The Human Brain and Politics; Corporations Oppose Anti-Gay Bills in North Carolina and Georgia
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm George Howell in Atlanta. We will have more from my colleague Michael Holmes in Brussels, in just a moment but first other news we're following around the world. Breaking news in Syria. The country's military has retaken the ancient city of Palmyra from ISIS control. This is according to Syrian state TV. Government forces had the support of Russian airstrikes. The militant group took the key city last May and destroyed many of the temples at that site. It has been described as an irreplaceable loss to the history of civilization. Palmyra has key supply routes leading to the ISIS self-declared capital of Raqqa. And across the border now in northern Iraq, thousands of families have fled their towns, this as Iraqi government forces try to force ISIS out of villages. Officials say the families are being given humanitarian assistance. ISIS has been losing territory in Iraq, and the country's military says it is making progress south of the key city of Mosul, which is still in ISIS control. America's choice 2016, and among Democrats, voters in the state of Alaska, the state of Washington and Hawaii have all weighed in on Saturday. We're still awaiting results from Hawaii, but the caucus tallies from the other two states gave Bernie Sanders good reason to smile today. With 101 delegates at stake in Washington state, Sanders snagged 72 percent of the vote. And in Alaska, he won more than 80 percent. But Hillary Clinton is still far ahead of Sanders in the national delegate count. Right now she holds more than 70 percent of the delegate votes that she needs to win the Democratic nomination. Still, Bernie Sanders has reason to smile. He is optimistic. He told supporters in Wisconsin the trend is moving in the right direction.</s>SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We knew things were going to improve as we headed west.</s>SANDERS: And last week we won Utah with 78 percent of the vote.</s>SANDERS: We won Idaho with 79 percent of the vote.</s>SANDERS: And we won Democrats abroad with 67 percent of the vote.</s>SANDERS: We are making significant inroads in Secretary Clinton's lead, and we have --</s>SANDERS: And we have, with your support, coming here in Wisconsin, we have a path toward victory.</s>HOWELL: And more information now. Bernie Sanders may have even more reason to smile. Now that we understand that he has won in the state of Hawaii. In the presidential preference vote there with 70 percent of the vote. We'll continue to monitor the details coming from Hawaii, but, again, it seems that Bernie Sanders has won there. And now a new twist in the Republican presidential race. It is emerging in a gun rights petition. More than 22,000 people have signed the call demanding that guns be allowed into the party's convention. Presently the venue for that convention in Cleveland forbids weapons inside the facility. This comes amid worries about security at the July convention and concerns even Donald Trump's prediction that riots could break out if he does not get that party's nomination. This year's presidential town halls and debates have prompted many viewers to shake their heads in a range of different emotions from anger to frustration, amusement and even disbelief. And now CNN's Brian Stelter shows us how one neuroscientist is studying viewers' brains as they try to take in this political spectacle.</s>SAM BARNETT, CEO, SBB RESEARCH GROUP: There are small little metal disks that are going to be directly touching your scalp. It's going to be sampling electrical activity.</s>BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is your brain on presidential debates. Sam Barnett is measuring brain activity as viewers watch the most popular show of the season. The 26-year-old is a hedge fund CEO by day and a Ph.D. student by night.</s>BARNETT: A whole field of research that is really trying to make science fiction a reality.</s>STELTER: So he's studying neuroscience. (</s>On camera): We're in here watching the debate. And what are you trying to measure from people's brains?</s>BARNETT: We're trying to get a sense of where their waves are going to try to see what content is actually driving people to feel similarly about certain topics.</s>STELTER (voice-over): In a room filled with equal number of Republicans, Democrats and independents, Barnett starts to study the data.</s>BARNETT: So the introductions were pretty mild overall.</s>STELTER: He quickly notices one thing everybody's brain seems to agree on -- Donald Trump. (</s>On camera): When Trump's on the screen, I see this data shoot up. What does that mean about Trump?</s>BARNETT: You can see he's at 35.9, when these others candidates are in the 20s.</s>STELTER (voice-over): Seeing Trump's face, hearing Trump's voice lights up the brain.</s>BARNETT: The fact that you can make everyone feel, at least on a neural kind of fundamental basis, the same way is very interesting, because they might subjectively or consciously disagree with it, but something in their brain is ticking in the same way when that's happening.</s>STELTER: Maybe it's his unique television skills, perfected during a decade on "The Apprentice." (</s>On camera): So what you're showing here is that whether you're a Democrat or a Republican watching the debate, when Trump is on the screen, suddenly, your eyes are wide open, you're paying more attention.</s>BARNETT: Yes. So everyone in the room is sharing some kind of neural bond. Everyone is kind of feeling the same kind of attention, the same kind of underlying passion at least.</s>STELTER (voice-over): Afterward, Barnett's analysis found that Trump led engagement among Democrats, Republicans and independents, as well as the women in our focus group. He trailed Marco Rubio among men, but only slightly. And while Trump might not want to be compared to a four-legged animal, Barnett says there's no denying his appeal. (</s>On camera): Are there other things you would compare this sort of heightened engagement to?</s>BARNETT: Dogs have been known for a long time in advertising as, you know, this very popular kind of figure to include. And, you know, people of all difficult walks of life like seeing a dog in a commercial. It's cute, engaging and interesting, and, you know, maybe people are feeling similarly about Donald Trump.</s>STELTER (voice-over): Trump was more engaging talking about immigration than about, say, education.</s>BARNETT: This is one of the questions that Trump didn't perform as strong on. But we see this being a much stronger answer for John Kasich.</s>STELTER: But Trump was best overall at getting this focus group to really focus on his words. No wonder ratings rise when he's speaking on the air. Barnett uses this method to study advertising and he's applying it to his hedge fund investments as well. In the not-too-distance future, he expects campaigns to be strapping these contraptions onto people's heads to learn more about their neural reactions.</s>BARNETT: I would imagine that people would learn from this and this would continue to shape more affecting messaging in the future.</s>HOWELL: So whether your brain is aglow with enthusiasm or you're shaking your head with a headache there, you will get a chance to exercise those brain waves three days from now. CNN will host a town hall for the Republican candidates and you can see it live Wednesday morning at 1:00 a.m. in London, 2:00 a.m. in Paris only here on CNN. The series of bills considered discriminatory against gay and transgender communities have several major U.S. corporations threatening action against the states of Georgia and North Carolina. CNN's Nick Valencia has details on why and what's at stake.</s>UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: This is not over.</s>UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: This is not over.</s>UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: All these people are upset. They're angry. They have been left out of the democratic process.</s>NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This week, outside of the governor's mansion in North Carolina, protests and arrests. The demonstrators are opponents to a newly passed state law that they say is devastating to the civil liberties of transgender people. The law strikes down a recently passed ordinance in Charlotte. It would have protected trans people and allowed them to select the restroom of their choice based on how they identify.</s>PHIL BERGER, SENATE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE: The adoption of the ordinance by the city council in Charlotte was just crazy.</s>VALENCIA: Republican lawmakers like Senate Protemp Phil Berger were furious at the legislation.</s>BERGER: Allows grown men to share bathrooms and locker facilities with girls and women.</s>VALENCIA: In a special session, solely to consider the bill, Republican lawmakers pass the Public Facility's Privacy and Securities Act. It means transgender people in the state of North Carolina must use the restroom related to the gender on their birth certificate. North Carolina's bill, signed into law Wednesday, is the latest in a string of state's attempting to pass similar anti-LGBT legislation.</s>MIKE CRANE (R), GEORGIA STATE SENATE MEMBER: In the courtrooms, you're seeing folks get their religious beliefs persecuted against.</s>VALENCIA: In Georgia, the controversial bill passed by the state house and Senate is called the Free Exercise Protection Act, one of the several religious liberty bills that have surfaced across the country. Governor Nathan Deal has until May to sign it into law. Senator Mike Crane is one of the bill's most adamant supporters. (</s>On camera): Is this legislation a direct results of what the Supreme Court did last year in legalizing same-sex marriage, gay marriage?</s>CRANE: I think it's a result of many things but that was just another catalyst I believe.</s>VALENCIA (voice-over): But many blue chip businesses around the nation say there will be major financial consequences to Republican efforts in Georgia and North Carolina. Disney and Marvel Studios have threatened to abandon production in Georgia if the governor signs the bill into law. The NFL says it could have an impact on whether Atlanta is selected as the host of the 2019 Super Bowl. And in North Carolina, the NBA says because of the new law it may pull the all-star game from Charlotte next year.</s>VALENCIA (on camera): Six major conventions have considers relocating if the governor signs the bill into law. Atlanta's Convention and Visitors Bureau said the decision could cost the state up to $6 billion and we should mention that the parent company of CNN Turner has joined the laundry list of big corporations to speak out against the legislation. Nick Valencia, CNN Atlanta.</s>HOWELL: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Still ahead our live coverage from Brussels continues after the break. Many of the victims of the terror attacks there were foreign nationals. CNN spoke to a spokesman for the Belgian Foreign Ministry who explained where everything stands now. Stay with us.