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Taxi Drivers Say Uberpop Stealing Business; Inside Migrant Camp Known As "The Jungle"; Second Prison Worker Charged In Killers' Escape; Heat Wave Kills More Than 1,000, In Pakistan; Eurogroup Will Resume Talks Saturday; Mother And Infant Survive Plane Crash In Jungle; Iran Nuclear Talks To Resume In Vienna. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired June 25, 2015 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good day to you. We start this hour in Paris. The French president, Francois Hollande, is condemning violent protests by taxi drivers over the online ride service, Uber.
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. We will wait and see what this day brings. Thousands of taxi drivers went on strike across Paris Thursday stopping traffic with burning tires and blocking roadways with their cars. They say Uber is unfairly and illegally stealing their business.
HOWELL: A lot of chaos on the streets of Paris. Jim Bittermann is there live with more. Jim, good day to you. Taxi drivers are complaining that Uber part is stealing their business and the government seems to sympathize with them.
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, exactly, George. In fact, there has been a complaint that has been settled against Uber basically banning Uber from operating on the streets of Paris. The company has in fact appealed that ruling and the appeal is yet to be heard.
So they are continuing to say that a chauffeur should drive. Now what's happened this morning is that the interior minister said that anybody who urges the chauffeurs or the drivers of these Uber pop vehicles should drive could be hold in the court themselves for inciting people to break that law.
Things have calmed down slightly this morning. There are still some taxi drivers who are protesting and are blocking traffic in a number of different accesses around the Paris area, but the airports are seemed to be pretty clear. So people are able to get to the airports, which was a big bone of contention yesterday.
Airports were completely blocked off. As we saw yesterday, a lot of violence on the streets, President Hollande, as you mentioned, condemned the violence and said that Uberpop should be dissolved. It is making a distinction between Uber and Uberpop.
Because Uberpop is the low-cost alternative that allows just about anybody with a driver's license and car to become their own transport captain and become a competitor for the taxis. That's really what the taxis are most angry about -- George. HOWELL: Jim, let's talk just a bit about that because look the taxi driver there we understand that they deal with a wide range of regulations. They complain these Uber drivers don't.
BITTERMANN: Well, exactly. The taxi drivers have to have a license and similar to the license scheme in the United States. They have to have an authorization from the government. The authorization is actually free from the government.
But because there is a limited supply, there is a market that's developed and to have a permit to drive a taxi cost anywhere from 200,000 to 250,000 euros, a considerable amount of money that has to be paid back over the life of a taxi driver. He has to pay for that.
So they do face that. They also face a lot of very serious regulations as far as chauffeur licenses and that sort of thing that Uberpop people do not -- George.
HOWELL: Our Jim Bittermann live in Paris, France. Jim, thank you so much for your reporting.
ALLEN: The justice minister of France is responding to allegations that the U.S. National Security Agency spied on various leaders of France. She says she wouldn't be shocked if her country offered asylum to both Edward Snowden and Julian Assange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIANE TAUBIRA, FRENCH JUSTICE MINISTER (through translator): France is not the only country, which could offer them asylum. Edward Snowden is now in Russia. I know he wants it leave Russia and I am listening to his request. Julian Assange is with South America in London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: The justice minister stressed that granting the two men asylum is not her decision.
HOWELL: Now on to Brussels. European Union leaders there agreed to relocate 40,000 migrants who have arrived in Italy and Greece. The relocation to other E.U. states will come over the next two years.
ALLEN: The European Council Summit comes as France now finds itself in a spotlight of the ongoing migrant crisis. CNN Hala Gorani reports from the port city of Calais where thousands of migrants have gathered in a camp known as the jungle.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is not a refugee camp in Africa or displaced people living rough in the Middle East. These flimsy tents and tarps surrounded by mountains of trash with little running water and no electricity are on the outskirts of a major city in Northern France. This is the so-called "Jungle Camp" in Calais. Here migrants from East Africa, Afghanistan and Middle East live or simply survive. Most try daily to cross into Britain.
(on camera): Hello. How are you?
(voice-over): I meet Abraham from Eretria. He said he made it to Italy on a boat from Libya, traveled through Europe only to end to up here.
ABRAHAM, ERETRIAN MIGRANT: Biggest problems, police and this life is dirty life, desert.
[03:05:07] GORANI: They sleep up to 25 to a tent. There is a cooking area. A tarp served as a shower curtain. The city says it is doing what it can. After several months, two water pumps were installed and close to the fence authorities are building to keep jungle residents off the highway. Electricity poles are going in.
(on camera): This makeshift camp is divided in sectors by nationality. Here is where the Afghan migrants live. Behind there is where Ethiopians and Eritreans have set up a church and way behind the bush is where most of the Sudanese migrants have settled.
(voice-over): Despite the trash and lack of basic comforts, migrants here try to maintain a sense of normalcy. An area covered with plastic sheeting serves as mosque. A few shops sells soda and snacks, a makeshift church.
Under the watchful eye of the police, residents try to stay clean with little privacy. Humanitarian aid group will set up a mobile clinic in the jungle camp. One aid worker tells me the job will be made more difficult by the dismal living conditions.
ISABELLE BRUAND, REGIONAL COORDINATOR, MEDICINS DU MONDE: It is not acceptable for the situation in France. I mean, in every refugee camp, conditions are better. (Inaudible) are not respected here.
GORANI: Other charities have helped with food distribution, but only once a day. Portable toilets went in a few weeks ago. And with camp numbers swelling by the day, the need to find a more permanent solution for the thousands of people living here will only grow. Hala Gorani, CNN, Calais.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: The manhunt continues in upstate New York and officials now say investigators are looking into whether prison guards were sleeping on the job, that's right, sleeping on the job, when two convicted killers made their escape from jail. If proven true that means David Sweat and Richard Matt may have been unsupervised as they dug their way to freedom three weeks ago.
ALLEN: The convicts have been on the run for three weeks. As the search continuous to find the men, one official leading the manhunt says police keep running into dead ends. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN MULVERHILL, FRANKLIN COUNTY, NEW YORK SHERIFF: The only credible sighting we had was that sighting on Saturday that cabin where the DNA was first located. We've had a number of sightings that we've run to nothing. Either they weren't the people we are looking for or there was just nothing there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: And a second prison worker, Gene Palmer, is now charged in connection with the escape. Palmer claims he didn't intentionally help the men break out of prison.
HOWELL: He is expected to plead not guilty and is cooperating with investigators. CNN's Jean Casarez has more details on Palmer, who has been a prison guard for more than 27 years.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gene Palmer is the second prison employee to be arrested in connection with the escape of Richard and David Sweat. A prison guard for more than 27 years, Palmer is charged with promoting prison contraband and tampering with evidence. Today his defense stalled right from the start after his attorney dropped his client says he doesn't have the resources to defend him.
ANDREW BROCKWAY, ATTORNEY: This case is getting national attention. There are people parked outside of my house. There are people going to the office. We're just not equipped to deal with that.
CASAREZ: Prosecutors first linked Palmer to the case identifying him as the guard who took frozen meat embedded with smuggled tools allegedly from Joyce Mitchell and brought it to the inmates' cell area.
Now prosecutors say on four different occasions, he gave a flat head screw driver and needle nosed pliers to the inmates. Palmer allegedly did this between November 2014 and June 6, 2015 while authorities say Matt and Sweat were planning their escape.
The prosecutor also said Matt and Sweat told Palmer they needed the tools to fix electrical issues on the cat walk behind their cells. A former maintenance supervisor at Clinton tells CNN inmates often worked on electrical issues when the maintenance department was understaffed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is not proper. It violates the rules of the procedures of the Department of Corrections. It violates the rules of misconduct. Those are issues that we are going to deal with.
CASAREZ: Authorities say Palmer also tampered with physical evidence after the two convicted killers escaped by burning paintings given to him by Matt and Sweat, and also burying paintings at a location a few miles from his home. But a source tells CNN, Palmer claims in an interview with New York State Police that he didn't intentionally help the escapees. A friend and neighbor said Palmer is confused.
[03:10:06] SANDY O'NEILL, FRIEND OF GENE PALMER: I mean, there is a lot of people that you know, he feels that he has let down. And I told him, he has not. Everybody is with him a hundred percent and until they come to the bottom of it, nothing you can do.
CASAREZ: Palmer hasn't spoken publicly, but talked about the prison in a radio interview 15 years ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New York State besides California they really have the best prison systems in the United States.
CASAREZ: And if convicted, Palmer will be seeing that system from the other side. Jean Casarez, Plattsburg, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: There is a huge victory for the U.S. president, the Supreme Court has rejected yet another challenge to what has been nicknamed Obamacare. That's the president's health care law.
ALLEN: Yes, the justices ruled the law protects federal subsidies for people who can't afford health care even in the 34 states that don't have their own health care exchanges. Those are the states in blue. Mr. Obama says in America health care is not a privilege for a few but a right for all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Today after more than 50 votes in Congress to repeal or weaken this law, after a presidential election based in part on preserving or repealing this law, after multiple challenges to this law before the Supreme Court, the Affordable Care Act is here to stay.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: The fact it is 6-3 with two Republican appointees, John Roberts and Anthony Kennedy joining the four Democratic appointees really gives them a decision a heft in significance that really will take Obamacare out of the courts for the foreseeable future. That is, I think, a huge, huge victory for President Obama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: However, Republican leaders say they will keep fighting to get rid of Obamacare.
HOWELL: The unforgiving heat wave in Pakistan. It has killed more than 1,000 people so far and authorities there warn that more fatalities are expected in the coming days.
ALLEN: The hospitals are stretched thin with heat stroke victims being continuously brought in. Morgues are filled beyond capacity and there is simply not enough space left to put all the bodies.
Saima Mohsin joins us live now from Karachi with more about it. Saima, I know that you have been there reporting this. It's a horrific, horrific story situation there.
SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really is, Natalie. Every day we wake up to more information, more figures. Yesterday I went to a graveyard that simply didn't have enough space. It is one that everybody goes to because it is centrally located, easy to get to families and loved ones if they want to visit the graves, but they don't have space.
They were literally trying to eke out and find spots in between graves and at the edges of the cemetery so no place in the hospitals. No place in the morgues. No place to find them a final resting place either.
And just got more figures from the main morgue on the outskirts of Karachi, they have had 800 bodies so far since the heat wave struck over the weekend, Natalie, 260 of them have been unidentified and I'm sure everyone has seen those horrific images of our visit to the morgue.
Bodies packed inside what is supposed to be a cold storage unit struggling because of the major power cuts, continuing in Pakistan. They've been going on foreign years crumbling under the pressure and demand even more so.
Both because of the heat, when people are trying to switch on their fans and aircons, but also because of the months of Ramadan, more people needing that cool air when they are fasting. So that cold storage unit at the morgue really struggling.
And so because bodies are decomposing, they are now trying to bury them as soon as possible. And they are burying 260 of the last few days. They have been busy digging graves -- Natalie, George.
CHURCH: Yes, Saima, is there anything that the government is able to do? Any emergency measures to do something to keep more people from dying because it is expected more will die in this heat wave?
MOHSIN: Yes. It is been a bit late in coming, but they are starting to talk on local TV channels, trying to raise public awareness about keeping cool, how to deal with heat stroke, those kind of obvious measures.
But there was nothing done in terms of prevention or even over the weekend when the heat struck. As Military has to step in. National disaster management and paramilitary troops as well which is stationed here in Karachi and across the province.
[03:15:07] But most of which by the way is desert like so it is incredibly hot. They set up emergency stations in support of the government hospital, which is struggling -- Natalie, George.
ALLEN: All right, we hope it gets better soon. Saima Mohsin for us in Pakistan, thank you.
HOWELL: Natalie, I was just looking at that image there, the person putting water over himself trying to keep cool. It is a grim situation. Our meteorologist, Derek Van Dam is here. Derek, any relief in sight?
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, we should be about 32 degrees in Karachi, but temperatures will range from 37 to 39 for the next several days. We have to wait for the monsoon to settle in and bring the relief from the success of excessive heat.
However, we have dropped our temperatures by a few degrees, which has been quite welcoming. In fact here is the seven-day forecast. You can see how we are still above average, but this onshore wind along the coast of Pakistan near Karachi that has brought in very high relative humidity values.
Even though temperatures have dropped a couple of degrees we still have that heat indices value where we factor in humidity levels. There is consecutive heat above 40 degrees for the past 45 days. Overnight lows are not cooling much off either, but there was not that somewhat drop in our temperatures.
But I'm going to talk about something that's in a neighboring country, being India. The western most state of India, they have seen the monsoon rains settle in and it is just ironic to see that these people wait so long to get the relief from the excessive heat when in fact the monsoon rains when it finally settles in, can bring deadly flooding.
There have been actually 82 reported deaths in the state from the excessive rain fall that settled in. Tropical activity that moved in from the Arabian Sea and well that has brought in an excessive amount of rain fall that led to flooding.
Here is the onset of the southwest monsoon. We continue to talk about that. Notice it hasn't quite reached Pakistan just yet. It has however spread to the state. Karachi still waiting for the rain fall to come but again, too much in too short a time can lead to scenes just like this.
Still a lot of roadways being inundated by this flood and water, and that is going to impact agriculture in that region as well. This is the very common occurrence that we see, Natalie and George. This time of year, we go from looking for relief to bringing that with monsoon rains then too much rain in a short period of time brings flooding.
ALLEN: And people fasting as well.
VAN DAM: At the same time.
ALLEN: My goodness, all right.
VAN DAM: Thank you.
ALLEN: Well, a little girl is allegedly raped by her stepfather. The girl's mother is accused of turning a blind eye. Now she is vehemently denying those accusations in a CNN exclusive. We'll have it next.
HOWELL: Families divided by the Korean War still holding out hope for a reunion, we talked with one woman who fled the convict and hasn't seen her children in decades.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: Germany's EU commissioner says if talks between Greece and its international creditors don't end with a deal, Greece is out of the Eurozone. He made this comment on a German radio show according to Reuters news service.
HOWELL: This is serious business. Thursday's negotiations in Brussels came to a close without a deal again. Both sides plan to continue their negotiations on Saturday.
Our Elinda Labropoulou joins us now live on the phone from Athens, Greece with the very latest. Elinda, good to have you with us. Look, the clock continues to wind down. This is serious business.
ELINDA LABROPOULOU, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, absolutely. I mean, we've just had comments from the Greek finance minister, saying that unless there is a viable solution for the debt then the deal is off.
So further escalation, this part is expected, this idea of debt relief has been fundamental on the proposals that the Greek side has been making all along. They've been saying that unless the debt is viable there is no point discussing this further.
But of course what that would mean is a very complicated place for the time being. What we have been hearing is that, you know, unless Greece makes this end of the month payment to the IMF and it finds itself out of a bailout at the end of the month, it will have no funding, no access to the market, which we know it won't have.
And it leaves Greece in a position that could take, could see it out of the Eurozone in a short space of time. So we have another euro group called for tomorrow with the German chancellor saying that a solution needs to be found by Saturday.
The Greek prime minister saying that this is all possible, but at the same time, George, as we just heard from the Greek minister there, talks and the rhetoric really escalating again.
HOWELL: All right, Elinda Labropoulou following it all in Athens, Greece. Elinda, thank you.
ALLEN: The mother of a 10-year-old pregnant girl from Paraguay allegedly raped by her stepfather is speaking out for the first time to CNN after being released from a prison.
HOWELL: She was accused of trying to hide the sexual abuse from authorities. The woman who cannot be identified due to that country's laws said she reported the abuse two years ago, but instead of opening an investigation, the case was then tossed out. Here is part of our exclusive interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Look, I went to the attorney general's office. I was the one who reported all of this asking for justice to be done and hoping that something would be done, but prosecutors dismissed the case. Otherwise, this would have never happened. This would have never gotten to this point. After going to the attorney general's office they sent me to see a psychologist. But she said there was nothing do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: The woman says her daughter now seven months pregnant is doing well despite the fact that she is just 10 years old and carrying a child.
[03:25:03] Despite pleas from the girl's family and Amnesty International, the law in Paraguay forbids the girl from having an abortion unless her health is at risk.
HOWELL: In Colombia, a mother and her infant son are recovering after spending several days alone in the jungle when their plane crashed. The accident happened on Saturday on what should have been a 30-minute flight. Rafael Romo has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: when rescuers found the crashed Cessna 303 in the jungle the morning after the crash, one of the first things they noticed was that the cockpit was destroyed. The pilot, Carlos Mario Sevalios, was found dead at the scene, but the cabin was remarkably intact.
Two passengers, a 19-year-old mother and her infant son were missing. It took rescuers five days to find them both alive. When they were rescued Wednesday, Maria Nelly Morillo had a broken ankle and multiple burns she suffered while taking her son out of the burning plane according to officials.
Her 5-month-old baby boy, Juvier Morillo Moreno, was uninjured, but why did it take so long to find them? Authorities say the plane crashed in a dense jungle about 30 miles or 48 kilometers away from the airport, the location where the flight originated. It was bound for a city in the northwestern Colombian province.
Another question is how were the mother and her son able to survive without any help in the jungle? Authorities say the mother who was still breastfeeding the baby remained hydrated by drinking coconut water.
Officials also say the mother left several traces including the baby's birth certificate so it would be easier for rescuers to find them. The Colombian Air Force colonel who led the rescue mission told CNN they have a lot of respect for this mother because of her courage and efforts to keep her baby and herself alive.
"She survived because she never gave up," he said. She used the little food they had wisely. This is a very special rescue case for us. She is a very strong and brave woman."
Both survivors were flown by helicopters to a hospital in Quibdo. They will be flown to a larger hospital in Medellin where doctors have more resources to treat the mother's injuries. Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: It is back to work today in the talks to curtail Iran's nuclear program, but the country's supreme leader is casting doubt on hope for an agreement. We will go live to Vienna coming next.
HOWELL: Plus, six decades after the start of the Korean War, some families are still divided. Their stories as this broadcast continues worldwide on CNN International and CNN USA.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOWELL: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. This is CNN NEWSROOM. Good to have you with us. I'm George Howell.
ALLEN: And I'm Natalie Allen. We do appreciate you watching. Let's check the headlines for you this hour.
HOWELL: Thousands of angry taxi drivers have been protesting the street of Paris over online ride share service, Uberpop. They say the company is illegally and unfairly stealing their business. France's interior minister said police will seize vehicles using Uberpop when they are caught.
ALLEN: A second prison worker is charged in connection with the prison escape in New York. Gene Palmer faces felony charges of promoting prison contraband and tampering with evidence. Palmer says he did not intentionally help the killers break out and is cooperating with investigators.
The record breaking heat wave in Pakistan has now claimed more than 1,000 lives. That's according to police and hospital officials. Hospitals and morgues are struggling to keep up with the growing number of dead and there are fears the death toll will continue to rise in coming days.
HOWELL: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry heads to Vienna today for a new round, the next round of nuclear talks with Iran and negotiators there that are facing a self-imposed June 30th deadline to try to reach some sort of a deal or agreement.
ALLEN: The diplomats could face an uphill battle. Senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson has our report from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): By the day, more reasons to be pessimistic. Iran's lawmakers voting to block inspection of suspect nuclear sites. Iran's supreme leader adding more red lines, concern over inspections, and apparent refusal to limit nuclear research, all heightening regional fears. Iran cannot be trusted.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAEL PRIME MINISTER: I urge the P5 plus 1 not to sign this bad deal, which is getting worse by the day. As Iran walks away, even refusing to have for example inspections.
ROBERTSON: The agreement three months ago a stepping stone to a June 30th deal deadline, just days away now. It included commitments by Iran to cut its centrifuges, lower enrichment, reduce stockpiles of lower enriched uranium. Collectively they slow break out the time it would take for Iran to build a nuclear weapon.
Underpinning all that, site inspections by the nuclear watch dog IAEA, International Atomic Energy Agency, as worded in the Losan (ph) agreement, Iran will be required to grant access to the IAEA to investigate suspicious sites or allegations of a covert enrichment facility anywhere in the country.
In recent days, France, part of the P5 Plus 1 that includes the U.S., U.K., Germany, China and Russia, negotiating with Iran reminded them of that commitment.
LAURENT FABIUS, FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): What does a robust agreement mean? It means an agreement, which includes a limitation in the duration of Iranian nuclear capacity in terms of research and production. It means an advanced system of verification, including, if necessary, all military sites.
ROBERTSON: Over years of negotiations, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has persevered through setbacks, convincing his counterpart, Iranian foreign minister, to compromise. The day after their last meeting, late May, Kerry took a tumble off his bike, knocking him off his negotiating stride.
JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I look forward to getting back to work.
ROBERTSON: And Kerry too, faces political pressure back home.
[03:35:04] If the deal slips beyond the deadline that gives already hesitant U.S. lawmakers more time to build opposition to any deal. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: So where are we now? With more on the upcoming talks, let's bring in, Reza, our guest. He is the research director at the National Iranian American Council and he is live for us in Vienna. Thank you for joining us.
HOWELL: Good to have you with us, sir. Here is a question many people are asking on this June 30th deadline, we have heard from some top officials saying that there is a chance that they could slip past the deadline. What are your thoughts?
REZA MARASHI, NATIONAL IRANIAN AMERICAN COUNCIL: The deadline is certainly not sacred. The deadline is ideal, but if they need a little bit of extra time to get a good deal done that's a win-win outcome from both sides and that's exactly what they will do.
I think the real target date that we should keep an eye on is around July 9th or 10th. That's when Congress comes back into session. If there is no deal by that date then the review period that Congress will have extends from 30 days to 60 days. That adds a layer of political complications that frankly neither side wants.
ALLEN: I want to talk to you about that report that we just saw from Nic Robertson, Reza, that it looks like Iran stepping back somewhat from things that were already decided on. We know that supreme leader has been making some comments, perhaps not looking like he is supporting this deal. What do you make of it?
MARASHI: I think that we're in the 11th hour and not even the supreme leader of Iran would back out at this point because then Iran would clearly be blamed for failure. I was there when the framework agreement was reached in early April and now they are negotiating within that framework.
Both sides are trying to maximize the amount of benefits that they get before a final deal is signed. I think you see a lot of posturing coming from the Iranian side, American side and the other actors in the P5 Plus 1 as well.
This is entirely natural to the negotiating process and the track record so far has been the most painful and important decisions are made in the 11th hour. I think we are going to see the same thing here in Vienna over the next week or so.
ALLEN: We will wait and see. Reza Marashi for us, thanks so much for joining us.
HOWELL: There's always a lot of rhetoric around these big moments. But the question is, will they be able to come together for a deal? We will have to wait and see.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. A smuggled meat scandal has stomachs turning and it's raising big concerns about food safety standards in the country of China. More on that next.
ALLEN: Also ahead here, a lesson without saying goodbye. That's how one mother reflects on her lost children 65 years after fleeing the Korean War. We will have that story.
HOWELL: And a rock star gets caught up in violent French protest. The choice words she has for the country's president coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I hope you're not eating if you hear this story.
ALLEN: Stop, if you are.
HOWELL: China's meat smuggling seizures continue to upset public confidence and it's turning some stomachs.
ALLEN: Nearly a half billion dollars' worth of meat was stopped before reaching restaurant and supermarkets in Hunan Province. Some of the meat, we're not kidding, decades old. It dates back to the 1970s. That has food experts deeply concerned about China's lax food safety standards.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY CORBO, SENIOR LOBBYIST, FOOD AND WATER WATCH: The size of the country is a problem and China's food safety system is very decentralized. While the national government is passing laws, it relies on the provinces and their local government officials to enforce those laws.
And then at the local level, there have been examples of out and out corruption. The melamine example that was cited in your earlier report is a perfect example where some of the local government officials knew full well what was going on with the intentional contamination of the infant formula.
The fact of the matter is that here in the United States we import a lot of food from China and just this past month our United States Food and Drug Administration intercepted contaminated seafood, mushrooms, at our border inspections stations here in the United States.
And when the melamine incident happened in 2008, hundreds of products were recalled here in the United States because the milk powder used in some of the baked goods coming from China, exported in the United States, had to be recalled because the milk powder had been contaminated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: Still trying to get over that meat from the '70s.
ALLEN: Yes. It seems like one thing after another when it comes to food safety standards with China.
HOWELL: As you mentioned here, I mean, this isn't the first time that China has come under fire for food safety issues. The most recent high profile case involving a U.S.-owned meat factory that was operating in that country and was accused of selling old tainted meat to McDonald's and other popular fast-food restaurants.
On to Pyongyang now, thousands of North Koreans gathered for a mass rally in that country marking the 65th anniversary of the start of the Korean War. According to state-run news, the crowd chanted anti-U.S. slogans as dozens march at the Kim Il-Sung stadium.
Millions of soldiers and civilians died in the war and for an estimated 100,000 Korean Americans that war has never ended. Advocates in the U.S. say that's how many people are separated from their loved ones still trapped in North Korea after all this time.
For some families divide by war, hope remains but others aren't so fortunate. Here's CNN's Kyung Lah.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chicago, a world away from the isolation of North Korea, the hermit kingdom. At the same time, it's not. There's a woman this this city whose life embodies a very horror that is the Korean War. Millions died in the war, but the people I'm looking for are still alive.
Like Un Chin Lee, we found her in a senior center. She hasn't seen her children in 65 years. For her, and others like her, this is the war with no end.
(on camera): How old are you?
UN CHIN LEE, SEPARATED FROM CHILDREN: It's 93.
[03:45:03] LAH : At 93 years old. What year was it that you last saw your children? How old were they?
(voice-over): Two, 5 and 7 years old, I left my children with my mother without saying goodbye, she says. I thought it would be a week. How much did they cry for me? How much did they want to see me? We've never even been able to talk.
(on camera): It's not just this one woman's horrible story. There are so many others. I'm here in the bay area to meet another man. His name is Min Yong Lee. He is also elderly, also separated from his family since 1950. That is so painful that he spent decades just trying to pretend that they don't exist.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hate them in my mind.
LAH: But they are your siblings.
MIN YONG LEE, SEPARATED FROM FAMILY: That's right. But too much pain to consider those things, hide my family background. That is best way for me to survive.
LAH: Did you know if they had survived, if they are alive?
MIN YONG LEE: Not at all.
LAH: You had no information?
MIN YONG LEE: No information.
LAH: You were just going to go look for them?
MIN YONG LEE: Yes. And I saw my brother immediately recognized. I can't breathe. That moment, I'm proud, this is my brother. LAH: Let's talk about this picture. When you saw his face, what did you think?
MIN YONG LEE: I look at the mirror. It was me. He was me so, so happy.
LAH: So you spent --
MIN YONG LEE: Two nights.
LAH: Two days with your brother.
MIN YONG LEE: Yes.
LAH: In 50 years only two days.
MIN YONG LEE: Yes. They allow only that. Met him, how lucky I am. How happy I am.
LAH (voice-over): Back in Chicago, Mrs. Lee remains one of the unlucky. She tells me there is only one reason she is still alive. My children, I pray for the chance to see you. I'm holding on, living, hoping to see you. I visit you in my dreams. Please help me to see my children.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: It's incredibly touching story.
ALLEN: So sad. Like she said, so many others out there have been separated for decade. It's unreal.
HOWELL: The man said 52 years, only two days to see, you know --
ALLEN: At least he got to see him. Look at her.
HOWELL: Our Kyung Lah reporting there. The British actor who pleaded debonair figure as an umbrella carrying spy in a buller died. Patrick Macnee was in "The Avengers" and a spin-off series. They became worldwide hits, a World War II naval veteran in real life. His most famous character never carried a gun, as he traded quips with his sexy co-star.
ALLEN: Macnee also had movie in Broadway roles. He died at age 93 at home in California. We'll be back right after this.
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HOWELL: This just into CNN. China's main stock market in Shanghai fell 7.4 percent on Friday. It's down 6 percent on the week. The Shenzhen Composite meanwhile is down more than 9 percent this week. The main reason is concern that stocks have become over inflated and really don't reflect their true value.
ALLEN: We have heard of the running of the bulls. We have covered that. How about the running of the intern, though. HOWELL: It is interesting to see. It is a common site just outside the Supreme Court where justices are handing down major decisions. Court always releases the papers to interns who run them down to reporters.
ALLEN: Poor interns. I've been one.
HOWELL: I was there too.
ALLEN: TV and newspaper interns spread outside. Here they come with the paper copies so producers and reporters can get the word out as quickly as possible. The court also posts its rulings online, but that can take a few minutes so it is the big day for the interns.
HOWELL: Maybe it's good exercise. I don't know.
ALLEN: Fun, sure.
HOWELL: Absolutely. Good running. Good jogging. Get your heart rate up.
All right, we told you earlier about the protests that are happening in France over the car service, Uber. It turns out that a U.S. rock star, Courtney Love, got caught up in some of that violence.
ALLEN: Yes, we've been talking about what she had to say. She talked about her experience on social media on Thursday. She has some not so nice words for the French president. Jeanne Moos has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Photographers yelling at Courtney Love. Not angry protesters. But on a trip to France, she and other travellers got dragged into angry protests by taxi drivers against the less regulated service, Uber.
[03:55:01] Uber vehicles were attacked and Courtney Love ended up in one with an egg splattered window. She Instagramed, "All tires slashed and beat with bats. These guys trying to open the doors and the cops are doing nothing. I'm scared out of my wits."
Courtney eventually got into a second Uber vehicle. She tweeted they were held hostage for an hour. It wasn't exactly the star treatment.
(on camera): But you know who Courtney Love doesn't love at the moment? France's president.
"Francois Hollande," she tweeted, "where are the bleeping police? Get your bleep to the airport. This is France? I'm safer in Baghdad," she tweeted. But Courtney didn't walk out of the mess in Paris. She jumped on a motorcycle, "Paid some guys on motorcycles to sneak us out, got chased by mob of taxi drivers who threw rocks."
Courtney Love escaping a mob on a motorcycle? That's a little Uber the top. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: All right, and finally, a bit of court side excitement that will make Elvis proud at a tennis tournament in the U.K. Thursday.
ALLEN: Between games with Richard Gaskay (ph) top seed Novak Djokovic decided he needed to change shirts. The impromptu strip tease touched off hearty applause especially when he waved his shirt over his head.
HOWELL: Before returning to play, he tossed the shirt into the hands of an appreciative fan. Djokovic went on to win the match after that.
ALLEN: That does it for George and me. Thank you for watching. I'm Natalie Allen.
HOWELL: I'm George Howell. "EARLY START" is coming up for our viewers here in United States and for viewers around the world, CNN NEWSROOM.
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