Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. Drone Strike Kills Terror Leader In Syria; Two British Men Held On Terror Charges; Pope Calls For Action Against Human Trafficking; Legal Battle Over Daughter Born By Thai Surrogate; Trump Gives Out Senator Graham's Phone Number; Polls Suggest Donald Trump Is Republican Frontrunner; Obama's Final Appearance On "The Daily Show"; D.A.: Grand Jury Will Decide If It Was Murder Or Suicide; Apple Reports $49.6B In Third Quarter Revenue; Chrysler Can Be Hacked Over The Internet; New Photo Of Prince George Taken By Mario Testino. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired July 21, 2015 - 03:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:59:49] PAULA NEWTON, CNNI: The U.S. has killed a terrorist leader that believes was a real threat.

ERROL BARNETT, CNNI: Pope Francis speaks out against climate change and human trafficking and calls on the United Nations to do something.

NEWTON: Donald Trump makes new enemies on the campaign trail after reveals the personal phone number of a rival candidate.

Hello. And welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Paula Newton.

BARNETT: I'm Errol Barnett. Thanks for being with us. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

NEWTON: Now the U.S. military is claiming a big victory in the fight against terrorism announcing it has killed a veteran al Qaeda leader in Syria. His name is Muhsin Al-Fadhli and the U.S. government had placed a $7 million bounty on his head. Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The Pentagon announcing that Muhsin Al-Fadhli, the leader of the Khorasan Group was killed by a U.S. drone strike on July 8th while he was riding in a vehicle west of Aleppo, a stronghold for the Khorasan and for ISIS.

This had been somebody the U.S. had been looking for a very long time. The Khorasan Group said to be having the aspiration, the desire to launch external attacks against the United States, Al Fadhli a long time operative of al Qaeda and as Khorasan offshoot.

It is said by the Pentagon that he is one of the few al Qaeda operatives that had advance word of the 9/11 attacks and that in October 2002, he was involved in terrorist attack planning against U.S. Marines in Kuwait and a French cargo ship.

So this was somebody that they were looking for. What is most intriguing is this is what the Pentagon calls a targeted strike. They knew when day launched that missile off a drone over Northern Syria that he was in the vehicle at the time.

It says a lot, perhaps about the U.S. ability to conduct reconnaissance missions in that area where it has no troops on the ground. Barbara Starr, CNN, The Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: ISIS is claiming responsibility for a pair of deadly suicide car bombings in Baghdad. At last 18 people were killed in a mainly Shiite commercial area on Tuesday. More than 43 people were hurt.

NEWTON: Take a look at the aftermath of the explosion. You can see rows and rows of buildings destroyed and debris in the streets. Now another car bombing in southeastern Baghdad left two dead and nine wounded.

BARNETT: Two British men are being held on terror charges in the U.K. One was allegedly planning to attack U.S. military personnel. Both were allegedly trying to join ISIS.

NEWTON: Now neither has been asked to enter their pleas at this point. Frederik Pleitgen has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Both men appeared in front of the Westminster's Magistrate's Court here in London on Tuesday and both have been identified. One man is 22-year- old Shazib Ahmed Khan and the other one is his nephew called Junead Khan.

Now allegedly both men wanted to go to Syria to join ISIS there, but only one of them, Junead Khan, was also planning to kill U.S. military members here in Britain.

When the charges were read out, some details were also given as to how this plot was apparently supposed to unfold. The talk was a hit and run style attack or a car accident style attack where apparently Mr. Khan wanted to hit a U.S. service member with the car and then kill him using a knife.

Allegedly there was also a talk of using a suicide vest as well and also he was apparently talking about killing a British service member, but that he allegedly preferred to kill Americans.

No further details were given at this point in time. The two men were arrested on July 14th. This happened in the northern -- to the north of London in Luton. There was a third man arrested with them, but he has been released from custody without any charges against him.

Now the two men will remain in custody until their trial starts. So far no further details have been released however these men will not be released on bail. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Now U.S. officials meantime are trying to piece together clues on what may have inspired Mohammad Abdulazeez to kill five U.S. service men last week in Tennessee. Now the FBI has recovered internet searches from Abdulazeez's computer and phones about the subject of martyrdom as recently as a day before his shooting rampage.

BARNETT: And there is also this, in writings dating back to 2013, Abdulazeez said he agreed with some of the teachings of Anwar Al- Awlaki. He is the former spokesman for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula who was killed by U.S. drone strike.

[03:05:01] NEWTON: Day two of an important conference hosted by the Vatican is just moments away. Its focus climate change and human trafficking. Now Pope Francis called them interconnected emergencies. On Tuesday, he had strong words for the more than 60 mayors from around the world attending the event particularly on human trafficking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS (through translator): The United Nations really needs to take a very strong position on this issue, particularly the trafficking of human beings that are caused by this environmental situation and the exploitation of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Let's bring in our Vatican correspondent, Delia Gallagher, joining us this morning from Rome. Delia, great to see you.

We heard Pope Francis speaking about human trafficking and said that the decisions to combat climate change should be on our collective conscious. He had an audience of some 65 mayors from around the world there, yesterday and today. What else was said?

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Errol, yesterday was a chance for the mayors to speak. They had 10 minutes each to talk about what's happening in their cities, to discuss the laws that they enacted with regard to climate change and with regard to human trafficking and really to share some of their stories with one another.

We heard from the mayor of Madrid, for example, who said it's not enough to enact laws and they have to set a good example. So a lot of stories were shared yesterday and of course, they had an opportunity to meet the pope.

He said a few words to them. Let take a look at what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Mayors and governors from around the world applaud Pope Francis as he signs a declaration calling for bold action on modern slavery. Part of a two-day Vatican summit on climate change and human trafficking.

A conference paper explains that, quote, "Global warming is one of the causes of poverty and forced migration." Therefore Pope Francis sees the two issues as what he calls interconnected emergencies.

POPE FRANCIS (through translator): It's not a green encyclical it's a social encyclical because within the social surroundings, the social life of people we cannot separate the care of the environment. One of the things we notice the most when the environment creation is not well cared for is the disproportionate growth of cities. It's a global phenomenon. It's as if the heads, the big cities get bigger but always with rings of more poverty and misery.

GALLAGHER: Earlier, Rome's mayor also faced the issue of global trafficking head on.

MAYOR IGNAZIO MARINO, ROME (through translator): Slavery still exists despite the fact that it is illegal and punished in most countries. It assumes many forms and it affects people of every age, sex and ethnic background.

GALLAGHER: Pope Francis also expressed the hope that the United Nations would take a strong position on trafficking and said he had great hope in the Paris summit in December on sustainable development goals saying that he hoped a that a basic fundamental agreement is reached.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GALLAGHER: You know, Errol, one of the other things the pope said was that the Holy See can give nice speeches, but you, mayors, are on the ground able to reach out to those who are most marginalized. That's your job -- Errol.

BARNETT: So kind of like a marching orders delivered there. This is the second day of the conference. It's set to get underway shortly. What should we expect?

GALLAGHER: Well, today, Errol, they are really focusing on those sustainable development goals that are going to be discussed at a summit at the U.N. in September. The pope will be addressing that summit.

This is something that the Vatican has been very focused on. It has to do with eradicating poverty and fair jobs and climate change so all of those topics are going to be involved in the symposium today at the Vatican.

BARNETT: All right, Vatican correspondent, Delia Gallagher, live for us in Rome. Delia, thanks.

NEWTON: Now our "Freedom Project" highlights the fight against slavery and human trafficking.

BARNETT: We want to show you a clip from the documentary where host and actress, Jada Pinkett Smith introduces us to Rachel, a sex trafficking survivor, who explains how strip clubs in the U.S. sometimes fronts for brothels.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JADA PINKETT SMITH, ANCHOR: For me coming up an independent woman was about being educated and being able to stand on your own. And it shocked me that young women now feel like being an independent woman and getting that lifestyle you want, you get on that stripper pole.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't remember a time in my life where I didn't know what sex was.

SMITH (voice-over): Rachel's journey into the life started very early.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do think that it does go back to being abused young at a young age and at the age of 7 I was actually introduced to pornography.

[03:10:05] SMITH: Like thousands of children each year, Rachel was sexually abused and didn't get the help she needed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm from a very small town in Georgia. As the years passed I continued a destructive lifestyle that everybody just ignored. She is just rebellious and just has problems.

SMITH: Her destructive lifestyle soon landed her in a strip club.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For me it took about a year and I started being exploited by the club management. I was told you can make more money this way.

SMITH: This way meant giving the men much more than a lap dance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The club that I worked at I would tell everybody it's a modern day brothel. You come in and they would say, I want an African-American girl. I want a small girl. I want a girl who looks underage.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Be sure to join us for the CNN "Freedom Project" documentary "Children for Sale, The Fight to End Human Trafficking" at 8:00 p.m. in London and 9:00 if you are watching in Berlin. That is only on CNN.

BARNETT: Now a gay couple is battling to take their daughter home to the U.S. after she was born in Thailand via surrogate.

NEWTON: The couple is living in hiding with their two children in Bangkok hoping the courts will rule in their favor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON (voice-over): A huge smile from baby, Carmen, 6-month-old unwittingly at the center of a legal dispute in the murky world of Thai surrogacy. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we just going to take our little girl home.

NEWTON: American Budd Lake is Carmen's biological father, but he can't leave Thailand with her. Under the law, he needs the approval of the surrogate mother who gave birth to her using an egg donor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no legal rights over Carmen and the woman who gives birth has all legal rights and we have been terrified from day one that she, the police, social services, would try to take Carmen from us.

NEWTON: Lake and his husband believed the surrogate decided to try and keep the baby because she found out they were gay. The woman denies that, saying she only cares about Carmen's safety.

PATIDTA KUSOLSANG, SURROGATE (through translator): I miss her every day. You see how cruel the world is today and I just don't know what they are going to do with my baby.

NEWTON: She says she never agreed to give the baby to Lake. She filed complaints with the Thai police and the U.S. Embassy.

KUSOLSANG: I will fight to end in the court. I want her to stay in Thailand.

NEWTON: Lake says the surrogate signed paperwork at the hospital and only changed her mind when he went to get a passport for the baby. After a series of scandals, Thailand's military dictatorship has decided to outlaw surrogacy for foreigners.

In one case, an Australian couple left a baby with Down Syndrome behind in Thailand. In another, police suspect one 25-year-old Japanese man of fathering at least 12 children through surrogacy.

Now Carmen's parents are stuck fighting their case in the Thai legal system. Far from homes and from their jobs, Lake and his husband are forced to raise money online.

Their main hope now is that the new surrogacy law does not take effect until the end of July, but the relevant provision defines parents as a husband and wife.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are pretty confident that the courts are -- what they are really going to do is to take the best interests of Carmen into account. In our mind there is not a possibility that we can lose Carmen. I mean, she's our daughter and our daughter belongs with us.

NEWTON: They are determined to stay in Thailand until they can leave with Carmen. No matter how long it takes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: A happy child there and a very, very complicated issue in Thailand. They are there for the long haul to see this through.

BARNETT: Keep our eyes on that.

Now new dash cam video shows a tense confrontation between a state trooper and a driver in Texas, but it is also raising more questions. We'll show you more of the video next.

NEWTON: Plus, more fireworks from Republican presidential frontrunner, Donald Trump. You know it and this time he is targeting a rival candidate following this blunt comment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: He is becoming a jackass at a time when we have to have a serious debate about the future of the party and the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARNETT: We have this news just into CNN. Chinese artist and activist, Ai Weiwei says he has his passport back. He just posted an image on Instagram, which means he may be able to travel outside China again.

NEWTON: That's significant. You may recall authorities took it his passport away after he was arrested in 2011. He has been a vocal critic of the state's stance on democracy and human rights. CNN is attempting to reach out to Mr. Ai and to comment on his potential travel plans.

BARNETT: Feel like we have been saying this each day this week, but Donald Trump is turning heads and drawing criticism again in his latest feud this time with fellow U.S. Republican presidential candidate, Lindsey Graham.

NEWTON: Now at a rally in Graham's home state of South Carolina on Tuesday with millions of people watching on national television, Trump gave out the senator's private phone number, the one that no one is supposed to have and that's not the only spat he is caught up in at the moment. Dana Bash has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump unbowed by a barrage of criticism.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They say they didn't like the way that -- you know, I'm a little loud. I'm a little too strong. They don't like it.

[03:20:05] BASH: The reality TV star with a flair for drama took presidential politics to yet another level.

TRUMP: And I see your senator what a stiff.

BASH: Responding to fellow Republican presidential candidate, Lindsey Graham saying this to CNN.

GRAHAM: He is becoming a jackass.

TRUMP: And I watched this idiot, Lindsey Graham on television today, and he calls me a jackass. He is a jackass.

BASH: Standing in Graham's home state of South Carolina, Trump retaliated by reading aloud the senator's personal cell phone number.

TRUMP: He gave me his number and I found the card. I wrote the number down. I don't know if it's the right number, let's try it, 202 --

BASH: We asked why.

(on camera): Why did you read Lindsey Graham's cell phone number?

TRUMP: So people can call him so he can get something done but he won't be able to.

BASH (voice-over): Graham unable to be reached by cell responded through his campaign manager saying, "Donald Trump continues to show hourly that he is ill-prepared to be commander in chief."

All this amid a back and forth with Iowa's largest newspaper, "The Des Moines Register," whose editorial board called for him to pull the plug on his bloviating side show.

Trump shot back about the newspaper's sagging sales. He seems to be buoyed by the politics of personal warfare, that and crowds like this. All told some 1,100 people in the main auditorium and the overflow room Trump visited after his speech. Many in this retirement community waited on line for hours to get in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has a set of balls.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is a doer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he's terrific because he tells the truth.

BASH: Not everyone who came was a supporter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He scares me.

BASH (on camera): He scares you, but you are still here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I want to see him. He's a celebrity.

BASH (voice-over): Despite causing so much controversy with comments about John McCain's war service, some veterans here and military rich South Carolina came to hear him.

JIM BACON, KOREAN WAR VETERAN: He just disappointed me. I wasn't offended, but I was disappointed.

BASH (voice-over): And yet it's not a deal breaker?

BACON: No, not yet.

BASH: Why is that?

BACON: Too far to go. The man has tremendous background. He obviously has a great ability to delegate. He can make a decision on the spot, but it also gets him in trouble.

BASH: As for Graham, he did try to make light of Trump's cell phone stunt by saying in a tweet, "probably getting a new phone, iPhone or Android?" That would be an upgrade for Graham who only communicates by phone. He doesn't text or e-mail and currently has a flip phone. Dana Bash, CNN, South Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Now we want to look at where Trump stands on key issues. On immigration he said he would build a wall. On ISIS he says he will bomb the oil fields that feed cash to ISIS. On jobs he said he would bring jobs back from China and several other countries and promised to repeal and replace Obamacare and end the common core educational standards.

CNN senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein, joins me now. Ron, so much to talk about, but we thought at this point in time, let's look at what seems to be the Republican's worst nightmare, what a Trump America would look like.

We talked about some of the policies there, is that in keeping with some of what Americans want to hear on some of these issues right now?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: There is a part of the Republican base that does want to hear it. Two caveats at the start is we are unlikely to experience a Donald Trump America. Most Americans have said they will not consider him for president and I think the clearest impact of these controversies is to narrow his potential base of support and put a ceiling on.

Second, you know, in the time he's been commenting on public affairs over the course of his business career he has taken both positions on every major issue. It's hard to know where his center of gravity is, but having said that he has evolved in this race into a fairly conventional, very conservative Republican.

He is pretty much up and down the line with conservative views, expressed in more vitriolic terms, but he is articulating the preferences on immigration, skepticism of trade, cultural conservatism, opposition to Obamacare that animate the most ideologically cutting edge of the Republican base.

NEWTON: OK, now for everyone, though, who doesn't want to take Donald Trump seriously, can it be argued that in fact he is moving the Republican Party exactly where he wants them? That through all this name calling at the same time he is moving policy issues to where he wants them even if he doesn't become the Republican candidate or become president?

BROWNSTEIN: I think that's a really good point. You know, what's happening -- what Donald Trump is doing is energizing and coalescing an existing strain in the Republican Party.

[03:25:05] The Republican Party divides almost exactly in half between a college educated white collar managerial side that is looking for someone to cut taxes, cut regulation, cut spending, but not necessarily to usher in a revolution.

The other half of the party is more blue collar, Evangelical, Tea Party, rural, it is deeply disaffected from many of the things happening in American life from the demographic change and the cultural change.

They want someone to go to Washington not so much to manage it but to throw rocks through the window. And Trump is really energizing that portion of the party.

In the end, he is unlikely to be the nominee, but he is creating a dynamic in which the party is going to have to respond more to those sentiments than it anticipated when the campaign began. That is a challenge in the general election.

NEWTON: Ron, we'll continue to talk about this. Appreciate it.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

BARNETT: Now let's talk about the current U.S. president, Barack Obama is showing off his skills as comedian in chief during his final appearance on the satirical news program, "The Daily Show."

NEWTON: People look forward to his appearances on this show. Mr. Stewart gives him a very hard time. Now Mr. Obama had a little fun at the expense of Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I'm sure the Republicans are enjoying Mr. Trump's dominance of --

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": Anything that makes them look less crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Mr. Obama struck a more serious tone when he talked about the nuclear deal with Iran. He is trying to convince members of Congress to support that agreement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: This is an adversary. They are anti-American, anti- Israel, anti-Semitic. They sponsor terrorist organizations like Hezbollah.

STEWART: Sounds like a good partner for peace.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Probably -- as has been said frequently, you don't make peace with your friends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Mr. Obama joked he issued an executive order to keep Jon Stewart from leaving "The Daily Show." I would support that. Stewart is due to sign off August 6th. He will replaced by South African comedian, Trevon Noah.

NEWTON: Yes, and hopefully it will be just as enjoyable and funny as all these years with Mr. Stewart.

Now Apple posts another record quarter, nearly $50 billion in revenue, but investors were buying it. Coming up we explain the reason behind the slip in the shares.

BARNETT: Plus a traffic stop in Texas escalates into a heated showdown. The woman at the center of this is now dead. We are getting a look at the dash cam video for the first time.

(VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: Welcome back. I'm glad you joined us here. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton.

BARNETT: I'm Errol Barnett. It's your last half hour of the day with the two of us but make it count. Here are our headlines.

Chinese artist and activist, Ai Weiwei, says he has his passport back. He posted a picture on Instagram to prove it. That means he may be able to travel outside China again. Authorities took his passport away after he was arrested in 2011. He has been a vocal critic on Beijing's stance on democracy and human rights.

NEWTON: The Pentagon says it has killed a veteran terrorist leader in Syria. Now a spokesperson says a U.S. drone strike killed Muhsin Al Fadhli on July 8th. He was the leader of the Khorasan Group, an offshoot of al Qaeda that was planning attack on western targets.

BARNETT: The Vatican is holding a conference on climate change and modern day slavery. Pope Francis told visiting politicians from around the world that those two issues are connected. He also called on the U.N. to take action against human trafficking.

NEWTON: In Texas, the arrest video of a woman who later died in police custody is raising a lot of questions. Normally these videos are supposed to shed light on what happened. Not happened here.

BARNETT: There are some irregularities in it. Some say it appears to have been edited. The dash cam video shows a tense confrontation between the state trooper and the driver, Sandra Bland. She died three days later in jail. The police say she committed suicide and her family disagrees. CNN's Ryan Young has more on the video and the investigation surrounding her death.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We were able to get access to Sandra Bland's cell, number 95, and to see where authorities say she hanged herself inside that cell. They haven't really touched much of it. And as you walk through, you got a sense of what she was dealing with for those three days leading to her death.

UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER: I'm giving you a lawful order.

YOUNG (voice-over): For the first time, we are seeing police dash cam video of Sandra Bland's arrest.

SANDRA BLAND: You are going to yank me out of my car --

YOUNG: Pulled over for failing to use her turn signal. You can hear the tense exchange between the officer and Bland.

ELTON MATHIS, WALLER COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We have procedures in place and he did not comply with those procedures. One of them is letting the individual know in terms of what actions is going to be taken.

YOUNG: But what the video doesn't show is a struggle that was captured by a witness with a cell phone which shows Bland pinned to the ground and screaming she's a victim of excessive force.

Bland was arrested and brought here to the Waller County Jail. Three days later she was found dead hanging in her cell. Surveillance video from inside the jail shows no one walking along the hall to enter or leave Bland's cell before she was found dead.

(on camera): This is cell 95. This is where Sandra Bland was staying for those three days and you can see it left a lot of it just like the way it was. The food is still sitting here. The bed is still in the same arrangement it was left in.

But there is a lot of attention being paid to a trash bag just like this one and this trash liner. Of course, this trash lines is what is believed that was used to string up here and for Sandra Bland to hang herself.

R. GLENN SMITH, SHERIFF, WALLER COUNTY, TEXAS: There were four female inmates three and a half feet across from her. They gave statements. Nobody did anything to her.

YOUNG: Right.

SMITH: And you know, and based on that, there absolutely a tragic incident here of her committing suicide.

YOUNG (voice-over): But state officials and the FBI are investigating the case and the district attorney is treating her death as a murder investigation and Bland's family says the 28-year-old would not have taken her own life. [03:35:06] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seven days later, I still don't know what happened to my baby sister.

YOUNG (on camera): This remains a very active and involved investigation. You can split this into two separate incidents, what happened at that traffic stop and what happened at that cell. A lot of people are calling for the DOJ investigation, the FBI and Texas Rangers are investigating to see what happened here, but this is far from being over. Ryan Young, CNN, Prairie View, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: As you can see this is a very complicated case. We have posted some of the police dash cam video from Sandra Bland's arrest on our web site. You can watch it by heading to CNN.com.

BARNETT: All right, let's get you to Washington now where Republican members of Congress will get a classified briefing today on the Iran nuclear deal. U.S. Secretary Of State John Kerry will lead the delegation.

NEWTON: Now Kerry and Energy Secretary Ernest Monies were among the diplomats who helped negotiate the deal with Tehran. The U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is also expected to take part in today's meeting.

BARNETT: U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia today in an effort to win international support for the nuclear deal with Iran.

NEWTON: And before that he visited coalition troops in an airbase in Jordan on Tuesday praising their efforts in the fight against ISIS. Earlier in the day, Carter met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

BARNETT: Greek lawmakers are voting today on a second set of reforms needed to secure the country's bailout deal. The bill includes new EU rules that guarantee bank deposits up to 100,000 euros. It will also implement civil justice reforms designed to speed up court cases and reduce costs there.

NEWTON: This time around, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras hopes to avoid the rebellion seen last week by members of his own party. Three party lawmakers were sacked in a cabinet reshuffle after voting against the first package reform. It was the opposition that helped the prime minister to get the reforms through.

BARNETT: Let's talk technology now. Shares in the tech giant, Apple took a dive, falling more than 6.75% in afterhours trading even though the company reported $49.6 billion in revenue in the third quarter.

NEWTON: They are epic numbers. The stock still went down. Apple sold 47.5 million iPhones, fewer than analysts had expected and that's why that happened. Now the company didn't reveal any sales data for its heavily promoted Apple Watch. BARNETT: And now Shara Tibken, a senior writer for CNET News and has covered Apple extensively. She joins us via webcam from San Francisco. So Shara, with revenue of $49 billion to $51 billion, why are some on Wall Street down beat on the numbers? It's what any other company would die for.

SHARA TIBKEN, SENIOR WRITER, CNET NEWS: Yes, for Apple, it just wasn't the blowout that everybody has really come to expect. Ever since they launched the iPhone 6, they have just been reporting these crazy quarters, tons of demand for their new phones.

This time they didn't sell as many iPhones as everybody was expecting and their forecast for the current quarter was weaker than what analysts are looking for.

BARNETT: Let's get into the why there. It was 47.5 million phones sold in the recent quarter. That's a 35 percent jump from last year. Apparently people are spending more per device on these Apple iPhones than before. But just explain why that enthusiasm is expected to top out now.

TIBKEN: So this quarter is always Apple's weakest. It's kind of in between the dads and grads season and the back to school season. And the biggest thing that hurts this quarter every time is that people know there's a new iPhone that's going to be coming in September.

If you are looking to buy a new phone it doesn't make a ton of sense to go out right now and purchase a new iPhone. Even if you want the iPhone 6, in September it will be cheaper with the new one coming out.

That is something that has always really hurt Apple, kind of their predictability is something that has worked against them. The hope was this time that China and some of the other markets would kind of lessen that difference a little bit. But you know, it just wasn't quite as good as what Wall Street was expecting.

BARNETT: All right, Shara Tibken, a senior writer for CNET, joining us from San Francisco, thanks for your time today.

TIBKEN: Thanks a lot.

NEWTON: Now Britain's royal family is celebrating a birthday today. Still ahead, a live report on how the third in line to the throne will be spending his big day. He's adorable. Really, look at him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:43:02]

NEWTON: Now heavy rain and flash flooding has hit Northern Iran since Sunday. Meteorologist Ivan Cabrera is here with more. I was looking over your shoulder as --

IVAN CABRERA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You do pay attention more than some folks.

NEWTON: But I didn't like what I was seeing.

CABRERA: Most of the weather internationally is going to be the stuff that is not going to be good here. But we had Tour De France last time and now we get to serious weather in Iran. Look at this.

I mean, it just doesn't get worse than that, people's homes into the river there. The topography has a lot to do with this. This is northeast of Tehran. We had seen upwards of 120 millimeters of rainfall in the last few days.

You can see the setup in the valley. And you have the river running through it with all that water funneling in has nowhere to go. And we had problems along the riverside.

Scattered showers in the next few days, not the torrential downpours of the last few days, and it shouldn't be raining that hard. We had a weather system move through.

And further east this is torrential rain. You were talking about the tallies getting up to half a meter of water, 17 inches here. Japan getting in on rain as well, and China of course, it has been raining prolifically over the last several months, 100 to 400 millimeters in the last couple days.

For Japan, there is a tropical connection. This is Typhoon Halola, 140 kilometer winds. By the time it gets to Japan it will have weaker winds. I think we will have issues with the wind, but it will be mainly a rain event by the time it gets to the weekend.

BARNETT: Ivan, thanks very much.

[03:45:10] NEWTON: Appreciate it. Now voters went to the polls Tuesday in Burundi for a controversial presidential election mired in violence.

BARNETT: The incumbent is seeking an unprecedented third term despite calls against his candidacy. Isha Sesay has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bullets and ballots in Burundi. Scattered gunfire in the streets of the capital on Tuesday as violence continues amid the country's presidential election. At least two people, a police officer and a civilian were killed in separate incidents overnight and residents remain fearful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There is no security in Burundi. Gunfire rings out throughout the night. We don't know where the country is headed. We're not sure what's happening here.

SESAY: Scores of people have been killed in clashes since April when Burundi's president announced he would seek an unprecedented third term in office, a move critics call unconstitutional. The dispute has sparked months of violent protests, an attempted coup, and prompted opposition to boycott the vote. Experts warn the crisis could drag one of the world's poorest nations back into civil war. YOLANDE BOUKA, RESEARCHER, INSTITUTE FOR SECURITY STUDIES: There is an armed opposition, which is now launching an insurgency against the government. Should the military or the Burundian army split fracture and see some of the members join the insurgency, we could see in Burundi an escalation of the country and possibly the breakout of civil war.

SESAY: Burundi's president remains defiant surrounded by bodyguards he cycled to a polling station to cast his ballot calling the election a crucial day for the country. While some lined up to vote many others have already left the country. More than 170,000 have fled to neighboring nations so far according to the United Nations. Isha Sesay, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: All right, still to come on CNN NEWSROOM, modern day cars are essentially smartphones on wheels. That means they are vulnerable to hackers. Next, see what happens to certain Chrysler models when hackers take over.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:51:27]

BARNETT: All right, if you drive a Chrysler, listen up. New research shows a flaw in several models could allow a hacker to remotely control the car over the internet. The problem is in the U-connect wireless service, which connects the car's to the Sprint cell phone network.

NEWTON: Now hackers can access the network and do things like make the car drive off the road or take over the steering wheel. A writer for "Wired" magazine experienced the hack first hand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Forward. Perfect. Can't turn it down. Such a fun video. Air-conditioning is blasting, the music is blasting and I can't see anything because of the windshield wiper fluid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Vulnerable cars include late 2013 to 2015 Jeep Cherokees, Dodge Rams and several other vehicles equipped with U-Connect. Chrysler has acknowledged the problem and is offering customers a software upgrade.

BARNETT: I would hope so.

NEWTON: Disable the thing. That's enough.

BARNETT: Take the car back. I want one that can't be hacked.

Britain's royal family is celebrating Prince George's second birthday today. This photo was released today. The photographer photographed Princess Charlotte following her christening.

NEWTON: Max Foster joins us from London with the very latest on this.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm worried about that brooding cooing from you, Paula.

BARNETT: It's motherly.

FOSTER: Your husband needs to know about this.

NEWTON: I have two children. Max has three and for that reason he thinks I'm always in this --

BARNETT: Competition. You are trying to --

NEWTON: Yes, let's move on to the royal baby, OK? Max, I'm going to blush. This baby is adorable. Yes, I am brooding. But, the point here is that -- this is just a picture and there are more pictures released. In terms of them is it a bit of an outing for this kid in the sense that we have seen more of the royal family and they are making an effort to get out there a little more. The pictures are amazing.

FOSTER: They are realizing the power of Prince George. He has a charisma that works on camera. They have this media strategy, which is effectively to put out their own pictures that they take and organize. They own the copyright and put them out on their social media streams first.

The first time we saw it on their Twitter and Instagram accounts. In the past they give it to us first and we put it out there. While it feels as if they are putting more images out there and giving more access, I think actually they're not.

These are pictures that were taken around Princess Charlotte's christening and have been delayed in release to now. And it feels like we are closer to them because they are speaking to the royal fans. It's an interesting strategy that does seem to be working. But they are helped by the charisma that their little guy's got.

BARNETT: I guess, this is part of the strategy, release these images, give the media and Paula what she wants so the family can live privately and not deal with what was dealt with years ago.

[03:55:07] FOSTER: Yes, fundamentally today is Prince George's birthday and they are spending it privately. They haven't told us where they are spending it privately.

But there is an awareness, that there is an interest so they saved this photo from the christening in a well-thought out process so they could sit right now. It does give the media something to show and to illustrate the birthday with.

But we're not getting anything new here. But I think as long as the public gets regular updates on how their future king is doing they're probably going to be satisfied. NEWTON: We know what happens on a second birthday, you get the kid wound up and give them cake and there is a tantrum.

FOSTER: It is probably best hidden.

BARNETT: This is the most well-behaved moment right there.

NEWTON: Look how angelic he looks. Max, thank you so much. That is great.

BARNETT: Go for it.

NEWTON: Errol is not enthused about the baby picture.

BARNETT: Kids don't thrill me yet.

NEWTON: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton.

BARNETT: I'm Errol Barnett. Stay with CNN, "EARLY START" is next in the states.

NEWTON: And for the rest of you, CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster begins right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)