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President Obama Addresses Iran Deal Critics; El Chapo's Escape Documented; Pluto Images Released; Greece Closer to Receiving Bailout; Japan Approves Measure to Send Troops to Fight Abroad; Another Actor Believes Bill Cosby Guilty; Japan Braces for Typhoon; Where Ice Bucket Challenge Money Is Being Spent. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired July 15, 2015 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:00:09] MAX FOSTER, CNNI HOST: U.S. president responds to critics of the Iran nuclear deal.

ZAIN ASHER, CNNI HOST: Also ahead, tracking El Chapo's escape. We will take you inside the tunnel this drug lord used for his prison break.

FOSTER: First ever new images of Pluto reveals surprises about the (INAUDIBLE).

ASHER: And a warm welcome to our viewers in the United States and all over the world. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Zain Asher.

FOSTER: I'm Max Foster. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

We are going to begin though with some breaking news out of the U.S. because former president George H.W. Bush is in a hospital in Maine at this hour after falling down, breaking a bone in his neck.

ASHER: Yes. And his spokesperson tells CNN that the 91-year-old is in, quote, "very stable condition." George H.W. Bush was, of course, the 41st president of the United States. He fell ill Wednesday morning while at his summer home in Kennebunkport. The injury is not considered life-threatening and Mr. Bush is not expected to stay long in the hospital.

FOSTER: Now, the White House is brushing aside opposition and is then practically defending the Iran nuclear deal. President Barack Obama answered the objections to the agreement point by point in a news conference that lasted more than an hour on Wednesday. He insisted that the plan was never designed to address every problem with Tehran but instead had one goal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It achieves our top priority, making sure that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon. But we have always recognized that even if Iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon Iran still poses challenges to our interests and our values both in the region and around the world.

I challenge those who are objecting to this agreement, number one to read the agreement before they comment on it. Number two, to explain specifically where it is they think this agreement does not prevent Iran reason from getting a nuclear weapon. And why they are right and people like Ernie Moniz who is an MIT nuclear physicist and an expert in these issues is wrong, why the rest of the world is wrong and then present an alternative.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, the U.S. defense secretary will head to the Middle East next week to reassure allies. And Reuters reports, the trip includes Saudi Arabia crucially. The Sunni kingdom is an arch rival of Shia Iran. The Saudi ambassador to the U.N. expressed his concerns about the deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDALLAH AL-MOUALLIMI, SAUDI ARABIA AMBASSADOR TO UNITED NATIONS: We take assurances that have been given to us by all parties at face value. And we accept them for the time being as being sufficient grounds to believe that this is a reasonable agreement.

What is more important in our view is what is going to be the behavior of Iran following the agreement. It would be odd if Iran reaches a modest preventive and normalization of relations with the international community but continues to have difficulties in its relations with its own neighbors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: That was the Saudi ambassador to the U.N.

Now, the Arab world is certainly divided over this deal. Now, some countries believe that it will ease tension while others doubt it will stop Iran from building a nuclear bomb.

Nick Paton Walsh examines the reaction and the agreement potential impact across the region.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It gone away with a key phone call nearly two years ago between President Obama and Rouhani. But now that deal is done, it is Obama who has hit the phones comforting distraught Middle East and allies who see him warming to their nemesis, Tehran.

In a mostly Sunni Gulf, he told the Saudis they will quote "committed as ever to counter Iran's destabilizing activities in the region." He said similar to the United Arab Emirates adding the U.S. would quote "support our partners in building their defense capabilities."

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu has been un-consolably critical of a deal, but was told it would not diminish our concerns regarding Iran's support for terrorism and threat s toward Israel. His counterpart in Tehran didn't have to sell it. Allies in Damascus or Baghdad on the dropping of sanctions and unfrozen billions being a god idea. Instead the sales job was to hard liners who see the U.S. the great Satan.

HASSAN ROUHANI, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It shows at the technical level we are the level of the world. We can talk at the legal level we are the level of the world. At the political level we are at the global levels this in and by itself means victory.

[01:05:12] WALSH: Here in the Middle East torn apart by Sunni-Shia sectarian bloodshed, undergoing some of the worst violence in chain as seen decades. This deal has always been about far more than the already massive issue of nuclear weapons. It risks tipping the scales.

America has had long-term alliances with Sunni powers here but there is a perception that this deal marks them throwing their lot in with the Shia side of the fight. It isn't that yet but the potential breathing room it buys Tehran has many fearing deeper change.

The deal was welcome in Damascus and Baghdad by any released Iran funds could help boost Shia-militia.

In Iraq, there the awkward ground allies of U.S. warplanes fighting ISIS.

In Lebanon it could help Iranian back and beleaguered Hezbollah, sworn enemies of Israel.

In Yemen it could help the Shia Houthi rebels also backed by Iran who are fighting a government in exile supported by U.S. ally Saudi Arabia.

It's a deal that might take one issue off a table, a nuclear bomb for Iran but oddly might raise the temperature in the shat erred region even more.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Now, the agreement makes no mention of the four Americans who have been detained in Iran against their will for years now. Critics insist the deal should have included their freedom.

ASHER: And when CBS correspondent Major Garett asked the president about these four, listen to the response he got.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJOR GARETT, CBS CORRESPONDENT: As you well know, there are four Americans in Iran, three held on trumped up charges according to your administration, one whereabouts unknown. Can you tell the country, sir, why you are content with all the fanfare around this deal to leave the conscience of this nation and strength of the nation unaccounted for in relation to this four Americans? And last week, the chairman of the joint chief of staff said under no circumstances should there be relief for Iran in terms of ballistic missiles or conventional weapons. It is perceived that was a last minute capitulation in the negotiations. Many in the Pentagon fear you have left the chairman joint chiefs of staff hang out to dry. Could you comment?

OBAMA: I have to give you credit, Major, for how you craft those questions. The notion that I'm content as I celebrate with American citizens languishing in Iranian jails -- Major, that's nonsense. And you should know better. I've met with the families of some of those folks. Nobody's content.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: That told him.

ASHER: Yes. He is very open and honest, President Obama, there.

FOSTER: Now, we go on to Greece now because there is a step closer to getting a bailout package that will keep it from going bankrupt. The parliament has approved more austerity measures. The pension reforms and the tax increases are unpopular but they pave the way for formal talks to begin with creditors in hopes of bringing billions of dollars in to Greece.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras begrudgingly went forwarded with the plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEXIS TSIPRAS, GREECE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I will admit measures we are tabling are harsh and I don't agree with them. I don't believe they will help the Greek economy and I say so openly. But I also say that I must implement them. That's our difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Now, the result for a heated and dramatic -- look at that, debate in parliament. Dozens of members of the prime minister's own party voted against the plan. And outside the building in Athens, protesters let the anger boil over in the street even before lawmakers began voting.

So what you are seeing here is police using teargas on protesters after the police were hit with Molotov cocktails.

FOSTER: Much more coming up on the contentious vote in Greece. Later this hour, (INAUDIBLE), the research fellow of the Princeton Institute International economics tells us what he thinks is ahead for Greece getting out of this mountain of debt it seems.

ASHER: Right. And we are going to talk about Mexico right now. Drug lord Joaquin Guzman, also known as El Chapo picked one of two blind spots on his cell surveillance camera to make a big escape that has got everybody talking.

FOSTER: Yes, really. And as has this new footage showing him inside the cell showing Guzman duck behind shower then never resurface. We now know that the hole led to a mile-long tunnel freedom. CNN's Nick Valencia was allowed to go inside.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the closest that we have been allowed to get to El Chapo's tunnel. The tunnel he used in his braze and escape on Saturday night, it is by all accounts, a magnificent fete of engineering.

Let's come on in and see exactly what El Chapo here had in store. This is a small little exit, just a couple of feet wide and couple feet long. You see with a ladder, maybe about ten-foot, 15-foot ladder that leads down in to that tunnel. The room here is nothing to brag about. It's empty. Full of cinder blocks. You can see these containers full of dirt here, these wheelbarrows full of dirt.

Here we go. OK. Here's another ladder leading down to another part. Deeper part, deeper section of the tunnel. It's a ways down. You can see this is the modified motorcycle that investigators showed us images before. It is on a track. It seems to roll back and forth. There are buckets left behind and look at this, left behind oxygen tanks, as well in order for them to survive down here. It is a very tight space. I can't even stand up. I'm 5'10" and I can't stand up all the way. It is a remarkable fete of engineering.

The tunnel stretches for more than a mile, carved out earth here. This modified train track for the mini motorcycle. You see here electricity lines. Difficult to breathe down here. A lot of dirt, dust. This here for the ventilation system. Tight, tight space down here. But for a man known as El Chapo I'm sure he had more than enough room to work with.

This motorcycle was on a track here. This is the bike that El Chapo used to ride out of the prison. Still has gas in it. You can still smell the gas. It's overwhelming odor of gas in this tight space. It is really suffocating.

Nick Valencia, CNN, outside the Altiplano prison, Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:12:10] FOSTER: Fascinating to see inside.

And earlier I spoke with Phil Jordan who is the former director of the U.S. drug enforcement agency El Paso intelligence center. He says he predicted this escape would happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL JORDAN, FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE U.S. DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENCY EL PASO INTELLIGENCE CENTER: This guy, Chapo Guzman is a multibillionaire, not a millionaire, a billionaire and he can do anything he wants to when he wants to. The only surprise I had was that he stayed in custody, allegedly in custody, for one year. I predicted that he would be out in less than six months unless they had extradited him to the United States which they are not going to do because Mexico -- the politicians, the people in the payroll of Chapo Guzman would have a lot to lose, including high-ranking politicians.

FOSTER: But lawyers in Mexico would argue the extradition treaty between the two countries means that he has to serve his sentence in Mexico before they can send him to the U.S. So, it is actually a very simple legal precedent.

JORDAN: Well, it's only as legal as they want to make it. I can give you an example where they extradited Juan Garcia, another associate of Chapo Guzman, one of the drug lords out of the cartel. Now, it is the same as it is illegal to terror arms or to have arms in Mexico, but every gang member, every cartel member carries guns, semiautomatic guns, and they use them every day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, Mexico's interior minister says he already fired the prison director and other prison officials who may have been involved in the escape. At least 49 people have been questioned.

ASHER: In the U.S., search and rescue teams have found the smoldering wreckage of a small private plane that crashed over the weekend in Washington State. Now, the lone survivor, 16-year-old Autumn Veatch, you see here there in a wheelchair, is now at home after hiking out of the rugged north cascade mountains two days after Saturday's crash. She had been flying with her grandparents who are there stand by their small plane. She was flying with them when the plane apparently ran in to trouble.

Our Dan Simon has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They said this is a very difficult, steep area. In fact, crews had to use specialized equipment to get it to. When they got, there they said the plane was still smoldering. It was still on fire. In fact, they had to call the U.S. forest service to put out a small brushfire. They did find the bodies. They have been recovered. At this point it seems like it is now up to the federal authorities to determine what in fact happened. It is now in the NTSB's hands. But we can tell you there was some bad weather prior to that plane going down. And that's according to Autumn Veatch. That's what she relayed to the authorities. That there was some cloudy weather and she couldn't see much in front of her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:15:20] FOSTER: Now, Donald Trump's political campaign has made an important financial disclosure. The candidate apparently is worth far more than people thought. Details coming up.

Plus, a day after NASA spacecraft passed by Pluto. Scientists are getting the sharpest images ever of the dwarf planet from its mountains to the largest moon. We will have more in a few moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [01:19:41] FOSTER: Donald Trump's presidential campaign says he's so rich that from the financial forms his team just filled out for the election were meant to cause millions not billions of dollars against he has.

ASHER: He just keeps on making headlines. So this comes as a new national poll shows that Trump's popularity continues to surge.

Our Dana Bash has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[01:20:00] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's an unbelievable company. Far greater -- I built that. I built it.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A new financial disclosure puts Donald Trump's net worth at more than $10 billion and he made more than 362 million last year alone. Staggering figures released to prove --

TRUMP: Way ahead of schedule.

BASH: Trump told CNN he is serious about his presidential run, and it seems the more GOP voters see Donald Trump --

TRUMP: The silent majority is back and we're going to take the country back.

BASH: The more they like him. His favorability rating among Republicans, a key indicator for any candidate, more than doubled from just 23 percent to 57 percent in a new ABC News/"Washington Post" poll. Four in ten say they have an unfavorable view of the candidate. Still the latest numbers may indicate that unlike flash in the pan GOP candidates who surged in 2012.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nine, nine, nine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God bless you everyone!

BASH: Donald Trump may have some staying power.

TRUMP: They're killing us at the border and they're killing us in trade. They're killing us.

BASH: Trump's tough at times politically incorrect talk is mainly resonating with a certain segment of the Republican base. In a Suffolk/"USA Today" poll which showed Trump leading the large GOP Pac, those who identify as very conservative view Trump favorably, 47 percent. Those self-described very conservative voters are unlikely to support Jeb Bush in the GOP primary and he is now trying to use Trump as a foil to appeal to more moderate Republicans.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Whether it is Donald Trump or Barack Obama, their rhetoric of divisiveness is wrong. A Republican will never win by striking fear in people's hearts. TRUMP: Well, how about Ted Cruz, and how about Ben Carson and how

about others that say what Trump said is exactly right. You have to mention them, too.

BASH: Those Republican candidates are embracing Trump. In fact, Ted Cruz who has gone out of hi his way to compliment the billionaire is even meeting privately with Trump in New York today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: It is fascinating of that report from Dana Bash. And one more thing on Trump, his filing showed he loans his campaign $1.8 million in the first days of the campaign. The businessman has placed to self-finance his run for president and the one guy that can afford it.

ASHER: Yes. And of course, even before he began his run for president he was a major Republican donor. So a lot of them I guess look up to him. They respect him and fear him, I guess.

We have new numbers on how much money the other campaigns have been raising, as well. You can, of course, get the details at CNN.com.

FOSTER: Scientists are eagerly analyzing the images NASA just released of the dwarf planet, Pluto, and its largest moon, Hydra. These are the clearest and most detailed photos anyone has ever seen of the murky end of the solar system.

ASHER: NASA says the photos show Pluto has an icy mountain range, up to 3300 meters high and methane ice is also present, as well. This is fascinating. Now, the new horizon probe will being also all sorts of data has collected back to earth over the next 16 months.

Now, earlier I spoke with retired NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao about these new very exciting discoveries.

FOSTER: I want aliens.

ASHER: On Pluto. Don't we all?

And what are the secrets they may reveal about our solar system. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: Leroy, these images are absolutely fascinating. We are learning that Pluto has these ice mountains that are about 11,000 feet high. What are we learning about the geology of Pluto and the atmosphere as well?

LEROY CHIAO, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: Well, this really is a remarkable fete, having a spacecraft fly so close to Pluto and take these amazing images. Beyond being beautiful and stunning, you are right. We have learned quite a bit already and more data are continuing to come in. So we have seen the ice mountains that, as you say, they are mountains 11,000 feet high, there water ice on the surface. Different sensors are picked up traces of methane and other organic chemicals. And so, it's really been a big boon scientifically as well as stunning visually.

ASHER: Yes, $3 billion miles, nine and a half years. I want to show our audiences the image of Hydra. This is the outer most moon. So listen, these images are vary sort of low res but we can still learn something from this, right?

CHIAO: Right. Actually, in the -- I saw that the NASA's head said that they are going to release higher resolution images of the Hydra. This was just the first one that they had. And it is pretty pixelated so they obviously they had to zoom in quite a bit. It is a pretty small moon. It is only about something like 28 miles by 19 miles. And so, it is pretty tiny. It is almost kind of a comet, almost, you know?

ASHER: Yes, very tiny. And this journey was started nine-and-a-half years ago. So what I find fascinating is the fact that obviously within the past ten years technology has changed. I mean, how much had technology sort of advanced since then in terms of the sort of images we would be getting?

[01:25:11] CHIAO: Right. You are right. And in ten years certainly the sensor imagery technology has advanced. So a new spacecraft of this type would have more capability. But you know, these are the highest quality images and measurements that we have ever had of Pluto because we have been able to get that close. The spacecraft actually passed within around 7800 miles of Pluto. That sounds like a big distance but not when you consider the journey there was three billion miles.

ASHER: And why is that? Why is it sort of 7800 miles away? Why can't it get closer?

CHIAO: Well, it was kind of a little bit of balancing act. You know, as the Pluto was - you know, the trajectories have to be right. And so, you certainly don't want the spacecraft to actually hit Pluto.

ASHER: Right. That wouldn't be good. Yes, OK.

CHIAO: They are targeting it pretty good if you got within 7800 miles and the target is three billion miles away.

ASHER: I see. So, it is close enough basically.

CHIAO: Yes, pretty good.

ASHER: Right. So we are going to be getting this fly-by data for months pretty much. What more do you expect we are going to learn about our solar system?

CHIAO: Well, I think part of the thing is that the data coming back, you know, comes back at a pretty slow data rates, you know, traveling that distance. And so, it is going to take a while first to get all the data that was collected that were collected when the flyby happened. So in addition to the visual imagery, we are going to have infrared imagery which will tell us temperature composition. You know, there are different temperature regions on the planet and what those temperature are. We are going to have spectroscopic dated to tell us more about the composition of the chemistry, if you will, on the surface and have, you know, some mapping, the imagery as well. So it is going tell us a little bit about, you know, the solar system. If we understand how the distant planet, Pluto, formed. It is going to tell us a little bit more about how the other planets in our solar system formed as well.

ASHER: Right. And one thing I found fascinating was that, you know, Pluto was discovered in 1930. And I'm hearing that the astronomer (INAUDIBLE) who discovered Pluto, his ashes are on board new horizon.

Ok, Leroy Chiao, thank you so much. We appreciate that.

CHIAO: My pleasure. Thanks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: What is about, the ashes?

ASHER: Yes. Because (INAUDIBLE), he discovered Pluto in 1930 and sort of, you know, symbolically, they put his ashes on new horizon.

FOSTER: Wow.

ASHER: So, it is amazing.

FOSTER: Now, an emotional and tearful moment for Caitlyn Jenner on Wednesday night at the Espy awards. The Olympic gold medal winner received the Arthur Ashe award for courage. In her first speech, her first speech since identifying as a transgender, Caitlyn urged respect and said the world needs to accept people for who they are.

ASHER: Now, Caitlyn transitioned from Bruce Jenner earlier this year. She said her gender transition and the public attention surrounding it has been harder on her than anything she could have ever imagined.

FOSTER: It is all over. Anyone is talking about right now, popping through several social media.

ASHER: Yes, Caitlyn Jenner is definitely was a headlines when it first happened.

So we are going to take a quick break here on CNN. When we come back, Japan's government is closer to adopting a bill that could send Japanese troops overseas to fight for the first time in more than 75 years. But many of its people are strongly against it.

Plus, U.S. President Barack Obama has spoken about the controversy surrounding comedian Bill Cosby. What he had to say just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:31:56] MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster. ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Zain Asher. Let's give you your headlines.

President George H.W. Bush is in the hospital in Maine after falling down and breaking a bone in his neck. His spokesman tells CNN the 91 year old is in, quote, "very stable condition." He fell Wednesday morning while at his summer home. The injury is considered non-life threatening.

FOSTER: Current U.S. President Barack Obama is campaigning to win support for the Iran nuclear deal. At a news conference, he defended the criticisms, point by point, and challenged opponents to come up with a better alternative.

ASHER: Greece is closer to receiving a big bailout package after parliament approve new austerity measures. The reforms have been largely unpopular among Greek citizens and in the government as well. Prime Minister Alexi Tsipras said he is against the measures but must implement them to prevent bankruptcy.

FOSTER: Earlier, I spoke to Jacob Kirkegaard, a research fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He explained what's next for Greece, including potential debt relief, and whether other European countries will approve the bailout plan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JACOB KIRKEGAARD, RESEARCH FELLOW, PETERSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS: I would expect there to be some defections in the German coalition, but nothing close to bringing this vote in danger. I would expect a large majority in Germany, but also ultimately all of the members will have votes that this will pass.

FOSTER: Alexis Tsipras has obviously come under a huge amount of pressure in Greece and amongst many of his political allies as well, but you are suggesting he may come out as a hero from this because it is a bit of a misunderstanding of how good the deal is for Greece within the country.

KIRKEGAARD: I think first of all, today's comprehensive vote in the parliament in which Tsipras carried the vast majority of his own party shows the dominant political position he's been in since he won that referendum, which was very good for him personally, even if it was a disaster for the country economically. But basically the broader point here is, in my opinion, because the agreement assumes the involvement of the IMF, going forward, the IMF will insist the Europeans give Greece debt relief. Therefore, if Alexis Tsipras delivers his part of the bargain in the coming weeks' debt relief will be coming Greece's way in the next six to nine months.

FOSTER: Which is what Syriza wanted.

KIRKEGAARD: Yes. In 12 months time, I have no doubt that Alexis Tsipras, provide head delivers over the coming weeks and months, he will be the man who delivered significant debt relief to Greece.

FOSTER: How can you be sure that the IMF and Christine LaGarde will allow and want debt relief?

[01:35:02] KIRKEGAARD: I think if you read the debt sustainability analysis they published today, you will see they make it clear it would be against the rules of the IMF, in their own words, if they didn't. They would not be able to lend more money to Greece, even after the current arrears, et cetera, have been cleared but they would not be able to lend to Greece because the debt would not be under IMF rule regarded as sustainable. Until they could make that decision, which in my opinion can only happen after further debt relief by the Eurozone they would not be able to do it. It is simple as that.

FOSTER: Hasn't Greece been a mis-sold to people in Germany and France who have been under the impression these debts in Greece won't be written off. Actually they will get their money back?

KIRKEGAARD: This is the definition of politics. I think they will not be written off in the sense they will not be written down with a hair cut on the principle of the debt but, in my opinion, you will see this debt restructure so Greece will have a very, very long grace period in which they won't pay any interest rate or any amortization on the debt and then the maturities will be extended probably more than a generation, maybe two generations into the future. The debt will still be there, it will just be very, very long term and very cheap debt.

FOSTER: OK, Jacob Kirkegaard, thank you very much, indeed.

KIRKEGAARD: My pleasure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: All right. This just in to CNN, Japan's lower house of parliament has approved legislation that would allow the country to send troops to fight abroad for the first time since World War II. Thousand of people, as you can see here, thousands of protesters have made it clear they are against the idea.

CNN's Will Ripley joins me live from Tokyo.

Will, this is pretty significant because Japan is technically a pacifist country. They have been that way since the end of World War II. As you can see from the images there's a lot of resistance. What is the next step before the bill becomes law?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, you are right, Zain. And the fact this vote just minutes ago is a historic moment for Japan and a moment that the thousands of people who have been filling the sidewalks outside of the diet building didn't want to see. What the overwhelming approval essentially means is, for the first time in nearly 70 years, the first time since World War II, Japan's version of the military, its self defense force, will have the ability to fight overseas under certain conditions in what has been called, and become known as collective self defense. That vote happening in the Diet building across the street here. We have seen some of the largest protests that Tokyo have seen in several years. Lawmakers taking this up, saying Japanese people are very concerned about the safety of their troops overseas, concerned about the harm that could come to Japan for stepping out on the world stage, taking an opinion, and joining coalitions, for example, like the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS. Remember that journalists earlier this year, Kenji Goto, who was killed, and ISIS said it was a punishment for Japan pledging support to that coalition. People here are fearful that kind of retribution will continue. And others feel it is about time for Japan to step up and be able to take a more active role in defense in the region -- Zain?

ASHER: It is interesting you don't see those types of heat prod tests in places like Tokyo. It will be interesting to see what effect this has on Shinzo Abe's popularity.

Will Ripley, live in Tokyo, where it is 2:30 in the afternoon. We appreciate that, Will.

FOSTER: Another colleague has turned on Bill Cosby. Ahead, a fellow actor explains why he believes the allegations of sexual assault.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:42:19] ASHER: Welcome back, everyone. U.S. President Barack Obama says there's no way to take the Medal of Freedom away from Bill Cosby. Dozens of women have accused the disgraced comedian of sexual assault and documents have been released showing Cosby admitted he got prescription pills to give to women he wanted to have sex with.

FOSTER: On Wednesday, Mr. Obama refused to discuss Cosby directly but made clear what he considers rape to be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you give a woman, or a man, for that matter, without his or her knowledge a drug and then have sex with that person without consent, that's rape.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Former George W. Bush awarded Cosby the Medal of Freedom in 2002. It's the highest civilian honor in the U.S. Now there are outlined petitions to revoke the award.

I think he was saying there is no precedence for this, no technical way of doing it.

ASHER: Right, hasn't done it before. How does he go about it? He was clear in how he defined rape and what he thought of the allegations.

Those allegations leveled against Bill Cosby have shock Maryland fans and fellow actors. A former co-star on "The Cosby Show" is speaking out. Joseph C. Phillips played the son-in-law of Cosby' character on "The Cosby Show."

FOSTER: On Wednesday, Phillips opened up on CNN's New Day" to talk about why he is sure Cosby is guilty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH C. PHILLIPS, ACTOR: I think, like a lot of people, I was really giving Bill the benefit of the doubt. This was not the man that I knew. This is not the man that I worked. He may have had other faults but he was certainly not drugging people and raping them. And then I had a conversation with an old friend, bumped in to her. I hadn't talked to her in a couple of years. I just thought, hey, he used to be your mentor or something.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN NEW DAY CO-HOST: Was she an actress?

PHILLIPS: Yeah, and I don't want to say too much about her.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN NEW DAY CO-HOST: So he was a mentor to her?

PHILLIPS: Yeah. For two hours she sat in my car crying, telling me her story, all of the details. And at that moment, something changed for me. She turned to me and she said -- she wiped her face and she said, do you believe me, and I said, yes, I believe you. And that was the change. I had to look with sober eyes at what was going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Bill Cosby has vehemently denied wrongdoing and never been criminally charged either.

Southern Japan is on the alert Typhoon Manka gets closer.

ASHER: Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is joining us.

Pedram, there's fears of storm surges. And it is really the city of Kochi, on the coast, that's in the greatest danger, I guess.

[01:45:12] PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. That's right, yeah. It is a mountainous area. When you go in to this area and look closely, the area is indicated in the tan area. That is low coastal plains. Green is the mountains or higher elevations. The entire prefecture mountainous. People surprised to learn Japan is home to 500 ski resorts, some 21 mountains, in excess of 3,000 meters that are 10,000 feet high. Mountainous portion of the country and landfall between 10:00 p.m. and midnight on Thursday local time. Going to spark flash flooding. Typhoon warnings issued. Evacuations in place. Look at the storms in the past in Japan. Back in 2011, Talas, a tropical storm, dumped 71 inches of rainfall in a couple of days' time. Other storms brought in between 60 to 70 inches in the past. Here's the perspective for Kochi. A lot of rivers in the city center as well. 340,000 people call the area home and the highest elevations 1100 meters high. Here's the storm system, a category one hurricane. Landfall expected to be east of Kochi. Look at the rainfall across Japan from Kochi to Tokyo could see upwards of 100 millimeters of rainfall. About four inches could come down. The color contour indicated in white, a half meter of rainfall. We are talking 20 inches could come down. That is as recipe for disaster when it comes to landslides and flash flooding. The storm cruises to the Sea of Japan we think between Saturday and Sunday. Pushes in to the northern portion of Japan, as well. The wave height indication and this is another concern. Often times we say it is not the wind speed that causes problems and fatalities but the water that churned up and the tremendous rainfall it will bring to the coastline. Wave heights upwards of 15 meters high over the areas of open water. We think at the coast level that would be three meters storm surge. Dangerous situation in southern Japan -- guys?

ASHER: Pedram Javaheri, thank you so much. We appreciate it. We will keep an eye on that typhoon.

Dreams have been temporarily dashed for the pilot of the plane trying to fly around the world only on the power of sun light. The Solar Impulse Two team said the plane's batteries overheated and they were irreversibly damaged during its last flight about two weeks ago from Japan.

FOSTER: So now the plane will remain grounded in Hawaii until next April. The pilots say that's how long it will take to replace the batteries and test them to make sure they work properly.

A shame because they did the hardest bit over the Pacific.

ASHER: Right. Now the batteries are the problem.

FOSTER: Remember last summer's ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great to be here. I'm accepting the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

CROWD: Three, two, one.

(SHOUTING)

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ASHER: Wow.

FOSTER: Up next, we follow the money trail to see where the millions of dollars raised through the Ice Bucket Challenge is actually going.

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(SCREAMING)

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[01:52:15] ASHER: Welcome back, everyone. Now to the moment a highway traffic camera spotted airplane traffic. The single-engine plane -- wow -- was carrying two sky divers and their instructors when it made an emergency landing on a highway near the New Jersey shore. The plane hit a few road signs as it traveled down the highway. Incredible footage there.

FOSTER: One treated for a minor injury. No one else was hurt. No vehicles solved. The incident is under investigation. Pure fluke.

ASHER: Incredible. Haven't seen anything like it.

It has been a year since millions of you poured a bucket of ice water over your heads to raise millions of dollars in awareness for ALS. This is the disease often referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease.

FOSTER: What happened to that money? One summer later, the ALS Association is reporting where it is spending the cash.

CNN's Elizabeth Cohen reports.

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DR. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To raise awareness for ALS, a year ago this guy poured a bucket of ice water over his head. Then his friends did it, and their friends did it, and then your friends did it. More than 17 million people took the Ice Bucket Challenge to promote awareness of ALS and other causes.

Eddie Redmayne played ALS patient, Stephen Hawking, in the movie --

(SHOUTING)

COHEN: -- and got doused in real life. So did real-life Stephen Hawking's kids. Kermit the Frog, Anne Hathaway, Justin Timberlake all got splashed.

This guy used glacier water dumped from a helicopter.

Within six weeks, 2.5 million people nationwide donated $115 million to the ALS Association.

And here's where the organization says it is going, $77 million to research like creating these special nerve cells to test potential drugs. $23 million to patient and community services like providing I.V. nutrition to patients who can't swallow, $10 million to public and professional education like helping researchers help to get drugs approved more quickly, $3 million to launch more fund-raising, and $2 million to external processing fees like paying to run all of the credit and debit card donations.

But even with all of this money there's no cure for ALS.

ANNOUNCER: Let's keep it up this August and every August until there is a cure.

COHEN: The ALS Association hopes the social media will lead to more splashing and more money again this summer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Absolute genius. Amazing how these things pick up.

ASHER: Incredible. $115 million by 2.5 million people. Incredible.

FOSTER: A great, great story.

ASHER: The classic U.S. toy store, FAO Schwartz, closed the door s to the Fifth Avenue location in New York.

[01:55:09] FOSTER: This is a shocker. In addition to loads of toys, the store had a huge candy shop and real-life toy soldiers who greeted shoppers, of course.

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FOSTER: That famous grand piano made famous in the 1988 movie "Big."

ASHER: I love that movie.

Officials promise the store will reopen in a new location and they blame the rising rent for the move.

I used to walk past that store every day on my way --

FOSTER: I used to go there every time I went to New York to buy stuff for the kids.

ASHER: Your kids, of course.

Fans are sad to see the store go.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on, it's a landmark. It has always been here for so long. I'm going to miss it but I will go to the new location.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think of the store?

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Well, that stinks a lot because this is an awesome store, and I love coming every time we come to New York.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have two daughters, they have been here and grew up here, and I buy them presents all the time. We will miss it. I think moving it is a mistake. If they put a bucket there, I will put $10 so it can stay.

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FOSTER: Where will it go? The company hasn't said yet.

ASHER: Thank you for watching, everyone. This is Max's last day in Atlanta. He is heading back to London bureau.

FOSTER: It is. My last day at CNN, to some people --

(LAUGHTER) -- thanks to Rosemary Church announcing my departure, but it is just Atlanta.

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