday night rampage allegedly had a stockpile of weapons at his home in the U.S. state of Michigan. Police say they found 11 rifles, and CNN has learned hours before the attacks the driver bought a heavy-duty tactical jacket with a pocket to conceal a handgun. Nick Valencia has more now from Kalamazoo where the suspect appeared in court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wearing an orange jump suit and glasses, his hands shackled, Jason Dalton made his first court appearance after being accused of murdering six people and critically injuring two others during a seven hour killing spree in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you Jason Brian Dalton?

JASON DALTON, DEFENDANT, KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN: Yes.

VALENCIA: Appearing via videoconference, the 45-year-old Uber driver sat motionless as the judge read the 16 charges against him. Dalton's blank stare only briefly interrupted as he appeared to sigh at the mention of being charged of the attempted murder of a minor.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: Is there anything you wish to tell the court at this time concerning your connections with the community?

VALENCIA: Earlier, during a probable cause hearing, detectives told the judge that Dalton "admitted to taking people's lives." Prosecutors say he chose his victims at random, in three different locations; so cold-blooded, they say, that he continued to work and pick up Uber passengers in between shootings.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: And I said you're not the shooter, are you?

VALENCIA: One of those passengers spoke to CNN affiliate WWMT. He asked not to be identified.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said no and I said, are you sure? And he kind of just said, no, I'm just tired. I've been driving for seven hours.

VALENCIA: Mariana Cruz sent CNN an image of her receipt form a drive with Dalton that morning. She didn't want to go on camera, but told CNN he made her feel uncomfortable. Thinking she was being paranoid she gave him five stars on the ride anyway. That night, she says, she saw Dalton's car on the news and made the connection.

RICH VENDELL, NEIGHBOR: He seemed like a good guy.

VALENCIA: Rich Vendell is Dalton's neighbor. He lives three doors down.

VENDELL: We both have interests in cars. He has a dog that we hear him chasing, but seems like a normal person.

VALENCIA: Uber says Dalton passed a background check. So why would a married father of two, with no criminal record, allegedly go on a killing spree? Police still don't have a motive.

Nick Valencia, CNN, Kalamazoo, Michigan (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The shooting is once again raising questions about Uber's background checks for drivers as well as safety for passengers. Joining me now, Garrett Reim. He's a tech reporter for the "L.A. Business Journal." So Garrett, let's just talk about Uber. It has this policy of a total ban on guns, be you a driver or a passenger. In the events of the last couple of days I guess it's a pretty clear case that that is almost impossible to enforce.

GARRETT REIM, TECH REPORTER, "L.A. BUSINESS JOURNAL": Yes, I mean, they have thousands and thousands of drivers. To keep guns out of any car, especially small guns that can be easily concealed, you have to have metal detectors or someone doing a search for cars periodically. So for taxis or for Uber or for anyone it's a ban that's almost impossible to enforce.

VAUSE: And obviously they're not going to have random checks of drivers, or taxi drivers, I guess, for that matter. You know, Uber has used a panic button on (inaudible). They did this in India after a very high profile rape case, and I think there were promises that there would be something similar in Chicago, but they haven't followed through on that.

[00:25:07] No, here they've said that they won't do that. So why not? Wouldn't that be a simple solution here?

REIM: I think it would be an effective situation for panic situations, but you almost create a panic by having a panic button. People are, why do I need a panic button; Uber should be safe? I shouldn't need this rip cord for scary situations. So I don't think they want to frighten people. I think that's part of the issue.

VAUSE: But isn't - this doesn't go to a safety issue if you've got this thing on your phone that you know that you're being tracked and you've got a GPS underway. If you panic, I mean, the police could easily reach you. There's enough publicity coming from this shooting.

REIM: So they may implement it and it also tells the drivers, sends a signal to the driver or a potential -- you know, drivers who may have bad intentions -

VAUSE: Yes.

REIM: to not go forward with those plans because there is a panic button; so that might be deterrence.

VAUSE: There's always the possibility that it can also alert other passengers - if an Uber driver has gone off the rails as well. I think that's the other side of this.

REIM: Right. Right; exactly.

VAUSE: A lot of things have been raised by Uber and its background checks. Clearly, in this case, though, a more stringent background check it would not have made any difference; right? REIM: No; no difference and that's the scariest part. This guy seemed like a family many. Even during his -- between pick-up he was somewhat normal and he had somewhat like a 4.73 rating, which is generally high, and nothing in his background said that he had the potential to be a mass murderer.

VAUSE: But there is an issue with Uber and with background checks. Taxi drivers have a much more vigorous process before they get their license.

REIM: Yes, so they have fingerprinting background checks and Uber doesn't. Uber requires someone's full name, their address, their social security number as well as their driver's registration. The process for Uber is a lot quicker and that's -- which makes sense because really there's not a lot of interaction between the Uber driver and the Uber of the corporation; it's all done via the internet.

VAUSE: When they hire drivers they don't meet them in person, do they? It's all over the net, right?

REIM: Yes, in fact, their website says you can sign up to become an Uber driver in less than four minutes. Not saying that means they don't get their checks but here is a -- it's pretty easy.

VAUSE: So when Uber gets publicity like this, its had bad publicity for a lot of reasons, this is the worst kind of publicity that you could deal with, what sort of impact would this have on the company?

REIM: I don't think this in particular is going to hurt their business but it adds to a larger narrative they've been struggling with. They've gotten some bad press around background checks; bad press generally about playing fast and loose with the rules and so even though it doesn't seem like there's they could have done easily to prevent this it generally builds on a narrative they would rather not have.

VAUSE: Garrett thank you for coming in; appreciate it.

REIM: Thank you.

VAUSE: A short break here on "CNN NEWSROOM." When we come back, millions of people struggling to get water in India after protestors disrupted a major supply station over the weekend; we'll have the latest on the unrest in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:31:30] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching "CNN NEWSROOM" live from Los Angeles; I'm John Vause. The headlines this hour: (HEADLINES)

Protesters angry over India's caste system have reached a deal with the government after violent demonstrations left 16 people dead. The protesters want access to government jobs (inaudible) from lower caste workers. Officials say demonstrators damaged a major supply canal, leaving millions of people without water in the capital of New Delhi.

Engineers, guarded by security forces are now working to repair the damaged water station. CNN's Sumnima Udas has the very latest from the Indian capital.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A truckload of water is the hottest commodity in Delhi right now. People jostle for every drop.

Residents of this neighborhood have received no water for the past two days so this is what they've had to resort to, tankers like this, hundreds of them, have been going from neighbor to neighbor.

Government officials say ten million people have been affected by the water crisis, which they're calling unprecedented.

SUPRIYA MUKHIJA, NEW DELHI RESIDENT: (Inaudible, speaking Hindi)

UDAS: She shows me how she's coping. Wow, you've filled up every single bucket in the house.

MUKHIJA: Because of not having a drop of water.

UDAS: The lives of many in this city of 25 million disrupted because of weeklong protests in the neighboring state of Haryana. Agitators damaged a major water canal which accounts for 60-percent of the water's main surprise.

This is one of the main highways connecting Delhi to the state of Haryana. As you can see they're blocked off the entire area. They're using these kind of pipes, tree trunks and trucks. Trucks have been lined up, one after another, so there's absolutely no access on this road for the past few days.

Long live Jats (Inaudible) Unity they chant. The Jats are a dominant caste in Haryana, traditionally well off.

It's like a camping site.

But their demanding a place, a reservation in India's education and government jobs quota system, which is designed to help lower castes that have been disadvantaged for centuries.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The system is so unfair. Even if we study really hard and get much better grades than the lower caste, they're the ones getting accepted to the best universities just because they're lower caste. We want it to be equal for all, he says.

UDAS: The government has set up a committee to address their demands but these protesters say they don't believe it; they want it on paper. Until then they will continue to campout. It's a pattern of resentment growing across India as jobs and admissions at university become more competitive. Within minutes they ask us to leave. Many here are still very angry. This caste-based quota system, just one of India's many fault lines which can erupt any time. Sumnima Udas, CNN, New Delhi

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: British Prime Minister David Cameron has made his case to Parliament for the UK to stay in the European Union, saying it's a clear choice between an even greater Britain by staying or a leap into the dark by exiting the EU, but he is facing push back from some influential voices within his own conservative party, including London Mayor, Boris Johnson.

[00:35:31]

(BEING VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, MAYOR, LONDON, ENGLAND: My right, honorable friends, the Prime Minister to explain to the House and to the Country exactly what way this deal returns sovereign over any field of lawmaking to these Houses of Parliament?

(Cross Talk)

DAVID CAMERON, PRIME MINISTER, GREAT BRITAIN: This deal bring brings back some welfare powers. It brings back some immigration powers. It brings back some (inaudible) powers, but more than that, because it carves us forever out of ever closer union, it means that the ratchet of the European court taking power away from this country cannot happen in future -

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The referendum will take place June 23rd.

A short break here on "CNN NEWSROOM". When we come back, a new study giving Hollywood very low grades for diversity by almost every definition. Where the entertainment industry falls short is just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Hollywood is a straight, white, boys club according to a new study on film and television diversity. After evaluating more than 11,000 speaking characters, the University of Southern California found just 28-percent of characters were non- white. Audiences see one female for every two males on screen and gay, lesbian and transgender characters make up only 2-percent of characters with actual speaking roles.

This study comes just days before the Academy Awards, potentially adding fuel to the backlash over the lack of diversity among this year's Oscar nominees. We get details from Stephanie Elam.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The focus is supposed to be on the best in film, but much of the conversation leading up to the Oscars is being dominated by what the acting characters lack, diversity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The best actor is, -- oh, my god, I knew it. It's a five-way tie: all the white guys.

[00:40:02] For the second year in a row the Academy Award acting nominees are all white. The immediate backlash dominating social media and led by Jada Pinkett Smith.

JADA PINKETT SMITH, ACTRESS, HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA: Let's let the Academy do them, with all grace and love; and let's do us differently.

ELAM: And filmmaker Spike Lee.

SPIKE LEE, WRITER/DIRECTOR, HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA: My wife, Tonya Lewis, in all good conscience, we cannot attend the Academy Awards.

ELAM: So, in response to the controversy, the Academy's leadership moved swiftly to institute more changes, to increase diversity among Oscar voters. The goal? To double the number of women and people of color by 2020.

MATTHEW BELLONI, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER": The Academy is overwhelmingly white and overwhelmingly male. A lot of the Academy members believe the new rules are ageist. They believe they are reverse racism.

DON CHEADLE, ACTOR/FILMMAKER, HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA: I don't think there's a cabal of white people going let's make sure we don't give anybody who Black of Latino, I don't think that's what's happening. So it's about that multiplicity of the people that this country represents not having access at a very early point in this process.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You all just got a snapshot of how Americans really feel.

ELAM: Indeed Academy voters can't cast their ballots for movies that represent a wide arrange of the human condition if those films are never made in the first place.

BELLONI: The ultimate change here needs to come from the top echelon of Hollywood executive suites. It's getting those kind of minority driven movies into the Oscar conversation; that is the difficult part.

LEE: I want to see more people step up because we're going to be on the right side in history.

Stephanie Elam, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And CNN is place to turn before and after the Academy Awards for all the glamour from the red carpet. Tune in to Hollywood's biggest night, Sunday night at 11:00 p.m. in London. Once the Oscars wrap up, join Isha Sesay and Don Lemon for, and the winner is. During the ceremony you can take part by voting in our Oscar poll, all at cnn.com/awardsvote. It should be fun. Finally, here, a Washington woman has seen a lot in her 106 years, but she has bene waiting for one moment in particular: to see a black president. That moment finally came for Virginia McLaurin and her excitement was contagious.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Virginia McLaurin.

VIRGINIA MCLAURIN: Hi!

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: How are you?

MCLAURIN: I'm fine.

OBAMA: Oh, it's so nice to see you.

MCLAURIN: I'm just (inaudible).

OBAMA: You want to say hi to Michelle?

MCLAURIN: Yes.

OBAMA: Slow down now, don't go too quick. She's 106.

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY, U.S.: No you are not! You are not 106!

OBAMA: Well you got to - you slow down.

OBAMA: Oh my goodness.

MCLAURIN: Thank you.

OBAMA: I want to be like you.

MCLAURIN: You can.

OBAMA: She's dancing? Come on! What's the secret to still dancing at 106?

MCLAURIN: Just keep moving.

OBAMA: We're so happy to have you here; and look at those nails.

OBAMA: What, they're all done?

OBAMA: Wooooo, those nails.

MCLAURIN: Yes sir; I thought I would never live to get in the White House.

OBAMA: Well you are right -

OBAMA: You are here.

MCLAURIN: And I tell you - OBAMA: You are here.

MCLAURIN: -- I am so happy.

OBAMA: We are happy to have you.

MCLAURIN: A black president.

OBAMA: And look at him! Right there.

MCLAURIN: And a black wife.

OBAMA: That's me.

MCLAURIN: Yes; and I'm here to celebrate black history

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VAUSE: Wow! 106 years old, and we should note that Mrs. McLaurin actually turns 107 next month. She was born in 1909. She moved to D.C. back in 1941. As you heard there, she was invited to the White House to take part in commemorations for Black History Month, and boy was she excited, as she should be.

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