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Numerous Pieces of Debris Identified as Being from MH370; Congress and Iran Deal; Gunfire in Ferguson During Police Chief Interview; Trump Makes No Apologies for Megyn Kelly Comments; U.N. Describes Immigrant Crisis in Europe as Civil Emergency; Singapore Marks 50 Years of Independence. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired August 09, 2015 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:16] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN HOST: We are monitoring the situation in Ferguson, Missouri. Shots ring out at a protest marking one year anniversary of the police killing that sparked a nationwide conversation on race.

ZAIN ASHER, CNNI HOST: And growing pressure U.S. fighter jets arrive in Turkey as part of the new phase of the war against ISIS.

HOWELL: And doubling down, Donald Trump refusing to apologize after controversial comments aimed at a female journalist. We will look into that.

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

HOWELL: And I'm George Howell. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

Good day to you and we begin this hour in Ferguson, Missouri, one year after the Michael Brown shooting and police are back on the streets in that city as are hundreds of protesters. I want to show you these live images, rather, this is new video that came in where you can actually hear shots being fired just moments ago as a reporter was conducting an interview. Listen to this sound here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're trying to work with the community. We're explaining to them their rights and we just want to be as patient as possible --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Message to those who are looting?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gunfire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: You can actually hear shots ring out as an affiliate reporter was conducting an interview with the new chief of police there in Ferguson. And within the last hour, the St. Louis county police department actually saying police are attempting to uphold peace and they really want to prevent further businesses from damage. They also tweeted that several objects during this time have actually been thrown at police officers.

HOWELL: Our teams are on the ground there. Let's go directly to Sara Sidner live in Ferguson, Missouri. Sara joins us now by phone while we see these images.

Sara, if you could tell us, I understand that you actually witnessed that shooting that we just heard in video.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): Yes. That was my video, actually. I was standing with my affiliate taking video of the chief talking, the new interim chief who we just interviewed this week talking about how they want this to be peaceful and they are trying to be respectful and making sure that the police are doing their job. But they did want to clear the street. And as he was talking and he starts talking about things being more calm and peaceful, shots ring about a few hundred yards from where the chief and many officers and protesters were standing bound west Florescent. And so, what you hear a burst of gunfire over and over and over again. Several shots fired.

Just after that, we all took cover. The police were there as well. And behind us there was another blast of gunfire. So two separate incidents that I was here and witnessed happening as people were crouched down behind cars and everyone in the street started running and police were told to get out of the middle of the street because they were in a very bad spot with no cover. They got behind their cars.

At this point we do not have official confirmation whether or not someone has been shot. But I can tell you as I walked up to the scene where people were running, a police officer turned to me, and I said what happened. Is there someone has been shot back up. So that is an officer, not as official word, but that was an officer who was on the scene saying that someone had gotten shot.

So we are trying to figure out if there are one or two or more people who ended up getting shot tonight. But there were definitely two distinct and different shooting scenes here. And we're trying to ascertain right now what you are seeing, police standing in a line and people standing on the sidewalk.

There were a few dozen protesters here, maybe 50, you know, or a little bit less. Not a huge, huge crowd. Most of the crowd was at concert tonight, but it's that crowd stood in front of police and down the street away from the crowd, where other people are gathered, the shooting -- the initial shooting happened.

HOWELL: Sara, I want to ask you, I mean, all the things you are describing remind me. And we are talk about the anniversary, the one- year anniversary of the Michael Brown shooting. I'm reminded of being there just hours after the shooting myself. And you know, you hear the gunfire and you basically run for cover.

I mean, I want to know the mood right now, is it similar to as it was last year? Are there more police out there than there are protesters are do you get the sense that the scene that we're seeing from the images that it's growing?

SIDNER: No. At first there were more protesters than police and then there were equal numbers. More police coming with the help of St. Louis County who is out here at Ferguson, also out here. And the Missouri highway patrol is out here assisting just like back a year ago.

But is it a different scene. I have to tell you. I've been here for a week now. I stayed here for many months during the most tense times. It doesn't feel the same in the sense that there aren't as many people that are gathered and galvanized. But there is still a lot of tension here and there are still a lot of people saying change has not happened fast enough although there has been change in the city.

There has been visible change at the top in city government. New interim police chief is African-American, the first time ever that this department has had an African-American chief although, he is interim. A new city manager who is the person that can hire the chief and make some of the decisions that were upsetting the community about ticketing. That person is new and interim. The city manager who is African-American and you have two new people on the city council voted in after the Michael Brown incident, voted in this year and they are both African-American.

So you are seeing the city government reflect more of the population which is about 67 percent African-American. But at this point in time there are plenty of people here who say these are superficial changes. These are not changes that really make a difference on the ground. We will have to find out who it is that is responsible for the shooting. At this point we just don't know but we certainly heard many, many shots ring out tonight.

[01:06:18] HOWELL: Sara, also want to ask you we have seen some unconfirmed reports at this point of looting. Have you seen anything to that effect?

SIDNER: The simple answer is yes. We saw the aftermath, we saw glass on the ground. We saw people running. But I did not, myself, see someone going into a store and stealing anything although people in the crowd were saying that is what was going on. But we definitely saw damage to at least one business, maybe two, with glass that was spread all over the ground and boards being put up again.

HOWELL: Sara, I want to read information that just crossed CNN news gathering that says the Ferguson - rather, the St. Louis County police department was involved in an offer-involved shooting in Ferguson after officers came under heavy gunfire. According to St. Louis county PIO, officials are working to get details on this incident. Just so you're aware and I'm sure that crossed as well.

SIDNER: Yes. The crowds have been talking about that and sometimes we get information that isn't official. And so, that is what everyone was talking about. This is an officer involved shooting one of them. I don't know what the second one was. There were from our view no officers in our area when we heard the gunshots going off. So we don't know if that initial gunfire started in an officer responded. We don't know if that's what the second shooting was all about. We do know there were two separate shooting incidents so we are trying to (INAUDIBLE). But it's good to know that the rumors that were swirling we have concrete information that it was one of the shootings, officer involved shooting. We don't know what prompted that I know that we heard two distinct different scenes where you could hear shooting right behind us and then shooting many, many hundred yards in front of us as well.

HOWELL: CNN's Sara Sidner on the ground in Ferguson, Missouri.

Sara, please standby with us as we will continue to touch base with you throughout the night.

But again, these images of crowds on the streets in Ferguson, Missouri one year after the officer-involved shooting of Michael Brown.

ASHER: And of course, you know, the interesting thing, I guess the irony is that, you know, there was an interview with the chief of police there with an affiliate and the chief of police was talking about how things were more calm, more peaceful. I though Sara Sidner was saying. And at that moment -- there he is -- at that moment you hear shots ring out in the background.

Also, worth noting that people have been out there since at least 12:02 local time this afternoon to mark the anniversary of Michael Brown's death. There was a four-and-a-half minutes of silence. And that really mark the amount of time, the exact amount of time Michael Brown's body lay in the street. And it was clam throughout all over the afternoon. And then things sort of begun to change as we headed into the evening. Obviously, we just got word there that officer involved shooting. And PIO saying that officers were involved. There was heavy gunfire aimed at the officers. Obviously, we will continue to watch that and see what happens with that. But remarkable turn for just one day.

HOWELL: And, you know, one thing that is interesting and to put this in perspective just to keep it in context, keep in mind that during the day there were many peaceful protests today. Michael Brown's father returned to the scene where his son was shot and killed. You are seeing there, the memorial in the middle of the street there in that neighborhood where Michael Brown was shot and killed. And his basic message was just to come and say, hey, my son was a good kid. What happened here shouldn't have happened to him.

So it's important to point out there were peaceful protests during the day. But what we're seeing right now is very reminiscent to again what I remembered seeing just a year ago.

[01:10:00] ASHER: And you were on the ground. You were there reporting.

HOWELL: It was a tense situation. It was raw. As Sara said, you know, people come out and you wonder whether the crowd or whether it will disperse. But right now, it seems that there were shots fired at some point and police officers on the ground. We will continue to monitor the situation in Ferguson, Missouri and bring you any updates.

ASHER: A lot of people, they are saying that change has not happened fast enough and that the change, they are saying that the change has been superficial.

HOWELL: We'll continue to monitor that situation there.

Now we move on to the Middle East and the fight against ISIS. The United States has sent half a dozen f-16 fighter jets to Turkey where they will be used in the air campaign against that terror group. The fighter jets left Italy on Sunday and are now at a base there in Turkey. Turkey agreed to let the U.S. use its facilities and air space last month when that country officially entered the war against ISIS.

ASHER: Now, Turkish air base is not far from the country's border with Syria which could prove to be a huge advantage when targeting ISIS from the air. It allows them to target ISIS and send the air strikes quicker than they would otherwise be able to.

HOWELL: It is a big deal for you as coalition forces. But the situation on the ground remains grim. The U.S. can't account for a small number of Syrian rebels that it trained and deployed and ISIS has overrun another Syrian city.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: U.S. military action over the skies of Syria is about to ramp up, but will it be enough?

U.S. air strikes against ISIS in Syria could be launched from this Turkish air base within days, according to U.S. officials. This section of the border, U.S. intelligence calculates new ISIS fighters are still entering Syria as fast as the U.S. can kill them. On the ground, U.S. strategy rests on the shoulders of just 54 U.S.-trained moderate Syrian rebels.

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: What we're trying to do is protect this very small force as it's on the very early stages of building combat power.

STARR: The official pentagon word, the group is eager to fight and supported a recent Al-Qaeda attack. The reality? Up to half are missing. They may have deserted early on and fled after the attack last week or been captured. One defense official admitting to CNN, quote, "they are no longer a coherent military unit."

SETH JONES, RAND CORPORATIONS: They are not accompanied by U.S. forces in the field which means they're going to get limited training, no equipment. But the vast majority of successful U.S. train advice assist missions require embedded forces in the field.

STARR: Privately Pentagon officials say something has to change and how the U.S. aides the rebels.

JONES: This breaks basically every train, advice, and assist rule that special operations forces have learned.

STARR: And ISIS still grabbing territory. Activists say in this western Syrian town more than 200 people have been abducted. Up to 500 unaccounted for. CNN cannot independently verify those claims.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Today actually works the one year anniversary of the (INAUDIBLE) of airstrikes Iraq against ISIL targets.

STARR: There have been gains. But Iraqi forces still trying desperately to retake lost grounds.

Here in Bashi (ph), where there is a critical oil refinery, U.S. officials privately acknowledge ISIS is now massing forces, gearing up for a new counterattack.

One year after the U.S. bombing campaign against ISIS began, still, the same question, what will it take to roll back the momentum that is still has?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: That was our Barbara Starr reporting there. And a lot of people do not believe especially in Syria that these airstrikes will actually make a difference in the overall fight. The question is I guess how effective are they?

HOWELL: Our Fred Pleitgen travelled to Damascus to see how people are coping with that war in the capital city.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As America ramps up its air campaign against ISIS with additional jets taking off from a Turkish air base in Incirlik (ph), many people that we speak to here that government controlled part of Damascus, first of all, believe that these airstrikes will make very little difference and many also feel that America's actions in Syria are aimed against the Assad government.

America helps the terrorists, this man says. They're hiding behind them. America wants to change things but doesn't do it openly.

Air strikes are not enough, this man adds. Whenever the U.S. hits ISIS, they just go underground.

What you would find here when we came in the past to Damascus is that people were very optimistic that the civil war would be over very soon. And when you speak to them today there are lot more cautious, many of them still could not fathom that groups like ISIS could not make it here to Damascus. But many we spoke to believe that the conflict will go on for a very long time. Everything is possible in this country nowadays this woman says, you

can't say that something will definitely be avoided but we hope we can continue to stop ISIS.

When you go through the streets of Damascus you could tell that people are trying to keep an air of normalcy. The cafes are full, people are out. But you can also feel that people here know exactly what is going on the battlefield. They keep track of things. They keep up to date. And many of them say they hope that there will be some sort of negotiated solution to this conflict.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Damascus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:15:55] ASHER: I want to go now to Reunion Island where France is intensifying the search for debris for Malaysia airlines flight 370. Malaysia officials announcing they found a number of items that appear to be from the missing jet.

For more context, I want to go now to our Anna Coren who is live for us there in Hong Kong.

So Anna, what specifically, what items have they specifically looking at? Which items have washed up on shore? And they can't really be sure at this point that it is from MH370.

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, not Zain. Malaysian officials are saying it's their teams on the ground at Reunion Island that have discovered part of a window and also part of seating cushion that they believe may be linked to MH370. However, I think it's important to stress that French authorities have not confirmed this. So there seems to be some discrepancy about what has happened to these items, as to whether they've been sent on.

Apparently they've not yet been sent to France which, of course, is where that flaperon, that wing part as well part of a suitcase are being analyzed at separate labs the flaperon in Toulouse and the suitcase in Paris. But from what we understand, they have not yet being sent. But Malaysian officials want these debris analyzed while the search continues around Reunion Island. We know that French military planes are involved, helicopters as well as a land search. If course, Reunion Island is part of France. It is a French territory.

The search, however, has also been expanded to Madagascar to (INAUDIBLE) which nearby Reunion Island as well as the South African coast line. So really, all authorities in that region are on high alert for any debris that may be linked to MH370. But at this stage, Zain, really the only item that has been confirmed as part of MH370 is that flaperon, that wing part and that confirmation, of course, coming from the Malaysians.

ASHER: So in terms of these new items, though, the French authorities certainly want to be more cautious and that is understandable given what we saw a year ago. But you mentioned the window and seat cushion, they washed up on Reunion Island as well.

So walk as through how those pieces of evidence will be tested? How will authorities go about trying to confirm at least the base those items could be part of MH370?

COREN: Yes, a really interesting question. And Zain, I think, you know, there is a lot of debris that has been washed up and found. Authorities saying a pair of flip-flops have been found. They don't know if it is part of luggage that was on board the plane. But certainly there is a lot of debris that was washed up on to the shore that may or may not be part of this missing plane.

So obviously, that debris, which they will then determine, you know, whether it has possible links will then be sent on to France where analysis will continue. And obviously they have their methods as to how they come about those decisions as to whether it is actually part of MH370, part of the -- what the passengers were carrying, what the passengers were wearing. So, really, this is a very detailed process, a very long process but we know that analysis is certainly continuing of the flaperon as well as of the suitcase at the moment.

ASHER: And of course, those families, certainly understandably very desperate to find answers. But interestingly, the search now continuing, expanding to South Africa, Madagascar and Mauritius (ph).

OK. The search continues. Anna Coren live for us there in Hong Kong. We appreciate that. Thank you.

HOWELL: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.

A large group of U.S. lawmakers visit Israel. Ahead, their trip and the message they're getting from the Israeli prime minister.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:24:00] HOWELL: Welcome back. Now we look at the Iran nuclear deal and this very intense debate here in the United States over its future.

ASHER: Yes, the clock is really ticking. The U.S. Congress has five weeks left, just five weeks left to decide whether or not to approve the agreement.

In the meantime, U.S. President Barack Obama, he is really trying to get everyone on his side, really trying to rally support for the deal and earlier he sat down with CNN's Fareed Zakaria. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because people haven't been getting all the information. Is it a complicated piece of business and we are negotiating with a regime that chants "death to America" and doesn't have a high approval rating here in the United States. But the people who know most about the central challenge that we're trying to deal with, which is making sure that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon, they are overwhelmingly in favor of it. You know, experts in nuclear proliferation, nuclear scientists, former ambassadors, Democrat and Republican. And as a consequence one of my main tasks over the last several weeks and this will continue in to September is to make sure people know and understand that this is a diplomatic breakthrough that ensures that we are cutting off all the pathways by which Iran might get a nuclear weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:25:31] HOWELL: So in that worldwide exclusive with Fareed Zakaria, you hear the president pushing hard for this deal. But in the meantime, 36 Republican lawmakers are set to arrive in Israel later today and they will join 22 Democratic members of Congress already there.

ASHER: And those 22 Democrats that you mentioned, they met with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who, of course, tried to convince them and persuade them against voting for the Iran nuclear deal.

Here's our Oren Liebermann with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The delegation of Democrats is an opportunity for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push against, to lobby against the Iran deal which he has done from day one. He lobbied against the framework deal, the final deal and now he is pushing against Congress trying to get as many people, as many Democrats at this point in Congress to vote against the deal.

He has these 22 Democrats here. He met with them and they certainly discussed the Iran deal. The question, did he manage to sway any of those votes? If he did, and some of those are considered swing votes, that would have to be viewed as success for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he has lobbied against this deal in a very public and open debate throughout the media with President Barack Obama who is, of course, lobby for the Iran deal.

It will come down to how many, if any, of those votes he managed to sway towards him at this critical phase with only five weeks to go until that mid-September vote on the Iran deal in congress. But if they say anything, it could give us insight into whether Prime Minister Netanyahu succeeded in swaying any of those votes in convincing any Democrats, any of those 22 in that delegation to vote against the run deal and that could be very interesting.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: The final hearing in Iran's secretive trial against journalist Jason Rezaian, he is set to take place today. "The Washington Post" reporter has been in Iranian custody for more than a year accused of espionage. You can see him here with our own Anthony Bourdain. But authorities in Iran have not provided any proof of the charges. "The Washington Post" has categorically denied those accusations against him.

ASHER: We turn now to weather. At least 96 people in Myanmar are now dead after flooding from last week's cyclone. A state-run newspaper there also says that the flooding destroyed almost 11,000 homes and displaced more than 85,000 people. Those people not have no home to go to. The world food program says it is working with Myanmar's government to help the disaster victims and the U.S. secretary of state has pledged $600,000 for relief efforts.

HOWELL: China and Taiwan are coping with the aftermath of typhoon Soudelor. China state TV reports 14 storm-related deaths, four people also missing there. The typhoon weakened on Saturday as it moved inland but it is still causing severe flooding.

ASHER: That's right. And before Soudelor hit China it actually made incredible - it actually made landfall in Taiwan as one of the strongest storms to hit anywhere in the world so far.

What you are looking at is amateur video and that is actually showing a twister an apparent twister caused by Soudelor. You see objects floating up and around in the air. The storm killed at least seven people in Taiwan.

We're going to take a quick break on CNN. When we come back he's not backing down or apologizing. Coming up, we'll tell you why U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is defending his comments about a television host.

HOWELL: More live coverage as this broadcast continues worldwide on CNN international and CNN USA.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:32:31] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Good to have you with us. I'm George Howell.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Zain Asher. We want to update you on our top story.

We have breaking news out of Ferguson, Missouri. The St. Louis Police Department reported an officer-involved shooting after officers came under heavy gunfire tonight. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDRE ANDERSON, CHIEF, FERGUSON POLICE DEPARTMENT: -- explaining to them their rights and we just want to be as patient as possible.

(GUNFIRE)

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: So an affiliate was doing an interview with the chief of police there in Ferguson, Missouri, and you heard the commotion and the gunshots there. Police are telling us no officers were injured but there was an officer-involved shooting and the officers came under heavy gunfire.

HOWELL: We want to show you images just coming into the CNN NEWSROOM, images of damage coming into the NEWSROOM from several cars that were hit by bullets from tonight's shooting. We have teams on the ground there and will continue to monitor the situation here on CNN. Stay with us for that.

Now let's turn to the race for the U.S. president. Donald Trump is doubling down.

ASHER: Do we have a day we're not talking about Donald Trump? What's new?

(LAUGHTER)

HOWELL: He has no apologies over what some believe was a sexist comment made to Megyn Kelly.

ASHER: Right. A very strange comment, either way. Kelly was a moderator at last week's Republican debate. Trump complained about the way that Kelly was asking questions and spoke to him especially when she spoke to him about his treatment of women. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: She gets out and asks me all sorts of ridiculous questions and you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her, wherever, but she was -- in my opinion, she was off base.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Critics thought that Trump was suggesting that Kelly was tough on him because she was hormonal. Trump insists that his critics are misinterpreting him.

Kelly says she was just doing her job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[01:35:00] MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I'm a big girl. I can take it. As I say, I understand why people get upset because the stakes are very high here. We're talking about the Oval Office. And they really like the candidate they like. And they don't want to see the candidate take any hits. You know, that is the way you feel and get to feel if you are just a voter as opposed to the journalist. We're not allowed to feel like that or allowed to take those considerations into mind when we craft these debate questions. We have to hit them as hard as we can so the voters can figure out who's our guy. Right? The Republicans are trying to figure out who is our guy or gal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: She explains it well. We're here to ask the tough questions.

ASHER: She says I understand why people are upset, the stakes are very high. But she says, I can take it, I'm a big girl, and strong.

But the Republicans are condemning the flap. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush blasted him saying that what Trump said is wrong and he should apologize.

HOWELL: On Sunday, when Trump spoke to CNN's Jake Tapper, he was quick to point out one of Bush's gaffes last week when Bush talked about cutting women's health funding. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP (voice-over): I think it's amazing because, three days ago, he was talking so negatively about women's health issues and I thought it was disgraceful, frankly, and I think that will haunt him and be the same as Romney's 47 percent, which possibly cost him the election. Jeb was negative on women's health. When you are negative on women's health, you can forget about it. I cherish women and want to help women. I'm going to do things for women that no other candidate will be able to do. And it's very important to me.

It's sort of interesting. He went back and apologized the following day and said he misspoke. He really did. Now he is telling me or telling you about what was said. Let me ask you, what was said. She was very angry because I bested her with a question that was an unfair question. She was very angry. When I was speaking about it on a CNN show, by the way, which was interesting, but I was speaking about her, I said blood was pouring out of her eyes, which is a very common statement, and I said the same thing about Chris Wallace.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, THE LEAD: That's right. You did.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: But I said the very same thing about Chris Wallace --

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: And then you said -- you said there was blood coming out of her wherever.

TRUMP: I said -- no, and blood was pouring from wherever because I wanted to finish the sentence. I wanted to get off of the whole thing and get back on the subject or jobs or whatever we were talking about right after that. I didn't say anything because I didn't finish the thought. I was going to say nose and/or ears. It is a common statement. She had great anger when she was questioning me, especially since I mentioned the Rosie O'Donnell statement, which was, by far, the loudest applause of the entire day of all of the speakers.

TAPPER: Mr. Trump, let me ask you --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: She became angry. I said nothing wrong whatsoever.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: And only -- by the way, Jake, let me tell you this, only a deviant would say that what I said was what they were referring to. No one can make that statement. You have to be sick to put that together.

TAPPER: Among that list of deviants is Erick Erickson, Jeb Bush --

TRUMP: Take a look at his past. First of all, he's a loser.

TAPPER: -- Lindsey Graham, Carly Fiorina.

TRUMP: Carly Fiorina, I mean, come on, give me a break.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: Why do you think so many of your fellow colleagues and candidates and conservative commentators don't want to believe your explanation?

TRUMP: Because they want to be politically correct and get points. I'm leading in the polls by a fortune, by a tremendous margin. They -- you think they would have had 24 million people watching that show if I wasn't on? If I wasn't on that show in all fairness you would have had two million people, not 24 million people. Ask any expert about it. But 24 million people was not there to watch Carly Fiorina or Jeb Bush or Lindsey Graham, who, by the way, has zero in the poll.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: Let me ask you a question --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: He has been my biggest critic and he has zero in the poll. And by the way, came to me asking for campaign contributions and everything else. Perry, of Texas, he started to attack me viciously and went down in the polls, Jake. This is one of the things I have to put up with.

TAPPER: Let me ask you a question, sir. I understand you're saying you did not mean to suggest that Megyn Kelly was having her period?

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Who would say that? I went to the Wharton School of Finance. I'm a smart person and built a tremendous company. I had a show called "The Apprentice" that NBC desperately wanted me to --

(CROSSTALK)

[01:40:02] TAPPER: Yeah, I'm familiar with your work, sir.

TRUMP: OK. I do all this stuff. Who would make a statement like that? Only a sick person would think about it.

TAPPER: Why do you think there are so many people jumping on you stating that is what you were saying? So many --

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: And all due respect, sir, we're not talking about the omen's studies department, we're talking about the conservatives and the Concerned Women for America issuing a statement saying, quote, "Every presidential election since 1964 have been carried by women. Women don't like mean and we certainly don't vote for men or women we don't trust." A lot of conservatives really upset --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Jake, you're asking me why are these people saying this, right?

TAPPER: Yeah. Yeah.

TRUMP: And most of the ones I have seen are opposing candidates. Here's a stupid question, Jake, in all due respect. If they are running against me and some, like Carly, are low in the polls -- I hope she goes up. I'd like to see her go up actually, but she's low in the polls -- Lindsey Graham, all these people who came out, they are running against me, Jake. They're running against me. I would say it, too, if I was at 1 percent or 2 percent or zero percent. I would say it against me, because -- I don't know if you just saw -- but North Carolina, South Carolina just came out, massive leads. In Nevada, New Hampshire, I'm winning big in New Hampshire and Iowa, winning big. There are incredible people. Winning big in Iowa. Winning big all over the place. Georgia just came out. And the national polls, I'm winning by double digits.

TAPPER: This is what is interesting --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: And then you ask -- then you ask why are these people --

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: I didn't mean your opponents. I meant conservative activists, people like Erick Erickson, the Concerned --

TRUMP: They are for other people. Erick Erickson, I hear, he has a spotty record. Have you seen what he said about women and other things over the years? I've seen things that he said where he was admonished. He is a loser. He backed so many candidates that have lost. And I didn't want to do his event in the first place. Somebody said, oh -- you know what, it was even a small event. And tell me, what happened at his event when I didn't show up? Do you know the unrest and you know how devastated people were when I didn't go there?

TAPPER: I wasn't there.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: I'm sure there were people that were upset about it. You have a lot of fans. This is what's interesting about your campaign. Every time you make these comments or you make comments that a lot of pundits or Republican candidates say are going to end your campaign, whether it's comments about Mexico sending in illegal immigrants or your comments about John McCain's war record, every time you do that, pundits say, oh, he's gone, and you go up in the polls. I'm wondering if you think, though, that going after Megyn Kelly, who is beloved by conservatives and Republican voters, I wonder if this will hurt you.

TRUMP: I have nothing against Megyn Kelly. I think her question was extremely unfair to me. Her whole questioning was unfair to me. When you say beloved, on social media, I'm the one that's beloved, because if you look at social media and what's happening, they are really coming out strongly in favor of Donald Trump. They agree. And this whole thing with the political correctness in this country is out of control.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: That was Donald Trump in his own words, back peddling about his comments about Megyn Kelly but not apologizing and obviously never hesitant to say what he thinks about his competitors.

(CROSSTALK)

HOWELL: We're going to take a quick break here on CNN. And when we come back, we ride along with a lorry driver dealing with some harsh realities. That story in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:46:58] ASHER: Welcome back, everyone. A sailboat carrying 300 migrants arrived in Greece on Sunday after crossing part of the sea from Turkey. Hours earlier, five more boats carrying 300 other refugees arrived on the island of Cos.

HOWELL: The U.N. Refugee Agency calls the migrant situation on the Mediterranean islands total chaos. It says about 124,000 migrants have arrived by sea so far this year.

ASHER: It's important to think about the human aspect to the migrant crisis. Obviously, these people are searching for a better life in the U.K. And the final obstacle is the English Channel, but that barrier can be virtually impossible to cross.

HOWELL: And many desperate migrants are living in a camp on the French side of the channel. One camp, called the Jungle, houses about 3,000 migrants. The U.N. describes the situation there as, quote, "a civil emergency."

CNN got a first hand account from a lorry driver. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TED MORGAN, LORRY DRIVER: The last 10 to 15 years with this immigration problem has become dangerous. When you finish loading your vehicle, you must put the TIR cord around, which prevents immigrants breaking entry into the vehicle. When you get to the back, you must have a seal on this cord. If I arrive in the U.K. and there are immigrants in there, that relieves me of 2,000 pounds per person.

I've seen guys in front of me have immigrants run across the road and dive under the trailer. They hide behind these hedgerows. They jump out straight on your trailer. When you are driving, I've had a brick thrown at the wind screen and hit the top left-hand side of the cab. And that's what we're up against here.

When you see them cut the side of a trailer open, if they have a knife it's possible that they are going to use it if you try to detain them.

I've had my backdoors opened when driving around a corner. I stopped just for a few seconds, turned right, and I could see my mirrors were full of them. They were chasing me. One got the door open, jumped up in and obviously one of his friends closed it. To jump up in whilst you are on the move, that's desperate. Very.

We're just coming down toward where we're going to go through all the security checks. The checks have got very, very stringent. They now check every curtain-sided vehicle. We will go through a CO-2 check to detect if anyone is in the trailer. Hopefully, there's not. The trailer will be checked for any signs of damage. If they see the damage, they will look in the trailer.

The dogs generally are the ones that pick up if there is anything about. They have found more than any of these x-ray machines have found.

Once you get the green light to go, you move from there and you drop down to drive onto the train itself. And I think that's where they have been starting to get in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:50:12] ASHER: We understand the migrant situation, that migrant crisis, I should say, has been dangerous for the migrants themselves who are looking for a better life and the lorry drivers driving through the Chunnel. That situation clearly untenable.

HOWELL: Important story to tell.

It is a sea of red and white in Singapore. The nation marked 50 years of independence. We'll show you more on the milestone celebrations there as CNN NEWSROOM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: Welcome back, everyone. A grand celebration in Singapore. 50 years since the city-state gained its independence from Malaysia. Nearly three-hour-long parade filled with performances helped mark the milestone on Sunday. HOWELL: It was a grand event. In half a century, the former British

colony transformed itself into an economic success story.

Our David Molko was there for it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[01:55:00] DAVID MOLKO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a country never meant to be, a tiny city-state with no natural resources, but Singapore has proven in the last 50 years that it is a clean, green, economic power house. Tens of thousands of people have turned out to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their country's independence.

Critics say it comes as cost especially in terms of civil rights and freedoms. But Singaporeans who have turned out today say they are here not only to celebrate five decades of history but also to turn an eye to their future.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE; I think it's amazing how Singapore has come in 50 years and that's really why it's such a momentous occasion for us here.

(CHEERING)

MOLKO: Across the island, patriotic branding is in full overdrive, especially here at Marina Drive, where they have a front-row seat to all the festivities. You can't go anywhere without seeing a sea of red and white.

(CHEERING)

MOLKO: This long weekend of concerts, carnivals and performances culminates with the national day parade and show, a celebration of history, a show military might and a tribute to founding father, Lee Kwan Yoo (ph), who passed away earlier this year.

Like any country, Singapore has challenges including reinvigorating its economy and finding space to grow, but the fact the city-state has come this far, against the odds, Singaporeans say, is in and of itself, worth celebrating.

David Molko, CNN, Singapore.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: David Molko looks like he is having a good time.

(LAUGHTER)

ASHER: He does.

Thank you so much for watching, everyone. I'm Zain Asher.

HOWELL: I'm George Howell. More news after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)