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Deadly Shooting At U.S. Movie Theater; 2 Killed At Movie Theater, Shooter Killed Himself; Witness: We Heard People Screaming; Police Withholding Disclosure of Shooter's Identity; Police Still Investigating Scene of Theater Shooting; Obama "Most Frustrated" By U.S. Gun Laws; Turkish Fighter Jets Bomb ISIS Targets; Airstrikes Come After ISIS Killed Turkish Soldier; Man Arrested For Threatening U.S. Amb To South Korea; Kenya Prepares to Welcome Home Its "Son"; Obama Returning to His Father's Homeland; Controversial Candidate Visits Mexico Border; Border Patrol Rescinded Invite To Trump; Turkish Officials: More Strikes Could Come; Turkish Police Arrest 251 People For Terrorism; Turkish Intelligence: ISIS Gathering Weapons Near Border; South Sudan Army Accused Of War Crimes; Nigeria: One Year Without Polio; South Korea's Long Work Days Examined; NASA Finds "Earth's Bigger, Older Cousin". Aired 3-4a ET

Aired July 24, 2015 - 03:00   ET

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


[03:00:04] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers here at the United States and around the world. We continue to follow the breaking news out of Louisiana, a deadly shooting rampage in a movie theater. I'm George Howell.

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Lynda Kinkade. The shooting took place around 7:30 pm local time in the city of Lafayette near New Orleans. Two people were killed and the shooter then turn the gun on himself.

HOWELL: Seven people are wounded, we understand, and police say that the shooter is a 50-year-old -- 58 rather, I should say, year old white male and that he apparently acted alone, shooting at random.

KINKADE: They say it does not appear there was any kind of motive at this stage but it is very early in the investigation.

HOWELL: There are multiple agencies on scene including the FBI, all looking into what happened there.

Moviegoers ran for their lives after hearing the gunshots. One witness says she saw some of the victims desperately searching for help.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): We heard people screaming in the theatre before they set the alarm and we didn't know what was going on. And the lady sitting two seats down asked if we had a weapon to protect ourselves and I lunged (ph) after the shooting and sort of calmed down and I said, "How did she know?" And she was like, her friend was at the door and they weren't letting her in." So she took off, running off. She's like, "I can't deal with this. I'm leaving." And so I step down. I went to go see if I can hear or see anything and I can just hear people screaming. So then the alarm went off. We took off running outside. And as I'm running outside, I'm seeing people like bleeding on the leg, being shot and I was like, "Wow."

KINKADE: Sergeant Brooks David of Louisiana State Police was at the scene and the last hour, he spoke with us.

HOWELL: And, you know, we heard more about what comes next in this investigation. Take a listen.

BROOKS DAVID, SERGEANT, LOUISIANA STATE POLICE: The latest is the suspect's vehicle has been cleared. Emergency services unit bomb squad has taken care of that vehicle. They are inside the theater right now, looking at suspicious packages in there. That the canine dog had alerted on. And once they clear that scene which should be a few hours, the coroner's office along with Lafayette Police Department's detectives and state police detectives will enter that building with the corner and start to investigate exactly what took place inside.

KINKADE: Last we heard during the press conference, the gunman's body and the victims, two of the victims' bodies were still inside the theater. Is that the case?

DAVID: Yes, ma'am. Those bodies will not be removed until the coroner gives us the OK to move those. It is a crime scene and an active crime scene. So evidence is still inside there that we need to preserve and make sure this our case is wrapped pretty tight where we can give the family as many answers as we can. Our hearts are just broken tonight and we want send out thoughts and prayers out to the families that were all affected by those.

HOWELL: Before we ask questions about the gunman here, I want to ask a couple about the victims. We understand from an earlier news conference that one of the victims was released from a hospital, one of the wounded. Can you talk to us just about, you know, the latest count when he it comes to the wounded and also the difficult task that your teams must make when it comes to these death notifications.

DAVID: Yes, sir. Governor Jindal did go through the hospital to meet with the wounded. And he was actually there when one of the teachers got released from the hospital. So he was hearing stories of heroism and I'm sure we will hear more of that in days to come, like he said. We're unsure of the count right now or if any more that have been released from the hospital. Our investigators along with Lafayette Police Department investigators are at the hospital speaking with those witnesses and the ones who were wounded.

KINKADE: Now we know you have identified the gunman. We only know that he is a 58-year-old white male. At this stage, I understand you're not releasing the identification of the gunman, is that correct? Or can you give us some more information about what you're learning?

DAVID: Well, that's correct. We're not going to release any information on the suspect yet because we are sending agents out in the field to his residence to speak with his friends, family members. And we don't want them to find out through the media or our officers possibly getting hurt in the process of going to speak to them. So we're keeping his identity quiet right now and in the next few hours and maybe sometime during the day tomorrow the name should be released.

[00:05:07] HOWELL: Sergeant David, just for my own clarification so I can understand, so you're talking about suspicious items inside the theater. Is this similar to what you dealt with in the vehicle? Is there a concern that there could be an active and dangerous situation inside that theater?

DAVID: Well, we always want to take precaution and public safety is our number one priority. So like Colonel Edmonson said, there was backpack in there that the dogs alerted to.

HOWELL: I see.

DAVID: And some other items, small items. So we want to make sure that those items are safe and that our emergency personnel, when they do go into that, they are safe.

HOWELL: And keep in mind, you know, this is still an active scene in the sense that they are going in that theater and they are looking at more suspicious items, trying to determine the nature of that before continuing that investigation. We'll of course keep in touch with those officers and get word and pass that along to you.

A reporter there, Lanie Lee Cook, with the Acadiana Advocate was on the scene and she had this to report.

LANIE LEE COOK, REPORTER, ACADIANA ADVOCATE (voice-over): At least two of them were teachers but other than that, we have not received confirmation throughout social media. We have not received confirmed information about the other those who are dead besides that they range from young to old. Nine were injured. Last we heard, one was in surgery and very critical condition but we have not gotten any updates on those victims.

KINKADE: The movie playing was the blockbuster "Trainwreck". The movie star has now reacted on Twitter.

HOWELL: Amy Schumer tweeted this just a short time ago says, "My heart is broken and all my thoughts and my prayers are with everyone in Louisiana."

KINKADE: And the shooting in Louisiana comes almost exactly three years after a similar deadly shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado.

HOWELL: Twelve people there were gunned down and 70 others wounded at that time when a gunman opened fire at a crowded screening of a Batman movie.

KINKADE: It was one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history. And last week, a jury found James Holmes guilty of multiple counts of first-degree murder in that massacre.

HOWELL: The sentencing phase of his trial began this week and it is expected to last about a month.

KINKADE: And the U.S. President Barack Obama was interviewed by the BBC on Thursday and admitted the most frustrating part of his presidency has been the failure to tackle gun control. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The one area where I feel that I've been most frustrated and most stymied, it is the fact that the United States of America is the one advanced nation on Earth in which we do not have sufficient common sense gun safety laws even in the face of repeated mass killings. And, you know, if you look at the number of Americans killed since 9/11 by terrorism, it's less than 100. If you look at the number that have been killed by gun violence, it's in the tens of thousands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Keep in mind this latest shooting comes just a month after nine worshipers were killed inside a church in Charleston.

KINKADE: And earlier, we spoke with our Law Enforcement Analyst, Cedric Alexander. He says this latest shooting will once again trust U.S. gun control laws into the spotlight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: We certainly do believe people should have the right to exercise, the right to bear arms. But as the president has indicated, there is need to be a revisiting of the conversation around gun control laws in this country not to take away our right of good innocent gun carriers if you will, but how do we begin to look at it in a way. How do we better protect innocent people in this country and keep guns out of the hands of those that should not have them.

KINKADE: Well, one thing is a background check minutes. It surprises me that so many states were selling gun to someone with no background check whatsoever.

ALEXANDER: Well, that may be the case here again. It may be some gun laws across this country that need to be tighten. But there need to be converse -- for the conversation on both sides of the aisles in terms of how to address this issue.

But I think the American people as well to are going to have to stand up and demand more from government in regards of having this conversation. We want the rights of those who carry guns legally and who exercise that constitutional right that they are born with to be able to have that right. But at the same time we got to make sure that we keep guns out of the hands of the wrong people. Here again, this conversation needs to be revisited and it needs to be revisited very soon as well too. [03:09:58] So the President's frustration is actually the frustration of millions of Americans across this country. There just needs to be some conversations on the heel in regards to how we're going to work through this very complex and convoluted tissue around gun control.

HOWELL: And again, you know, so we talked about Charleston and Chattanooga, you know, just recently noticed this issue of how to protect these soft targets or these places where innocent people go in and then find themselves in these terrible situations from a law enforcement perspective. I mean can you really protect these soft targets?

ALEXANDER: Well, it certainly is a challenge and I think that we have each one of these events. We just can't continue to talk about him. We really have to take some really major, some different types of measures in order to protect our citizenry. I mean, you take the case more recently here in Chattanooga where we had five U.S. serviceman killed and were not able to protect themselves or protect each other. Very soft targets there to recruit site.

And then, here we are looking at another soft target, someone who yet to be determined who that individual is, what was his reason behind it. But what we're seeing, George, Lynda on a regular basis is the continuing types of gun violence that occurring in this country and is becoming more and more frequent it appears each day, each week, each month in this country. And that is alarming. And we are going to have to have some real serious dialogue and conversation about this.

KINKADE: And just to explain what the open gun -- open carry policy is. I understand it exists in Louisiana, the same law which exists here in Georgia.

ALEXANDER: And in some other states as well across the country and exactly that open gun laws.

KINKADE: But what does it mean for our international viewers?

ALEXANDER: Well, what it means is that you can carry a weapon up on your person openly, virtually in any environment except where it's designated that you cannot. And I am not going to contest that law. What I am going to say is that we need to have further conversation around gun laws in this country and how do we better protect citizens in this country, but also making sure that legal gun owners, law- abiding citizens in this country have an opportunity to exercise their right as well too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: And we're going to continue our rolling coverage of the investigation to that shooting in Louisiana. So stay with us for that.

But first, ISIS takes another hit.

HOWELL: For the first time, Turkey launches air strikes on militants inside the country of Syria. Details on that are coming up. KINKADE: Also, U.S. President Barack Obama is flying to Kenya right now, a historic trip to the country where his father was born.

HOWELL: You're watching CNN Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good day. I'm CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam with a quick look at your weather watch. We'll start across North America where we're anticipating another day of an oppressive heat across the heartland of the USA, a daytime high soaring into the upper 30s. Look at Dallas, 38 degrees.

Now, this heat is really sandwiched in between cooler conditions along the East Coast and along the West Coast. San Francisco topping 21 on Friday. The Big Apple right we should be this time of year, 29 degrees. You can see the heat advisory stretching from portions of Iowa into Nebraska as well as Kansas, Arkansas and the northeastern sections of Oklahoma.

A few thunderstorms firing off later today across Minnesota, into Wisconsin and northeastern sections of Iowa. Once again, we have a frontal boundary moving through the region.

[03:15:00] As we look towards Central America, a few thunderstorms popping up near Guatemala City, otherwise Kingston and Jamaica, 33, mostly sunny, looking pleasant into the Bahamas. Daytime high is in the lower 30s. A few puffy cumulus clouds expected throughout the course of the day.

Otherwise, the interior of Venezuela and into Columbia, a few thunderstorms could not fire off, otherwise we'll stay dry for the coastal areas. Rio stays dry, 28 degrees. But just to the Sao Paulo, thunderstorms expected, the storm moving on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. We return now to the breaking news from Lafayette, Louisiana where three are dead after shooting inside of movie theatre.

HOWELL: Police say that the gunman killed himself after opening fire randomly during a showing of the movie "Trainwreck". At least seven people are wounded.

KINKADE: Investigators are not releasing the name on the shooter at this stage but they say he has a criminal history that dates back several years.

HOWELL: Other news worth following. Turkey's air force bombed ISIS targets inside Syria this morning, a day after militant shot and killed Turkish soldier.

KINKADE: The Prime Minister's office says fighter jets launched strikes on two bases and one gathering. We just learned some more details from CNN Producer, Gul Tuysuz. GUL TUYSUZ, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): The operations at this time has concluded but Turkish officials are not ruling out the possibility that they will carry out more targeted attacks against ISIS. So they're saying that they're committed to preserving Turkey's national security interests there.

And Turkey targeting ISIS locations inside Syria comes just a day after ISIS militants opened up fire on a border patrol unit on the Turkish-Syrian border killing one soldier. And this was a response to that and Turkish officials described it as being a preemptive defensive measure in order to make sure that there are no more casualties from the Turkish side.

KINKADE: And we'll have much more on this coming up in the next half hour.

HOWELL: An Australian national who allegedly have been involved in the conflict in Syria is voluntarily returning to Australia. According to Australian media reports, Adam Brookman has since been in Syria since early last year.

HOWELL: Brookman who is said to be a nurse claims he was forced to work with ISIS after traveling to Syria to do humanitarian work. The father of five told an Australian media outlet that he fled ISIS in May, hid out in Turkey and now wants to come home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I won't go into the specific details of Mr. Brookman's case. But I will say that any Australian who supports or fights with Daesh or Islamic state is potentially committing a crime against Australian law including our sanction's regime. Any Australian who is in al-Raqqa province in Syria or in Mosul, in Iraq without a legitimate reason is committing an offense against Australian law. And any Australian who takes up alms with these terrorist organizations or fights overseas is committing a crime against Australian law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Australian federal police say they and other agencies have been negotiating Brookman's return. At this stage though, he has not been charged with any crime.

HOWELL: A man has been arrested for threatening to kill the U.S. Ambassador of South Korea. The suspect is said to be in his early 30s, identified only by his surname Lee. Ambassador Mark Lippert was the target of the threat reported by the U.S. Embassy to police in Seoul.

[03:19:56] KINKADE: Lee allegedly made the threat in a post on the White House website in mid-July. He was arrested in Seoul in July 16th. Ambassador Lippert was attacked in March by a knife-wielding Korean nationalist.

HOWELL: He was cut on the hand and on the face but we understand has made a full recovery.

KINKADE: U.S. President Barack Obama is on his way to a country eager to welcome its so-called son.

HOWELL: U.S. President is traveling to Kenya, his father's homeland where he still has family. Although he's not visited that region several times -- he's visited I should say several times before, this is his first trip there as a U.S. President. And the excitement and the anticipation of his arrival is certainly in the air.

For more on this historic visit, Robyn Kriel joins us now live from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where the president will be traveling after his first stop in NAIROBI.

Robyn, good to have you with us traveling to Ethiopia but certainly a country that has gotten a lot of the heat due to its human rights record.

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, George. Ethiopia of course is where the ruling party winning 100 hundred percent of the votes of the recent election which raised a lot of eyebrows. They also have a number of issues with press freedom, a number of journalists imprisoned. Although some of those journalists have been released are raising questions as to whether this was done just simply for the Barack Obama visit so that they can look in slightly better light because of that.

But Ethiopia as well, the well reason that we believe that President Barack Obama is visiting here is because it is the country that is the linchpin of this region that is leading really the fight against terror as it were in terms of fighting a terrorist group al-Shabab. Al-Shabab launching regular attacks into Kenya and have even had one attack that was thwarted here in Ethiopia. They tried to attack a football game and they've recently joined up with AMISOM, that's the A.U. Mission to Somalia, a mission that the United States, European Union and various other international donors donate immense amounts of money to simply to try and stem the fight against extremism in East Africa.

KINKADE: Of course before he gets to Ethiopia, we know the President is traveling to Kenya first and he has been there quite a few times before in a couple of decades ago. I did a bit of research on his own family history. Talk to us about the affection the people of Kenya have for the U.S. President.

KRIEL: Well, there was a lot of disappointment that the President wouldn't be visiting his hometown, the father -- the home of his father, Kogelo, which is in Western Kenya near the town of Kisumu. People were expecting that he might visit there, visit his grandmother.

But now it looks like he will just staying in Nairobi. Not sure if that's due to security reasons, the logistical reasons. Perhaps he just had a lot on his plate. During his visit in Nairobi, he will be entering into bilateral talks with the Kenyan government as well as attending the global economic summit. But we do believe that some members of his family will be coming for a family dinner from Kogelo. No indications yet which members of the family will be there. However, we will are all hoping to see Granny Sarah at that family dinner.

He'll be doing a lot of other things while he's in Nairobi. He'll be meeting with civil society groups. We understand he's going to touching on issues of conservation. Obviously Kenya, one of the leading countries of conservation one of the leading countries of conservation in this region, as well as touching on perhaps if the issue comes up of gay rights as well which could be quite controversial.

KINKADE: He's going to have a busy few days and no doubt so were you. Robyn Kriel in Ethiopia. Thank you very much.

HOWELL: Robyn, thank you.

U.S. Presidential Candidate Donald Trump is confident that he will get support from the Latino community even after insulting undocumented immigrants.

KINKADE: Trump tour the Mexican border on Thursday but the trip wasn't without a hiccup or two. CNN's Dana Bash reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump landing for the cameras on the plane that bears his name, using an unusually long motorcade to blaze the campaign trail to the U.S. border with Mexico. Mobs of cameras to capture a series of photo ops that is Donald Trump behind there, engineered to return the spotlight to the issue that helped make him a surprise force in the Republican Primary, border security.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am the one that brought up the problem of illegal immigration and it's a big problem. It's a huge problem.

BASH (voice-over): But how much Trump actually learned is unclear. Even before Trump arrived, his tour hit a snag. The local border patrol union that invited him uninvited him this morning for fear of it looking like an endorsement.

TRUMP: They invited me and then all of a sudden they were told silencio. They want silence. The border patrol, they're petrified of saying what's happening because they have a real problem here.

BASH (voice-over): Instead, Trump went to the border for a brief meeting with local Laredo, Texas officials, The mayor and the city manager, Jesus Olivares.

[03:25:00] TRUMP: This man, I'm going to steal him to run something for me. He's fantastic.

BASH (voice-over): But if Trump talk to Jesus about building a wall, he claims he'll get Mexico to pay for, he didn't get positive feedback.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With Mr. Trump that the way to make the border safe is to build this long wall?

JESUS OLIVARES, LAREDO, TEXAS CITY MANAGER: Well, that's a federal issue and we have our comments on that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is your comment?

OLIVARES: We do think that's necessary at this time. I think there's other ways that we can work together with the federal government.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: No, no, not at all.

BASH (voice-over): Still, Trump left doubts about whether he stands by his own promise to build a wall along the 2000 mile border.

TRUMP: I will build a great, great wall on our southern border and I will have Mexico pay for that wall.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's in favor of a wall?

TRUMP: Oh, yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Across the entire border?

TRUMP: In certain sections, you have to have a wall, absolutely.

BASH (voice-over): And he is still not backing his claim that Mexican officials sent undocumented immigrants across the border.

TRUMP: We'll be showing you the evidence.

BASH (voice-over): Dana Bash, CNN, Laredo, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Screams were heard coming from a Louisiana movie theater when a gunman opened fire on Thursday night.

HOWELL: We continue to follow the breaking news out of Lafayette, Louisiana, the shooting out of movie theater as this broadcast continues worldwide on CNN International and CNN USA.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Hello, I'm Lynda Kinkade.

HOWELL: And I'm George Howell. Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. We continue following this breaking news story out of the U.S. State of Louisiana.

[03:29:57] KINKADE: The mass shooting happened inside a movie theater where three people are dead including the gunman. Police say the gunman was a 58-year-old white male who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

HOWELL: And at this point, they believe that he acted alone and at the stage, they are not releasing many more details about this investigation. A bomb squad and a K-9 unit have been searching the suspect's car and they detonated a suspicious package. Seven moviegoers are wounded and at the hospital at this hour.

KINKADE: Well, a man who was across the hall from the movie theater when the shooting occurred spoke to CNN a short time ago.

HOWELL: And he was evacuated from the building. He saw people bleeding outside. He spoke to CNN earlier.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via telephone): The movie just began and the screen went black and the alarms went off and we exit the theater quickly out of the nearest exit.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: How many people do you think were in the theater.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via telephone): In the theater that I was in, in the showing, probably 75 people went in. But the whole parking lot was full of cars.

LEMON: When you came out, how many people did you see knowing about?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via telephone): At least 100. It was -- we exited through the back of the theater. And there was at least 100 people piling out into the back, all scrambling.

LEMON: And so there are people in the back and then also in the front parking lot. Is that correct?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via telephone): Yes, sir.

LEMON: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via telephone): Yes.

LEMON: And so -- and you did -- you know, they are saying there are multiple injuries and you did witness someone who was injured at the scene. Described that for us again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via telephone): Yes. I -- once I came around to the front of the theater where they had evacuated as to, there was a lady who was wounded in the legs laying on the sidewalk waiting on a -- the ambulance to get there.

LEMON: Was there a panic, Keifer (ph) or were people fairly orderly?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via telephone): Not really. It was kind of a calm scene on the back because nobody really knew what was going on. And then like they have one group that came running out at the back assuming they knew what happened, but none of us really knew what was happening. Yeah, the cops did a great job of keeping everybody calm and evacuating everybody. HOWELL: And that witness speaking to CNN'S Don Lemon at the moment really giving a sense of what it was like, you know, just after the shooting, after everyone ran out. He said it seemed orderly. But we heard from other people that it seemed chaotic, so.

KINKADE: A lot of confusion about what was -- what triggered the fire alarm that went off that allowed people to ran out.

HOWELL: And depending upon what you know, I mean some people knew what was happening and others didn't. They just knew to get out of that movie theater.

KINKADE: And some thought it might have been special effects from another film.

HOWELL: Yeah.

KINKADE: Hot.

Well, the Governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal spoke earlier about the shock of Thursday night's deadly shooting. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOBBY JINDAL, LOUISIANA GOVERNOR: It's both shocking and frustrating and horrifying all at the same time. You're both saddened and frustrated and angry. You read about these instances across our country. You don't think it will happen in Louisiana. You don't think it will happen in Lafayette.

I got three young kids. You know, they go to movies all the time. It's summer break. It's something we do routinely. You know, it's something you don't think twice about as a parent. You don't think when your child goes to a movie they can be in harms way. This is a regular Thursday. When this evening started, it was a regular Thursday night for a lot of families.

A lot of them were just teachers who want last movie before they go back to school as well as for a lot of families. This one last outing before school starts for them in just several days and a couple of weeks. You never think that that this could be the scene of a horrific shooting.

So I was angry and upset all the same time. It should have happened --shouldn't happen in our country anywhere. You certainly don't expect it to happen in your backyard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Turkey's air force bombed ISIS targets inside Syria today. Turkey's officials says fighter jets launched strikes on two basis and one gathering point.

HOWELL: This comes just a day after militants open fire on Turkish soldiers killing one of them. Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen is now live with us with more on what's happening. Fred, good to have you with us. First of all, just talk to us about the simple fact that we could see the United States in a position where they can use Turkey. What significance would that have?

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, it would have huge significant storage. And what's going on is so -- or what could be going on is that Turkey might be taking a much tougher stance on ISIS. Of course they had two very big security incidents in the past couple of days.

On the one hand, you mentioned that cross-border incident that happened yesterday where one Turkish soldier was killed by what Turkey says were ISIS militants. And then just a couple of days ago, of course, you had that major attack in the town of Zurich that Turkey also blames on ISIS where some 32 people were killed.

Now you have these operations going on here where you have these -- the F-16 jets go up firing at positions inside Syria. The Turks are saying that the jets themselves were apparently still inside Turkish airbase when they launched those missiles and then they flew back to Diyarbakir.

[03:34:59] But at the same time, you're absolutely right. This could also be a major inroad for the United States to make it easier for the U.S. to fight against ISIS. Apparently yesterday was a call between President Obama and the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a handshake deal was made that would allow the U.S. much better access, and much more access to Turkish airbases, including the very strategic and very important one called Incirlik which is a very large airbase there in Southern Turkey from which the U.S. could then launch air strikes inside Iraq and inside Syria as well. It's something the U.S. has been wanting to do for a very long time because it could cut the time that jets get into the area of operations by a lot as opposed to having them launch from places like inside Iraq or from aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, George.

HOWELL: And, you know, important to point out, Fred, Barbara Starr report -- Barbara Starr's report earlier said that the ink is not yet drive, you know, on this. But it is certainly a conversation and a serious conversation we had.

KINKADE: Yeah, it's definitely a move in the right direction. Well, what this made for the alliance and the group of alliance, the countries that are currently fighting ISIS under the U.S. coalition?

PLEITGEN: Well, I think it would mean a lot in many different ways. I mean on the one and as I've said, logistically, would be a lot easier for the U.S. to launch air strikes against targets with ISIS. But on the other hand, Turkey has always been a very big focal point there in the ISIS alliance.

On the one hand, there have been some countries who believe that Turkey wasn't doing enough to fight ISIS. There have been some countries that have accused Turkey of allowing militants to go between its border and to Syria, to infiltrate into Syria through its border, saying they weren't doing enough. The Kurds certainly were saying that they believe that the Turkish government wasn't doing enough.

But you have seen a lot more tough talk from the Turks in the past couple of days especially after that incident that happened there in Zurich with the of 32 people who were killed. So this could indicate Turkey really coming on board a lot more than it has before in the fight against ISIS.

One of the things also that we have to keep in mind is that there is pressure from the Turkish public on its politicians as well. There have been massive protests after that attack that took place with a lot of Turks themselves saying, "Our government needs to do more to combat this militant threat because it is getting out of control in the south of the country." So certainly is to be a pretty key for the alliance against ISIS to have this country That of course borders both Iraq and Syria to come more board to take a much tougher stance against the ISIS militants.

KINKADE: A huge development. Fred Pleitgen in London. Thank you very much for joining us.

A disturbing new report from Human Rights Watch claim South Sudanese troops carried out brutal unspeakable atrocities that amount to war crimes during a recent military campaign. The group alleges government forces attacked, killed and even raped thousands of civilians in Northern Unity State. South Sudan's Presidential Spokesman has rejected the accusations, calling them baseless.

We thought that women and children would be safe but we were very wrong. That's what 22-year-old Nyanial told Human Rights Watch. She's one of more than 100,000 people displaced in South Sudan. The latest stage of the long-running conflict began earlier this year when the government launched an offensive to retake opposition held territory in Unity State.

A new Human Rights Watch report exposes what the group says a war crime. Government-aligned forces carried out gruesome killing and widespread rapes and burned countless homes as they swept across large parts of Unity State. The report does not note that the government issued an order calling on government forces to refrain from deliberate attacks on civilians and pledged accountability for crimes committed.

Based on interviews with 174 refugees, report documents thousands of killings of civilians in Unity and the surrounding states, more than 60 cases of rape, including one survivor who spoke find his sexually assaulting a go who is just five years of age. And Human Rights Watch says whole villages were burned to the ground and livestock was stolen.

A spokesman for the president of South Sudan rejected those accusations telling Reuters the group's claims are baseless. Still, the violence and destruction has forced thousands into already overcrowded U.N. camps like this one. Many of them, women and children that the report says are bearing the brunt of this conflict. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN O'BRIEN, U.N. UNDER SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS: We must do everything we can everything we can to bring back their hope and their promise. That includes the respect for each other and living under international humanitarian law and living underneath the rule of laws so everybody can feel both protective and have the same opportunities as everybody else to be able to build their lives.

[03:40:01] So, yes, human rights abuses. They need to be understood, they need to be recorded and we need to hold people accountable wherever they arise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Polio has been eradicated in all but three countries in the world and now one of those countries is about to reach a major milestone. Nigeria will mark one year since its last confirmed case of polio, following years of heroic efforts to reach children needing that vaccine.

KINKADE: But there's still a lot of work to be done. Nigeria needs two more years without a case before being declared polio free.

Joining us now from the Lagos, Nigeria, CNN Correspondent Christian Purefoy. Christian, Nigeria was the last African nation battling a polio endemic up until a year ago. What is this mean for the country and for the region?

CHRISTIAN PUREFOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): This is an extremely important milestone not just for Nigeria or West Africa but for the world. It's been a campaign, global campaign to try and tackle polio to basically stop it, wipe it out worldwide. And this is a major milestone.

In 2012, Nigeria had some of the highest cases in the world. It was worried that it's going to start spreading from Nigeria to other countries. They have reported cases, Asia would -- yeah, so the genetic code in some of the polio cases from Nigeria.

The last reported case in Nigeria, in fact it was -- it was last year, a small boy, a young boy in a young village in Northern Nigeria, just outside of the city of Kano. It's hoped this will be the last victim of polio in Nigeria. I think this is really down to the local health workers going out everyday trying to vaccinate children in conjunction with local religious leaders as well and the government. And of course massive international aid and support from the foundations like Bill Gates Foundation.

And that really -- you know, that was one thing to say. The other worries of this is, you know, at the moment you have (inaudible) in particular in Northeast Nigeria but it's spread as far as Kano which is rally the center of Polio in Nigeria. And, you know, thousands of people have died. These health workers are risking their lives going out and doing this. So, it really is a major milestone for Nigeria to tackle that. And really left in the world now is just Afghanistan and Pakistan to try and eradicate polio worldwide, Lynda.

KINKADE: Well, let's hope that Nigeria does not say another case of polio. Christian Purefoy, thank you very much for joining us on that very important development.

HOWELL: Absolutely. You are watching CNN Newsroom.

Just ahead. So much work that even playtime is drudgery.

KINKADE: South Korea's business culture is caught into question. This is a very interesting story. Stay with us for it.

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[03:46:02] HOWELL: Welcome back. We continue to cover the breaking news, a crime scene that investigators are gathering evidence from in a Louisiana movie theater today after a gunman opened fire on a crowd of moviegoers.

KINKADE: Police said the gunman killed himself after indiscriminately shooting into the theater. They say he killed two people and wounded at least seven others. At least three of those are in a serious condition.

HOWELL: Investigators are not releasing the name of the shooter at this point and they say that they have not found a clear motive for his actions.

KINKADE: The motive of some traditional South Korean companies seems to be work long and drink hard.

HOWELL: South Koreans have some of the developed world's longest workdays that includes almost mandatory social time hours with the boss.

KINKADE: After hours it was. But as Kathy Novak reports, long hours don't necessarily mean higher productivity.

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KATHY NOVAK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Deuk-soo Lee always dreamed of his own business. He ditched the commodities trading company to open this bar. It's still hard work but with much more freedom. At his old job, it was normal to only take five days off per year.

LEE DEUK-SOO, BARTENDER: If the new guy like asked for the holiday more than like five days like, it's -- like they -- I mean the other people think like he is crazy. Yeah. He doesn't care about like their bosses.

NOVAK (voice-over): Lee and his colleagues also pulled many late nights and not always because they were busy. DEUK-SOO: Even if there is nothing to do, like they have to wait until their team leader or the vice presidents leave the office.

NOVAK (voice-over): That could go some way to explaining why this country's productivity rate remains relatively low even though South Koreans work some of the longest hours in the developed world. Excessive overtime is the most common complaint on the employment forum Jobplanet.

YOON SIN-KUN, CEO, JOBPLANET: We pulled out the most mentioned word on cons (ph) and it was later hour.

DANIEL HWANG, CEO, JOBPLANET: Yeah.

NOVAK (voice-over): Workers are airing their grievances online say the startup CEOs because they would never complain directly to their bosses.

HWANG: Some Korean company tend to have this military environment, military type of culture, where you don't -- you have to always say yes to the boss.

NOVAK (voice-over): And that goes for whatever the boss is requesting.

NOVAK (on camera): The workday may necessarily after the long hours in the office. Bosses may ask their employees to join them for dinner and drinks. Saying no isn't really an option.

NOVAK (voice-over): Even the bartender thinks it's too much.

DEUK-SOO: Like most team leaders, they have to drink about like three times or four times a week.

NOVAK (voice-over): It's such a common practice that it was depicted in a popular T.V. drama sort of like a South Korean version of "The Office" with fewer laughs. Some say the culture is slowly changing and lawmakers have been discussing what the government can do to curb the long hours because after all the odd night out with colleagues can be fun, but the morning after is never the most productive.

Kathy Novak, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: You are watching CNN Newsroom. Forget the guidebooks. We may not be able to call Earth the lonely planet anymore.

KINKADE: That's right. We've apparently got a big coven out there in space. We're going to have all the details on that just ahead. Stay with us.

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[03:50:56] RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTSCASTER: I'm Rachel Nichols with your CNN world sport headlines. Usain Bolt is considered the fastest human being ever again but a pelvic injury has slowed the Jamaican down of late making the American Justin Gatlin the favorite for this year's world title. But Bolt doesn't appear unduly worried. He spoke to CNN World Sports Amanda Davis about is health. Gatlin, whether he really will be ready for the World Championships in Beijing in August. Be sure to check out the must watch interview on T.V. and online.

The Croatia Football Federation has been duct (ph) one Euro qualifying point and it's going to have play its next home matches behind closed doors. That's the punishment that's been handed down for a swastika being imprinted on the pitch before last month's Euro 2016 qualifier against. Croatia officials describe the punishment as "the hardest in the history of the association." They can appeal but they have not yet announced any plans to do so.

And we're nearing the final days of the Tour de France and world cycling's governing body is asking fans to "respect the yellow jersey". This comes after leader Chris Froome said a fan threw a bag of urine at him. And one of his teammates said a fan actually punched him during one of the earlier stages. But punching above his weight on stage 18 was France's very own, Romain Bardet who crossed the line 33 seconds ahead of his closest competitor.

That's the look at your sports headlines. I'm Rachel Nichols.

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HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom.

NASA's Kepler spacecraft has spotted what it calls Earth's bigger, older cousin.

KINKADE: That's right. It's the first planet that's about the same size as Earth and it was found in a habitable zone of a star similar to our sun.

For more on this interstellar discovery, here is Joel Labi.

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JOEL LABI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello, Earth, this is your long-lost cousin. In the search for a world like ours, a breakthrough for stargazers from a galaxy far, far away. This is Kepler-452b, not quite a spitting image of planet Earth though. This distant relative a little larger, 60 percent bigger to be exact, and more than 1 billion years older.

But it's the distinct similarities between these planets which have NASA scientists extremely excited. It's located within the so-called habitable zone. Just like our planets, Kepler-452b sits in an area around a sun like star where water can exist on the planet surface. It's year 385 days long. Only 20 days longer than our own and NASA says there's every chance its surface is rocky. All these qualities adding up to potential recipe to brew life.

JON JENKINS, KEPLER DATA ANALYSIS LEAD, AMES RESEARCH CENTER: Further down maybe 20, 30 years, we'll be able to seek signs of life, telltale chemical signatures of life and atmospheres of these planets.

LABI (voice-over): But as for getting anywhere near this potential Earth 2.0, well, probably not in our lifetime. 452b is 1400 light years away.

[03:55:01] And while the Kepler project has discovered some 1000 planet so far, it's is also coming at a cost of $600 million. So for the time being, this discovery may very well be just like the long- lost cousin who lives that little bit too far away from everyone else.

Joel Labi, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: We're too far away for us to see it.

KINKADE: And for more on this, meteorologist Derek Van Dam is standing by. Could we possibly reach that planet one day?

VAN DAM: I don't think so, Lynda or George. I mean we're talking 1400 light years away. This is the distance that light travels in a course of a year. That's 6 trillion miles times that 1400 and that's just too far to calculate, really. I mean, come on, let's be honest here.

Now the Earth criteria that has reached is that it's the similar size to Mother Earth. It rotates around what is called a sun-like star and it's located in the sweet spot, the habitable zone where we want to be if we're -- so we take the Earth for instance, we are in that sweet spot the Goldilocks Zone as NASA would refer to it as. If we are any closer to the sun or our nearest star, it would be too hot. If we were any further away, we'd be too cold.

And that new Earth that we just found, 452b, well if you were to place an average male on the surface, it would be roughly twice the weight of what he would experience here on Earth. Pretty interesting, huh?

KINKADE: Fascinating. I love a good science report.

HOWELL: Not a good place to start a weight loss.

KINKADE: Thanks, Derek. And thanks for watching CNN. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

HOWELL: And I'm George Howell. Thanks for being with us.

Early Start is coming up. Viewers in the United States and for viewers around the world, CNN Newsroom continues.