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New Allegations Of Bribery In Qatar World Cup Bid; Critics Call Syrian Presidential Elections A Coronation; U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl Remains In German Hospital After Release; Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt Talk Edge of Tomorrow

Aired June 02, 2014 - 8:00   ET

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

KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

Long road home -- an American soldier held captive for years in Afghanistan remains in recovery as the prisoner swap to freedom comes under fire.

Plus, the king of Spain says it is time for a new generation to lead. We'll tell you more about his surprising abdication.

And new claims that bribes helped Qatar win the right to host the World Cup and now some are calling for a revote to determine where the 2022 tournament will be played.

A U.S. army soldier is free after being held captive for five years by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

He was released as part of a prisoner swap and that is stirring controversy for the Obama administration.

Now Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl is being treated at a military hospital in Germany right now before returns to the U.S. His father says his recovery is a work in progress. And from Germany, Bergdahl likely will go to an army medical center in Texas.

Now the U.S. released five Taliban terror suspects from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Bergdahl. And some top republicans in congress say that could give terrorists an incentive to kidnap more Americans.

Senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns reports the Obama administration is pushing back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It's a good day.

JANI BERGDAHL: Yes, it's a good day.

JOHNS (voice-over): A day after the president's emotional celebration with Bowe Bergdahl's parents in the Rose Garden, tough questions for his national security adviser, Susan Rice, on CNN's State Of The Union with Candy Crowley.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Point blank, did the U.S. negotiate with terrorists for his release?

SUSAN RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Candy, what we did was ensure that as always the United States doesn't leave a man or woman on the battlefield.

JOHNS: Rice said what she called the acute urgency of Bergdahl's failing health justified not telling Congress 30 days beforehand as the law requires.

CROWLEY: So there was a conscious decision to break the laws as you know it dealing with the detainees and the release of them.

RICE: Candy, no, the Department of Defense consulted with the Department of Justice and it was in our view that it was appropriate and necessary to do this in order to bring Sergeant Bergdahl back safely.

JOHNS: And Rice said Qatar's emir had assured President Obama the five Taliban Guantanamo detainees swapped for Bergdahl would not pose a significant risk.

RICE: There are restrictions on their movement and behavior. I'm not at liberty to get into detail about the precise nature of those restrictions.

JOHNS: Republican Mike Rogers, the House Intelligence chairman countered that there's now a price on American soldiers' heads.

REP. MIKE ROGERS (R), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: So we have say changing footprint in Afghanistan that would put our soldiers at risk for this notion that if I can get one, I can get five Taliban released.

JOHNS: But Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel insisted this was about saving a soldier's life.

CHUCK HAGEL, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: We didn't negotiate with terrorists. Sergeant Bergdahl is a prisoner of war.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that report was filed by our senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns.

Now the Obama administration is saying it is proud that it's bringing Bowe Bergdahl home. But some U.S. veterans and American soldiers say that he is a deserter. And some are going to this Facebook page. Bowe Bergdahl is Not a Hero. And they're going here to share their anger.

Now they say Bergdahl walked off his observation post in Afghanistan in 2009 and at least six other soldiers subsequently died trying to find him.

Now a former member of Bergdahl's platoon told CNN this, quote, "Bowe Bergdahl deserted during a time of war and his fellow Americans lost their lives searching for him."

Now, as we've mentioned, the U.S. freed five detainees from Guantanmo Bay all in exchange for Sergeant Bergdahl. and CNN's Tim Lister tells us more about these five former prisoners.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These photographs posted by a Taliban spokesman purportedly show the five Guantanamo detainees arriving in Qatar. They've all been held by the U.S. for more than a decade after being captured in Afghanistan or Pakistan during the invasion that ended Taliban rule.

Khirullah Said Wali Khairkhwa is possibly the most important, a former interior minister alleged to have been associated with Osama bin Laden.

Mullah Mohammad Fazl was the Afghan army's chief of staff. The U.N. accused him of being involved in a massacre of thousands of Shiites during the Taliban's rule.

Number three is Mullah Norullah Noori. He was governor of two Afghan provinces but always claimed he was not a senior Taliban official.

U.S. intelligence allege that Abdul Haq Wasiq is the number two in the Taliban's intelligence apparatus with links to Al Qaeda. He always denied that.

And finally, there's Mohammad Nabi Omari. According to his Guantanamo reviews, he also had links to Al Qaeda, but he claimed he had actually helped the U.S. to try to track down the Taliban's shadowy leader, Mullah Omar.

Two years ago, then director of national intelligence James Clapper told Congress all five had been assessed as both too dangerous to release and too difficult to put on trial.

JAMES CLAPPER, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: I don't think anyone harbors any illusions about these five Taliban members and what they might do if they were transferred. LISTER: But even then, the Obama administration was considering a halfway house in Qatar for the five as part of a deal that might bring the Taliban to peace talks.

Tim Lister, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: But after five years in captivity, what is the condition of Bowe Bergdahl?

Well, CNN's Nic Robertson joins me now live from Landstuhl, Germany where Bergdahl is at a military hospital. And Nic, what do we know about his mental and physical condition?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that his physical condition is believed to be weak. However, he was able to walk from his Taliban captors to the special forces commandos who rescued him. Beyond that, very little is known particularly about his mental, psychological situation, if you will.

No one knows yet just what he went through, how many times did he -- for example did he go through mock executions. All these sorts of issues are going to be discussed in the building behind me with Sergeant Bergdahl as he goes through what doctors describe as a reintegration process. A process, they say, that they are sensitive to everything that he's been through in Afghanistan, a process that they say will proceed at a pace that he is comfortable with.

It's all designed to try to get him ready to fit back in, if you will, to normal life, to realize, for example, that from five years in captivity where he had no control over what he was doing, where he could not make a decision about, or know what was going to happen later in the day. Now he can do that.

These seem like simple things to you and me, but of course for somebody that's been through that kind of traumatic experience for so long, that's what the doctors here are so skilled in helping people through, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Tell us more about this reintegration process. I mean, what is happening right now at the hospital behind you to help him recover and to reintegrate back to civilian life?

ROBERTSON: Yeah, there's a structured formula to it. The U.S. military is familiar with this sort of situation. In 2007, they helped a contractors, a U.S. contractor who was kidnapped in Ethiopia for three months. 2008, five -- three, rather, DOD, Department of Defense contractors, kidnapped for five-and-a-half years in Colombia, helped them through this process. 2010, Iraq, another contractor there kidnapped for two months. They held him through the process.

So there's a designed and specific formula. And it is to help with the physical welfare, to help with the psychological welfare, but also to ask questions about whether or not there's any intelligence, timely intelligence information that Sergeant Bergdahl would have learned during his captivity -- locations, places, names, anything that might be valuable, because and attack might be planned against U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

So there's that.

And of course they want to learn lessons from him about what could help troops in the future if they're put in this situation, if their captured, how best to survive, how do you do it? What did you learn?

They'll want to know about his capture as well. That's believed to be quite a controversial point. They'll want to learn details about that.

So all of that fits into this reintegration.

But the focus of the reintegration is his health, his welfare, we are told, and getting him back to his family, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Of course. Nic Robertson reporting live. Thank you very much indeed for that.

You're watching News Stream. Still ahead on the program, fury grows in India in the aftermath of that brutal attack on two girls as five suspects are arrested. We'll bring you the latest in the case.

FIFA is in the firing line again over the controversial Qatar World Cup bid. We'll tell you what world football's governing body has to say to new allegations of bribery.

And a surprise move in Spain. The king has abdicated after nearly four decades on the thrown. We'll have more on the big announcement and who will step into his shoes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back. You're watching News Stream. And you're looking at a visual version of all the stories we've got in the show today.

Now we've already updated you on U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl recuperating after five years as a prisoner of war. And later, we'll tell you about the surprising abdication of Spain's king after 40 years on the throne.

But now, let's turn to India, where the outrage is growing after that horrific gang rape of two teenaged girls. This footage shows police firing water cannon today at a group protesting violence against women.

Now the girls, they were found hanged from a mango tree in their village last week. And police say three men have pleaded guilty to raping the girls, but have not admitted to their murder.

Now they were arrested along with two police officers.

The shocking assault on the two girls has sparked nationwide outrage and has again drawn strong condemnation worldwide. Sumnima Udas joins me now live from New Delhi with more. And Sumnima, the parents of these two girls, they want justice for what happened for this killing. What is the latest on the investigation?

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, authorities are being quite tight-lipped about the investigation. We know the forensic teams have arrived now to the village. We also know that the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is the federal investigation -- investigating agency is set to take over this case so we can expect things to move much faster thereafter.

And we're also hearing that this particular case will be fast tracked, which means that the court will be meeting regularly, if not daily, for this case. So some steps towards justice for the family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UDAS: From rooftops, through mud walls, people in Katra (ph) still try to come to terms with what just happened in their remove village, this horrific image fresh in everyone's minds.

"When we saw the girls hanging, the whole village was crying," she says.

The teenagers were allegedly gang raped by three brothers, then hanged from a mango tree.

This normally peaceful mango orchard has turned into a high profile crime scene. You can see the huge media presence over here. And this is the mango tree where the two bodies were found hanging, one of the girls was over here on this branch and the other over there.

The girls were cousins, their mothers still so shocked they can barely speak, then this burst of anger.

"The rapists should be hanged just like they hanged our daughters, that's all we want, nothing else," she says.

The girls' grandmother in a state of trance almost repeatedly cries out, "they hanged them. They hanged my granddaughters."

The girls had stepped away from their homes and gone to the nearby mango grove, because there are no toilets at home, a common problem, particularly in rural India that leaves women especially vulnerable.

In this village of about 2,000 people the majority of homes have no toilet. You can see the open drains here. And many people here now blaming this lack of the most basic of facilities for this gruesome crime.

Frustrated by their impoverished conditions, outrage that authorities initially failed to help them.

"We wet to the police station, but they told us we were disturbing their sleep and told us to get lost," he says. "We're from a lower caste, that's why they didn't help us. The police and the rapists, their from the same upper caste, he says."

The girls belong to India's Dalit caste, regarded as untouchable. Police officials say they're investigating whether caste discrimination played a part in this case.

The older girl was this father's only child. He says she wanted to become a doctor.

Past discrimination, police apathy, shortage of toilets, violence against women, problems in some ways particular to India, all believed to be played out in Katra (ph) village. Many here are youth living in difficult circumstances, but this kind of horror is painful, even for the most resilient of people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Now all three rape suspects have been arrested on charges of rape and murder, and also two police officers have been arrested on the same charges, even if they did not necessarily participate in the rape and murder of these two girls, simply because they did not respond to the parents when they went to report the crime.

So some indication there, Kristie, that the authorities here are taking this case very, very seriously.

LU STOUT: But still, this is yet another of many just shocking and sickening cases of sexual violence against women in India. Do you get the sense that the security and safety of women in India is a priority for India's new leader, the new prime minister Narendra Modi?

UDAS: Well, he has -- at least during his election campaign mentioned the issue of women's empowerment and women's security many times during his election campaign. But no specifics were actually given. And that's a criticism that we often hear from the women's rights activist here that Narendra Modi and his BJP party has often very much focused -- been focused on the economy and development and infrastructure that hasn't really addressed the issue of women's empowerment.

And also just a quick thing I should mention, he's a very avid tweeter, Narendra Modi, he tweets regularly about almost everything that happens in this country. And a lot of people are tweeting and asking why he hasn't commented or tweeted about this particular case yet -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Interesting observation there. Sumnima Udas, as always, we appreciate your reporting. Thank you.

Now, the husband of a Sudanese woman sentenced to death over her Christian faith is asking the U.S. to expedite his request for asylum for his family.

Now Daniel Wani is a U.S. citizen. Two weeks ago, a Sudanese court convicted his wife, Miriam Ibrahim (ph) of adultery and apostasy for rejecting Islam. She is now in jail with her 20-month-old son and the baby girl she gave birth to in prison last week.

The Sudanese government is denying reports Ibrahim will soon be released, but if that does happen, Wani says he fears for their safety in Sudan.

You're watching News Stream. And coming up next, Qatar is facing new allegations of corruption in its bid to host the World Cup. Details on how much money was allegedly paid to help secure the tournament.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream.

Now football's governing body FIFA is facing calls for a new vote on the host country for the 2022 World Cup. Now the Gulf state of Qatar is currently set to host the tournament, but a report in Britain's Sunday Times alleges that the country secured its bid through millions of dollars in bribes.

Qatar's bid committee denies the allegations. Let's get more now from our Becky Anderson. She joins me live from Doha, the capital of Qatar. And Becky, what is Qatar's bid committee saying about these new allegations of corruption and bribery?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's just get you part of the statement that we received about sort of 10, 12 hours ago from the organizing committee here in Qatar.

They said, amongst other things, and I quote, "we vehemently deny all allegations of wrongdoing. We will take whatever steps are necessary to defend the integrity of Qatar's big."

And it went on to talk about other things, not least the fact that they've never been involved in any sort of corruption.

Look, these new allegations certainly raise the specter that the right to host the World Cup could be put out to tender once again for 2022. I'm not saying that that's going to happen specifically, but this has once again cast the real shadow over Qatar's right to host that competition.

Don't forget, there's some $200 billion in investment in infrastructure here, not least in a new transit system for the games, for the World Cup, for new stadia. I mean, it is an incredible, incredible investment by Qatar here. They are, as I say, vehemently denying there is any form -- or was any form of corruption here.

The Qatari organizing committee we believe are in Oman today. And that's an important point, because FIFA's investigator, Michael Garcia, who is running what is a semi-independent inquiry into the voting on the World Cup for 2022 is in Oman himself today. So there could be maybe discussions going on. I can't confirm that, but there may be discussions going on with the Qatar organizing committee and FIFA's investigator today.

But let me step back just for a moment and talk about these new allegations. The Sunday Times claims it has evidence that a man by the name of Mohammed bin Hammam, who was FIFA's executive committee member for Qatar in 2010 and 201 when this bid was actually won, had a slush fund of some $5 million and the allegations go that he was paying off other FIFA executives in order to win the vote for Qatar.

Now Qatar have always said, and they continue to say that bin Hammam was never lobbying on their behalf, that they won this outright, there's no corruption involved in this bid. And they go on to say that this is about time that the Middle East got the right to host this World Cup.

Don't forget, there's also massive dispute about whether or not it should be held in the summer or the winter. Sepp Blatter has already said that it was a mistake to award it for the summer.

It's the afternoon here now in June, that would be when the World Cup tournament was hosted here, if indeed they get it in the summer in 2022, and it was some 43, 44 degrees earlier on, that's over 100 degrees. Clearly, incredibly hot, very, very warm, a lots of discussion about whether football is -- and fans -- would be able to deal with this heat.

But these new allegations surface in the Sunday Times who say that they have evidence to suggest that bin Hamman was paying other FIFA officials to vote for Qatar vehemently denied by the organizing committee here -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, these new allegations certainly add to a long list of controversy surrounding a Qatar World Cup. Becky Anderson joining us live, thank you.

Now turning now from Qatar to this year's World Cup hosts -- Brazil.

The games, they will kick off next Thursday in Sao Paulo, but large sections of the Corinthians Arena haven't been tested in front of a capacity crowd. In Sunday's final test match, fans were barred from sitting in one of the temporary stands that are in place for the World Cup. It contains more than one-third of all seats in the stadium.

So, it's time for predictions. And CNN has set up a microphone in Sao Paulo and asked people to make their picks for the upcoming tournament.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Clearly Brazil will win. They are determined to do it. I am certain we will win.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think Brazil should win Cup the World, because we are playing home, so it's our obligation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Who will win the World Cup is Argentina by a goal from Messi, because he is the best player in the world. Period.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): For me, the team that will win is going to be Brazil because their team is good. It's the best team in the world but at the same time, Spain is going to give us a lot of hard work. I think it will be between Brazil and Spain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I think Spain will win the World Cup because they have a strong team. They have Xavi, Iniesta, Fernando Torres, Diego Costa. I think they are going to come to win this championship.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I think Argentina should win the World Cup because they are much better prepared.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I think Brazil will win the World Cup because ether have a good team. I think the team is very motivated and they have everything to win. I think the population should support the Brazilian national team so they can win this cup.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe Spain will going to win the Cup, because we have some (inaudible) player there. And I believe in this team.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: You're watching News Stream. And up next, a royal shakeup in Spain. The king is stepping down. His son set to take over. We'll be taking you live to Madrid.

And in the midst of civil war, Syria is gearing up for a presidential election this week. And some say the winner has already been chosen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream and these are your world headlines.

Now the U.S. army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl is being treated at a hospital in Germany before he heads back to the U.S. He was freed by the Taliban in Afghanistan after nearly five years in captivity. Now the U.S. released five Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Bergdahl. And that has sparked criticism by some lawmakers who say will only encourage more hostage taking.

At least two British media outlets say police in Portugal are about to dig up ground in an area not far from where Madeleine McCann disappeared back in 2007. Now the land is west of the resort where Madeleine and her family were on holiday.

French police have arrested a man suspected of carrying out a deadly shooting at the Jewish museum in Brussels. Three people were killed in last week's attack and prosecutors say the 29-year-old Frenchman have a criminal background, is a radical Islamist and recently spent a year in Syria.

Spain's King Juan Carlos is abdicating the throne after a near 40 year reign. His son, crown prince Felipe will take over. Now the 76-year-old king released a recorded statement a short time ago. He said he is stepping down because it's time to hand over power to a new generation.

Those Spaniards generally hold the king in high regard. Several scandals have recently damaged the monarchy's image.

Now CNN's Al Goodman is in Madrid. He's outside the king's palace with more. And Al, tell us more about what led to this surprise announcement of the king's abdication?

AL GOODMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kristie.

Well, some had been calling for this, but the timing of this on this Monday in Madrid was certainly a surprise to everyone except perhaps a handful of insiders to the king himself and to the prime minister.

We are outside the Palazzo della Zarzuele. This is the king's palace on the outskirts of town. And it goes way back in there. There are deer flock, herds of deer running around and all sorts of animals. It's a former hunting lodge, a relatively modest palace, which has brought the media from Spain and a lot of international media is out here. And they're limiting us to shooting right here. We can't even shoot the front gate.

Of course we can't get inside.

Now the king himself took to the airwaves in a recorded statement. It was recorded in this compound a short while ago. And here's what he had to say partially explaining his reasons. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING JUAN CARLOS, SPAIN (through translator): I'm doing so in order to give the best service to the Spanish and also have decided to put an end to my kingdom and to abdicate the throne of Spain so that through the government and the court. The succession can take effect according to institutional law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOODMAN: Now, the 76-year-old king says his 46-year-old son the Crown Prince Felipe, first in line to the throne, embodies stability. That's the word that the kind used. And he will have fresh ideas to carry forward the monarchy.

What the king did not mention in this statement were a series of scandals that have really hit the institution and the king himself hard. His personal behavior scandals relating to a much criticized hunting trip to Africa, a safari, while Spaniards were suffering in the economic crisis. And he did not mention the financial corruption scandal that's hit his daughter, the princess, and also her husband for alleged financial corruption, diverting public funds into their private pockets, which they deny, although there is a court investigation -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Now Al, Juan Carlos, he was a king who famously defied coup leaders, but also a king who has been hit by scandal recently. So in the wake of this news of his abdication, what do the people of Spain make of it all?

GOODMAN: Well, because you've had some Spaniards calling for his abdication, they will be pleased.

There's another section of Spaniards who are staunchly pro-monarchist. And the reason they are is because they say it's been a key institution in Spain's transition to democracy after the long dictatorship of Francisco Franco. The king is seen as a key figure there. He basically is credited with putting down an attempted coup about five or six years after Franco died, saying that this can't stand., the constitution and democracy.

But there are going to of course be many Spaniards who say it certainly was time for him to go, because of these scandals. There's a minority, according to the polls, who want to get rid of the entire monarchy, but his son has basically stayed above the fray, has been seen as a kind of a Mr. Clean as these scandals have swirled around his father and his sister, the princess.

He and his wife, a former television news presenter, have basically been seen as quite well liked. And so there are some thoughts that they will get at least a honeymoon chance to try to turn things around -- Kristie

LU STOUT: All right, Al Goodman reporting live from Madrid, many thanks indeed for that.

Now, let's turn to Syria. And despite the ongoing civil war, voters will head to the polls on Tuesday. But opposition groups and many western countries say the election is rigged and the President Bashar al-Assad is almost certain to keep his spot at the top, so why hold a vote at all?

Ben Wedeman reports that al-Assad may just have a bigger purpose behind the election.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When then 34-year-old Bashar al-Assad came to power 14 years ago it was more coronation inauguration. He had just won a presidential referendum, the choice was simple, yes or no to Bashar.

Tipped by his father Hafez al-Assad who had died just weeks before, after ruling Syria with an iron fist for 29 years.

99.7 percent of the voters said yes, state media reported at the time.

Now Assad, the son, is running in the country's first ever multi- candidate presidential election for his third seven year term, against two relative unknowns, businessman Hassan al-Nouri and former government minister Mahar al-Hajar (ph), considered by experts to be more window dressing than real challengers.

The crown, no surprise here, won't be slipping from Bashar's head.

FAWAZ GERGES, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: It's a coronation of Assad. It's a celebration of his ability to survive the violent storm and basically go on the offensive.

WEDEMAN: The storm Syria is now more than three-year-old uprising has left more than 150,000 dead and 6.5 million internally displaced, almost 3 million people have fled the country.

And unlike Egypt, where after 30 years of rule, Hosni Mubarak was toppled in 18 days, or Libya where Moammar Gadhafi, the leader for almost 40 years was driven from power after seven months with some help from NATO, Bashar al-Assad's regime has been shaken, but shows no sign of collapse.

The opposition is hopelessly divided between squabbling factions and Jihadis who flocked here from around the world to establish an Islamic state.

The disarray among the rebels, in addition to the death and destruction, have apparently convinced many Syrians it's time to side with the devil they know.

The rebels have lost ground around Damascus and Homs, and are under pressure in Aleppo and in the south.

Electoral campaigning and voting only take place in areas controlled by the regime. The Syrian air force has been waging a different kind of campaign, raining down barrel bombs on rebel controlled parts of cities such as Aleppo and Daraa.

And while critics have dismissed this election as a sham, it's a sham with a message.

GERGES: He's saying to Syrians and the international community I have survived. I am a winner. I have a mandate. I have a legitimate mandate.

WEDEMAN: An empty mandate over a bloodied and battered land.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And CNN's Ben Wedeman joins us live from the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, one of the many camps where Syrians have fled the violence back home. And Ben, millions of Syrians have been forced to live outside Syria. What do they make of this election?

WEDEMAN: Well, certainly, Kristie, when you speak to people here in this camp of 100,000 almost to a man and a woman they all say that they believe that this election is indeed a farce, a sham as we said in that report just moments ago.

Many people are saying that Bashar is holding this election on the bodies of the dead, on the ruins of Syria, that the country has been utterly destroyed by this man, and they simply here do not understand why anybody would want to vote for Bashar al-Assad.

One man told me that if he knew anybody who was voting for Bashar al- Assad in the election tomorrow, that that person should end up in a garbage dump.

So very, very negative, bitter feelings toward the Syrian regime here in Zaatari refugee camp -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: But Bashar al-Assad will be the victor, so what is the opposition saying about the inevitable victory of Bashar al-Assad?

WEDEMAN: Well, they've said it's a farce. It's a sham and that the result really doesn't make any difference.

We've seen in the past in 2000 when Bashar won a referendum, it was nearly 100 percent in his favor. In 2007, the result was pretty much the same.

It is interesting this time around they're actually -- this is a multi-candidate presidential election, but no one really outside of Syria is taking this election at all seriously. They view it really as just another farce going back for decades when it comes to electoral politics, if you can even call it that in Syria -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: And Ben, when the voting begins, if it hasn't begun already, where will the vote take place? And will there be ballots available for the 100,000 Syrians there, the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan?

WEDEMAN: Well, actually voting took place last week on Wednesday at Syrian embassies around the world.

We saw fairly large numbers coming out to vote in Lebanon, for instance, but in Jordan it was a much smaller number. And in fact you have to -- you had to prove on that day that you had left Syria legally, that you have been stamped out by the passport authorities. And of course most of the people here did not. They basically walked across the border, across the desert into Jordan. They don't have the proper paperwork. And certainly from speaking with most people they wouldn't have voted in either case -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: And a question about those two candidates who are running against Bashar al-Assad, I mean this has been widely criticized as a sham election. What are these two candidates saying about the process?

WEDEMAN: Well, it's interesting. One of the men I spoke to here in the camp, he said how can we take these candidates seriously when they make their speeches, when they appear on the campaign trail and they've got a picture of Bashar al-Assad behind them?

These men really aren't coming up with anything in terms of a real program. They are really window dressing, token candidates to show that this is some sort of real election, but in fact I don't think anybody is under the impression that they're anything more than just sort of dummies to put up on the stage next to Bashar al-Assad who most people expected when the official results come out if you can call them that, that he will yet again be in the upper 90s when it comes to the result -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Ben Wedeman reporting live from the Zaatari refugee camp. We appreciate your straight forward insight and your reporting. Take care.

Now, the Ukrainian state border guard service says about 500 unidentified militants fired on a border base in the eastern city of Luhansk. This video is set to show the attack as it happened.

Now the official says the militants were initially pushed back, but then took over nearby homes which kept the guards from firing back because they feared civilians might get killed.

Now casualties are being reported on both sides. The Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov says Moscow will submit a draft resolution to the UN security council later this Monday calling for the violence to end.

Now U.S. President Barack Obama heads to Europe later today. He will visit Poland, Belgium and France.

And during his trip, he is expected to urge European allies to maintain a hard line on Russia for annexing Crimea. Now Mr. Obama will meet with Ukraine's President-elect in Warsaw before heading to Brussels and then France for the 70th anniversary of the World War II D-Day landings.

Now that's where he may come face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time since the crisis in Ukraine began, although they're not scheduled to hold official talks.

You're watching News Stream coming to you live from Hong Kong. And the city has been sweltering along with other parts of east Asia. We'll check the forecast for a break in the heat. Stick around for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now the Australian embassy in Beijing says it has contacted Chinese authorities following reports that the prominent Australian Chinese artist Guo Jian has been detained. Now CNN cannot confirm the arrest.

Just last week, however, the European Union expressed concern the Chinese authorities were detaining a large number of human rights defenders while in the run up to the 25th anniversary of the crackdown in Tienanmen Square.

Now here in Hong Kong, about 2,000 pro-democracy protesters braved the heat on Sunday to call for an end to one party rule in China. Most of the protesters were students, some of them not even born on the day of the Tienanmen crackdown.

Now protests of all forms are relatively calm in here in China's special administrative region of Hong Kong. It is the only place in China where large demonstrations are permitted.

On Wednesday, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend the annual June 4 Tienanmen vigil.

Let's get more now on the temperatures here in Hong Kong and across east Asia. It's been very scorching heat wise. Let's go to Samantha Moore with the latest on that -- Sam.

SAMANTHA MOORE, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kristie. Incredible heat. We're starting to see those temperatures ease just a bit, but it's still going to stay at least above average as we head in through much of this week, if not right at average. So -- and at this time of year, of course, those temperatures are ramping upwards. And heat can be a real killer.

In fact, there's a new insurance policy that is being offered by the Jong Online Property Insurance Company (ph) for high temperatures, for excessive heat, because it is so expensive, it does take such a toll on our pocket books.

So it looks like folks will now be able to be compensated if their area is above a certain temperature given for that area for an extended period of time.

And it looks like we're going to have those temperatures well above average as we head through this week in Beijing and in Hong Kong as well as over into Tokyo with that ridge of high pressure is moving to the east. In fact, take a look at some of the temperatures we had in Japan on Sunday. We were at 36 degrees in Kyoto and 35 in Fukushima. I mean, well higher than we should be this time of year. And three people lost their lives in Japan over the weekend. They were all senior citizens, older individuals.

And as we get older, our bodies don't cool as well as they used to. Also children very vulnerable to heat. So just remember your children and also maybe older neighbors, check on them to make sure that they are faring OK in this huge heat wave that we are seeing across much of China and in through eastern Asia.

Now along this frontal boundary, we have had incredible amounts of rain as of late. A lot of flooding concerns across much of southeastern China. And that is now pushing to the east as we head into the middle of the week. And some of these amounts have been really impressive indeed across the south.

And the north, it was not the rainfall we were talking about, it was wind, gale force wind, that caused a dust storm to blow up. We have some video coming out of there today, which happened over the weekend.

This incredible dust storm moved into Turpan city and brought that visibility down to about two meters. So they actually had to tie the victims here together, I should say the folks they were rescuing, from this horrible storm. They had to tie them with rope to get them to safety. And you can see 100 vehicles here were stranded by this dust storm. A lot of young children had to be rescued out of these vehicles.

So thanks to the heroic efforts of those firefighters, people were brought to safety and there were no injuries.

It's just so disorienting when you get that really gusty wind blowing that sand around, it's incredibly loud and it tends to make you feel like you don't know which way is up. So thank goodness there were no major injuries from that storm.

So that was the storm that was to the north. To the south, we had this incredible rainfall that was torrential at times here. And it looks like more rain is indeed in the forecast. So we're going to stay very wet here across southeastern Asia, Kristie. And in the north, the heat, even though we're going to get -- we're easing a little bit, it is still going to be very hot in the week ahead, unfortunately.

So, everybody stay well hydrated and take frequent breaks.

LU STOUT: All right, good tips there. Thank you very much for the warning and for the advice, Samantha Moore.

Now Tom Cruise takes on a familiar role in his new film, it's called the Edge of Tomorrow, but playing an action hero, that was a brand new experience for his co-star Emily Blunt. They're talking to CNN and revealing what they would do if they could relive one day over and over and over again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now Tom Cruise has a deadly case of deja vu. Now the blockbuster movie Edge of Tomorrow is hitting theaters. And the actor is battling alien invaders day in, day out. Emily Blunt is his co-star, her first time in an action movie. And they spoke with Neil Curry about the bumps, the bruises and even ballroom dancing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEIL CURRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tom Cruise has been here before. There's little he could learn about the role of an action hero.

His latest impossible mission requires living and dying and repeating each day on a daily basis until he learns how to defeat the aliens intent on world domination. For his co-star Emily Bunt, however, it was a painful introduction to action movies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Action. Hit it.

EMILY BLUNT, ACTRESS: You do get hurt. I mean, I think that was what I found out, you've got to walk into every day knowing that you're going to get knocked around a bit, and especially wearing the suits and you know they were challenging to work in and -- so for me it was all very new, so all the injuries I got Tom would sort of high five me on. It was like, welcome to the club, you know.

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: But you know we try to do it as safely as possible.

The thing about action, I mean, it's a lot of fun and it takes tremendous amount of skill. We have very highly world class athletes and technicians around us.

But the thing about this story that -- or any film -- action that makes it are the characters in the story, that's always for me the first thing that I'm looking for.

CURRY: Cruise's character is a reluctant hero who meets Blunt's battle hardened warrior every day and tries to guide her safely on a path to victory. He remembers every encounter, but she's forever meeting him for the first time.

Now the time factor puts a unique relationship between the two of you. Could you just talk us through a little bit about that and how confusing that must have been at times on set?

BLUNT: It's a very interesting dynamic to have one character have known the other for hundreds of days, endless days.

CRUISE: Thousands of days, potentially.

BLUNT: And my character to feel like she met him that morning and she doesn't know anything about him, and he's known her for a long time and he's got to know her very well and he eventually sort of starts to fall for her and care about her and wants to save her and that becomes his main thrust when he hits the beaches he wants to save her.

CRUISE: Because you can't help but -- you're with someone that many days and someone actually -- that she also understands what he's going through...

BLUNT: She's the only other person in the world who understands what he's going through.

CRUISE: ...who understands him. Yet, she forgets him after the day. And he knows everything about her, except of course it's a wonderful potential for a kind of wonderful love story.

BLUNT: How many times have we been here? How many times?

CRUISE: For me, it's been an eternity.

CURRY: I'll ask you both if you had the power to reset the day, how would you use it in your general lives?

CRUISE: Can you imagine?

BLUNT: I'd use it to get better at something, like something...

CRUISE: Yeah, many things. You'd get better at anything, you know.

BLUNT: Yeah, you'd be a concert pianist.

CRUISE: And I would be -- I would fly more airplanes, you know, I'd fly more airplanes.

BLUNT: I said the other day I really wanted to learn how to ballroom dance.

CRUISE: I tried to take you -- I learned a little ballroom dancing myself.

BLUNT: Please. I want to learn from a pro, Tom.

CRUISE: I would be a pro, I'd just keep doing it.

BLUNT: They want to conquer the rest of the world unless you change the outcome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was Neil Curry reporting.

Now Edge of Tomorrow, it opened in about two dozens countries this past weekend. And the movie debuts in several more international markets this week, including China, India and the United States.

Now it is a public holiday here in Hong Kong. The Tuen Ng festival, part of my bad Cantonese. Now you may also know it as the Dragon Boat festival.

Now teams, they race in these boats to the sound of beating drums, but this competitive carnival, it has its roots in an ancient tragedy. It commemorates the death of Qu Yuan, a Chinese national hero. He drowned himself in a river to protest corrupt rulers. The townspeople beat the drums and threw dumplings into the water to keep the fish from eating his body.

And that is the origin story.

And that is News Stream, but the news continues at CNN. World Business Today is next.

END