Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Deadly Chemical Fire, Explosions in China; Presidential Long Shots Gaining Popularity; Army Chief of Staff Disagrees with Trump on ISIS Strategy; Syria Says Turkey Help to U.S. Not about Fighting ISIS; China Allows Currency to Fall for 3rd Day; ISIS Video Shows Alleged Beheading of Croatian Hostage; EPA Claims Responsibility for Spill in Animas River; Cuba Celebrates Prior to U.S. Embassy Opening; Corporations Help Stamp Out Slave Labor; Kenya Celebrates World Elephant Day; Mass Grave Found Under London Street. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired August 12, 2015 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:00:24] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Explosions rock a Chinese port city. Dozens are dead, hundreds are injuries. CNN is there.
Plus, shaking up the race for the White House. How Trump and Sanders are defying the political narrative.
And later, a mass grave discovered during a London rail project. Find out where these bodies may have come from.
Hello. I'm Rosemary Church. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
And we begin with a deadly bombing in the Iraqi capital. We have just gotten these new pictures into CNN. The ministry of interior says a truck packed with explosives blew up in a crowded market in Baghdad's Sadr City district. At least 36 people were killed, 75 others wounded. Sadr City is a Shiite area. There's been no immediately claim of responsibility but the Sunni militants of ISIS have claimed similar attacks in the past. We will continue to follow that story and bring you the details as they come into us.
But it is 2:00 in the afternoon in Tianjin, China, where firefighters have suspended an effort to put out a massive fire in the city's warehouse district.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(EXPLOSION)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Unbelievable images there. And this is just one of several explosions that happened overnight in the port city. At least 44 people are dead, including nine firefighters. More than 500 are injured. Authorities say they pulled back from the fire because they don't know enough about what chemicals they're dealing with here. Aerial video from a short time ago shows the black smoke still billowing from that site. Many people say they thought it was an earthquake.
CNN spoke with one witness about 30 minutes ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VAFA ANDERSON, TIANJIN RESIDENT: I'm one to two kilometers away from the blast site. We woke up to the first blast and went to check out what is happening at the window and saw a huge exPLOsion. We have line of sight from where it happened. It is only a few buildings in the way, and the shock wave just blew through our apartment. It blew out the glass and the doors. It just knocked everything over. We -- it knocked out the power. It has really damaged a lot of the building in my complex that were facing that side and other complexes that were facing the other direction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Tianjin is one of the most populous cities in China, home to 10 million people. It's just to the southeast of Beijing.
Will Ripley is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When you look around at the devastation here, it's really remarkable. One, just all of the damage that was done to this convention center building, the windows smashed in, the doors smashed in. Take a look at this car. It clearly caught fire. The windows smashed. It's crumpled to bits.
And we are standing two kilometers from the blast site. We're not even close to the epicenter. That gives you a sense of just how strong this was and how scary this was for the 15 million people who live here in Tianjin.
A lot of the people we visited earlier, many of the windows are smashed. There are shards of glass piled up on the ground. People didn't have time to put on their shoes. They were barefoot going through this. And hundreds of people are in the hospital with cuts because of all the broken glass.
There are helicopters in the air flying overhead and looking at that gigantic smoke plume, which you can make out through the haze in the distance. The fires are still burning since the first chemical fire and the first exPLOsion and the second exPLOsion and so on. The air has a thick chemical smell and we feel it a bit in our throats. We wonder what we are breathing in right now. Even though most of the people are not wearing masks, either they don't have time to grab any or they don't have any. The police and medical personnel have masks. That's about it.
[02:05:17] At the hospital earlier, it was an emotional and sad scene. We have security telling us to move out of the way. That was an issue we ran into earlier. Security and onlookers were not happy we are filming and we were told to stop. I was knocked off the air and surrounded by an angry mob.
These are people who have gone through so much. They haven't slept. They have loved ones sick in the hospital. One man had a loved one who died. And emotions are high right now. The grief is high. And people are trying to process all of this and what happened and why. Why was this huge city rocked by these explosions overnight? It is the question that investigators will look into as they assess the damage, and treat the sick and emotionally scarred, and figure out what happened and prevent it from happening again.
Will Ripley, CNN, Tianjin, China.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: We'll follow that story, too.
But sad news to report now. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter says he has cancer and it has spread to several parts of his body. Carter says a liver surgery revealed the disease. The 90-year-old says he is now rearranging his public schedule so he can undergo treatment here in Atlanta. The local newspaper published this cartoon in honor of Mr. Carter, who was governor of the U.S. State of Georgia before being elected president in 1976.
Turning now to U.S. politics, and Donald Trump's brash and controversial style is not hurting him among Republicans in Iowa. The latest CNN/ORC poll shows Trump leading by eight pounds. Ben Carson is in second place. While former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has fallen to seventh place. No big surprises for the Democrats. Hillary Clinton has a strong lead in Iowa with 50 percent support. Bernie Sanders trails her but he is drawing large, enthusiastic crowds at campaign events. And Vice President Joe Biden isn't a candidate but still comes in third place at 12 percent.
Now these polls are just a snapshot of the 2016 race. But they show that candidates once considered long shots are gaining popularity on more established contenders.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny takes a look at the spoilers and how they could effect who wins the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(CHEERING)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Soaring summer for Bernie Sanders. He's front-page news today, vaulting over Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire.
(CHEERING)
ZELENY: His populist cry is catching on.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I), VERMONT & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have a message to the billionaire class, and that message is you can't have it all.
ZELENY: And his candidacy is taking off.
(CHEERING)
ZELENY: For the first time, a new Franklin Pierce University poll shows him with a seven point edge over Clinton. All this, as Clinton faces questions about the private e-mail server she used as secretary of state. She agreed to surrender it to the Justice Department.
(SHOUTING)
ZELENY: It has given Sanders an opening to be a potential spoiler of the 2016 campaign.
And he's not alone.
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: -- President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.
ZELENY: Republicans have one of their own. In Iowa, Donald Trump is leading the pack, our new CNN poll shows, with Ben Carson in second place. These spoilers are upending the race, sending establishment stars like Clinton and Jeb Bush to the back burner right now.
TRUMP: Jeb and Hillary, on the same day, they said Donald Trump has too strong a tone. The world is cracking up and they're worried about my tone.
ZELENY: Instead of taking on Trump, Bush turned his attack to Clinton last night in a speech on Iraq at the Reagan Library in California.
JEB BUSH, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: Where was Secretary of State Clinton in all of this? Like the president himself, she had opposed the surge and then joined in claiming credit for its success.
ZELENY: And instead of challenging Sanders, Clinton is fixated on Bush and the GOP field.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I have to draw a contrast with the candidates on the other side of the aisle.
(CHEERING)
ZELENY: While Trump is used to the spotlight, it is a new phenomenon for Sanders, the 73-year-old Vermont Senator who proudly calls himself a Democratic Socialist.
(CHEERING)
ZELENY: His rallies drawing more than 100,000 people in recent weeks and the biggest of any 2016 candidate.
(on camera): Are that you underestimating Bernie Sanders? SANDERS: People have often underestimated me. I'm in this race. We're going to win.
(CHEERING)
[02:10:09] ZELENY: Bernie Sanders is smiling a lot these days. He is one of those candidates who is benefitting from an environment where establishment politicians are no longer in as much favor as they were. But it's a long, long road until the votes start in about six months.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And earlier, I spoke to Democratic strategist, Joe Lestingi; and Republican consultant, Bruce Haynes, about what this all could mean for each party.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE LESTINGI, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: This has been one poll and that is correct. In 2004, Howard Dean had his day in the sun as well. The poll was out of New Hampshire, which is right next to Bernie Sanders' Vermont there. They know Bernie very well and the liberal base is invested in him. Seeing a surprise bump up there is nothing new. And if you look at the way the campaign has progressed, Hillary hasn't started campaigning yet no major media buys yet. It has been slower on the Democratic side than the Republican side. Hillary will close the ground, surpass and push toward the nomination. Bernie Sanders will not be our nominee.
CHURCH: Bruce Haynes, how damaging is this going to be for Republican Party and how stainable is this Trump surge? Because he's out there, he's the loose cannon. He is taking the attention off Jeb Bush, who was for a lot of Republicans supposed to be the guy who was going to be nominated by the Republicans. So talk to us about how long that can go on for, without really taking a toll on the party.
BRUCE HAYNES, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: Well, I think, actually, if you look at it, it can go on for a long time. You've got Donald Trump, he's leading in the state polls in Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina. And he has access to a politician's best friend in a long campaign, and that's ready money. He can spend. He's got big staffs of credible operatives in these states. He can go on a long time.
I think whether it's damaging or not depends on, does Trump mature as a candidate? Do his views become more, well better formed? And does he continue to draw people into a conversation that Republicans would like to have as opposed to one that sounds shrill and angry?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And in the next hour, we will talk about Hillary Clinton's e- mail server and Jeb Bush's low poll numbers.
Well, Donald Trump is offering his thoughts on foreign policy. He spoke with CNN's "New Day" about how he would stop ISIS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, NEW DAY: You put troops on the ground?
TRUMP (voice-over): I would go in and take the oil and put troops to protect the oil. I would absolutely go and I'd take the money source away and, believe me, they would start to wither and they would collapse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: But the outgoing U.S. Army chief of staff disagrees with that and says an inclusive approach is needed. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. RAY ODIERNO, ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF: We have to stop a long-term group -- a group that is potentially attempting to be a long-term influence in the Middle East, that is clearly promoting extremism and, frankly, suppressing the populations in the Middle East. In order to resolve that, you need the countries of the Middle East and those surrounding the Middle East to be involved in the solution.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So you disagree with Donald Trump?
ODIERNO: I do. I do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: The U.S. is getting logistical help for the first time. U.S. forces are using a key base in southern Turkey to launch manned airstrikes on ISIS targets in Syria. Washington has wanted to use the Incirlik Air Base for a while now and an agreement was reached last month. Using the base means shorter flight times for U.S. warplanes.
But Syrian's information minister says Turkey's move is not about confronting ISIS.
Fred Pleitgen spoke with him exclusively.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OMRAN AL ZOUBI, SYRIAN INFORMATION MINISTER (through translation): The air raids led by the West, also known as the alliance raids, have been going on for a long time, so this is nothing new, but actually, what's in the mind of Turkish President Erdogan is not any intention to confront ISIS. It is to combat the Syrian Kurds, the Iraqi Kurds and the Turkish Kurds, so actually not any intention to confront ISIS.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What do you make of America's air campaign against ISIS?
ZOUBI (through translation): We have been in fear (ph) at the air strikes by the alliance. We support and we are with any party that combats ISIS by any means. Either we are with them or they are with us. But the problem lies with America. They say they want to confront ISIS, at the same time, they don't want to cooperate with the forces that are fighting ISIS on the ground, which is the Syrian leadership. That's very confusing and very suspicious.
[02:15:09] PLEITGEN: You've said that in guerrilla warfare it's not always the territory that you win that matters. What do you think that victory could look like?
ZOUBI (through translation): A victory would be the victory of terrorism, not of Syrians over Syrians. We would like the armed Syrian opposition to come to hold talks with us. And when we talk about terrorism, we mean al Nusra, ISIS and Arwa Alsha (ph), who consider us infidels. This is the mentality we should confront.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: We'll have more news ahead. We'll take a short break here.
Coming up, taking the blame.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GINA MCCARTHY, EPA ADMINISTRATOR: EPA does take full responsibility for this incident.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Environmental officials react after a spill turns a U.S. river an ominous color, alarming residents and prompting health concerns.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:20:03] CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. China has allowed its currency, the Yuan, to fall for a third day in a row. The central bank set the reference rate 1.1 percent lower versus the U.S. dollar today. That follows devaluations on both Tuesday and Wednesday. The Chinese currency is now trading at 6.4 Yuan to one U.S. dollar.
Anna Coren is following developments from Hong Kong and joins us now with more.
Anna, this is good news for China, not so good for other nations, as we are seeing reflected in some global markets. Can we expect this or are some people calling this a currency war? Is this what is playing out?
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some analysts say that currency war has been underway for some time. Others believe that the currency would have to drop a great deal more for it to be officially declared a war. You mention this is good for China. It's definitely good for their exports. There's no doubt about that. It makes their exports cheaper and more competitive on the global stage. But many analysts, Rosemary, are saying that this is really an indication that the Chinese economy is hurting, that it's slowing and that the official figure is not a clear indication of what is actually happening on the mainland. We know that consumer confidence is down and they've been relying on that to pick up the slack, if you like, with constructions ailing, financial services which were riding off the back of the stock market, they're also slipping somewhat. But really, this is perhaps a further indication that things aren't so rosy in China. Their goal for 7 percent growth this year is being seriously questioned by analysts, even more so now with the devaluation of the RNB.
But the official word out of China, Rosemary, is that they're simply opening up the Yuan to market forces that this is just a correction because the RNB has appreciated so quickly. It's up 10 percent since 2014 and perhaps they're loosening their grip on the currency exchange rate but the analysts are a lot more skeptical.
CHURCH: The world is watching this story closely, as are we.
Anna Coren, many thanks to you, joining us live from Hong Kong.
Well, images posted online appear to show the beheading of a Croatian hostage held by the Egyptian branch of ISIS. The images cannot be verified by the Croatian prime minister, who says the situation looks bleak.
Ian Lee has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Croatian Thomas La Zolopeck (ph) was a topographer for a French company. He was kidnapped the father two by ISIS and it appears they have executed him. The Croatian government, while not able to confirm, fears the worst.
(on camera): This is the road where ISIS reportedly kidnapped Thomas La Zolopeck (ph). As you can see, there is not much out here but goes hundreds of kilometers deep into the Sahara, an area known in Egypt as the Western Desert, famous for adventure seekers and oil workers, and it is unpredictable and dangerous. A year ago, out here, ISIS claims they killed an American oil worker.
(voice-over): ISIS demanded the release of all female Muslim prisoners in Egypt in exchange for the hostage, giving the government 48 hours to comply but the deadline passed.
MOKHTAR AWAD, RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: That speaks to the heart of what is driving the angry Islamist youth in Egypt who, in the patriarchal Muslim society of Egypt, is the issue of female honor that is so dear that violence is always justified to protect it.
LEE: ISIS in Sinai routinely executes alleged spies and captured Egyptian soldiers. Hundreds of people have also died in clashes between security forces and the militants. (EXPLOSION)
(SHOUTING)
LEE: But this brutal, deliberate killing of a civilian marks a turning point for ISIS in Egypt.
AWAD: Fortunately, in the long term, they might try to focus on more shock-and-awe type attacks, stuff like we see with this poor Croatian man, where they are trying to maximize the level of perceived brutality.
LEE: Worrying for an Egyptian government that relies heavily on foreign investment and tourism, and deeply disturbing for foreigners living in Egypt.
Ian Lee, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:25:07] CHURCH: CNN reached out to Croatian and Egyptian officials who haven't confirmed the death. An official with Egypt's interior ministry said, "We have heard the news but we are working to confirm it."
Questions linger over whether the Animas River in the United States, which turned this yellow/orange color after a toxic waste spill earlier this week, is safe again. Utah's governor declared a state of emergency on Wednesday to help local communities that are affected. But some people are angry over what they see as a lackluster government response to the incident, even as federal officials accept blame for what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCARTHY: EPA does take full responsibility for this incident. We are doing an internal EPA investigation and we're also going to seek independent review and investigation of what happened. The very good news is that the data so far is showing that water quality does restore itself to its prior conditions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: A team from the Environmental Protection Agency cleaning a gold mine inadvertently released the contaminated water into the river, which flows through three states.
Well, Cubans had a lot to celebrate during this year's carnival.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The relationship between their country and the United States is like the Conga, one step forward, one step back.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: The country prepares for a historic day, the reopening of the U.S. embassy in Havana. Back in a moment with that and more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:30:13] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. It's time to update the top stories this hour.
A bombing in a crowded market in Baghdad's Sadr City district has killed at least 36 people. 75 others are wounded. Sadr City is a Shiite area. There is no claim of responsibility. But the Sunni militants of ISIS have claimed attacks in the past.
A massive chemical fire is still burning in Tianjin after a series of explosions overnight. 44 people are dead and more than 500 are injured. China's state news agency says dozens of firefighters are missing. Authorities don't know what caused the explosions.
The outgoing U.S. Army chief of staff believes that Russia is the greatest threat facing the United States. General Ray Odierno says the crisis in Ukraine shows why. Odierno estimates only a third of U.S. brigades can operate at the level of Russian warfare in Ukraine. He worries Russia could intervene next in NATO-member countries such as Latvia or Estonia.
One inmate is dead and five are hospitalized with stab wounds after a riot broke out at a California state prison. 71-year-old Hugo Pinell was killed in the fighting on Wednesday. He was sentenced to life with parole three times and part of the San Quentin Six for their alleged role in a 1971 prison escape attempt.
On Friday, the American flag will rise over the embassy in Cuba. Secretary of State John Kerry plans to be there for the historic moment. It marks the formal reopening of the diplomatic center for the first time in more than 50 years. Cubans are already celebrating the renewed relations.
Patrick Oppmann reports from Havana.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They play with heart and on a shoe string budget.
(MUSIC)
OPPMANN: Havana's carnival is not an over-the-top affair like Rio's or Mardi Gras.
(MUSIC)
OPPMANN: Those are beyond the reach of this island's battered economy. (SINGING)
OPPMANN: But perhaps this year Cubans are in the mood to celebrate just a little more.
(SINGING)
OPPMANN: The procession of floats begins down the street from the newly reopened similar.
"We want this," he says of the restoration of relations between the two countries. "And we hope it continues like this," he says. "Cuba has a lot of love for the United States."
(MUSIC)
OPPMANN: Despite the easing of travel restrictions, there don't appear to be many Americans in the crowd.
(MUSIC)
OPPMANN: They can consider themselves invited to next year's.
"The Americans should come enjoy carnival here and invite us to theirs," the dancers tell me.
(MUSIC)
OPPMANN: The U.S. and Cuba are endangered in a diplomatic dance. Neither side completely sure where it will lead to.
(MUSIC)
OPPMANN (on camera): Some Cubans joke that their relationship between "W" the United States is like the conga. You take one step forward and one step back and you don't go fast but you get where you need to go.
(voice-over): What's clear is the restoration of relations is a hit with many Cubans, like Francisco, who proudly wears his American flag T-shirt.
"We should have done this a while ago. If we are neighbors why are we always fighting," he asks? "Let's act like neighbors and be at peace."
Carnival is supposed to be a beautiful but fleeting dream.
(MUSIC)
OPPMANN: But in Cuba, there is new hope of waking up to a better reality. (SINGING)
OPPMANN: Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.
(SINGING)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: 80 percent of Portugal is dealing with severe drought conditions and this is fueling wildfires.
And our Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is here to explain what happened.
This drought is not new but this situation that we're dealing with is.
[02:34:36] DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is fairly new. The fire started last Saturday but the drought had been ongoing. They had a dry winter and spring and a dry summer right now. The wildfires which are burning in central and northern Portugal are suspected in an arson case. The plot thickens there. And 600 firefighters battling the blaze right now. You can see just the wildfires, the 600 or so firefighters that are trying to put out these blazes. Looks like southern and northern California.
Let's get to my graphic. And you can see the ongoing fires taking place in the central and northern portions of the country and that is just north of Lisbon. And this area has been under a drought, a very dry winter and spring. That has led to 80 percent of Portugal under severe drought conditions. But notice the red to the east of Madrid. That is the area we have been talking about all summer long. They have had 56 consecutive days above 30 degrees Celsius or 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Look at Lisbon's forecast. We should be about 28 degrees. We'll be in the lower and middle 20s for the next several days and into the weekend. To the other side of the world, this is Argentina. We have had severe floods, impacting about 11,000 people, and extremely heavy rainfall inundating this region, which should be the driest time of the year. In Buenos Aires, we have quadrupled the average. You can see the flooding in that area inundating churches and houses. There haven't been reports of fatalities and injuries but that is one massive cleanup effort.
CHURCH: We are seeing a lot of this.
VAN DAM: Polar opposites. We wish we could bring that wet weather to Spain and Portugal.
CHURCH: Very frustrating.
Thanks, Derek, we'll talk about very soon.
VAN DAM: Thanks.
CHURCH: Well, Wednesday was World Elephant Day. Up next, we take you to a national park where conservationists are fighting to save elephant calves orphaned by poachers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:40:30] CHURCH: After much public outcry, several of the world's largest tech companies say they are keeping a closer eye on the minerals they use to produce their products. It's all in an effort to stamp out slave labor in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Our Maggie Lake is following this story as part of the CNN Freedom Project.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Semiconductors power the Smartphones and lab tops that are an indispensable part of our lives. But few of us stop to think about what goes inside of our gadgets.
Brian Krzanich, the CEO of chip giant, Intel, is trying to change that.
BRIAN KRZANICH, CEO, INTEL CORPORATION: The complex electronic products, you've got to remember that the materials that produce those come from all over the world. In some cases, like these conflict minerals, they come from areas that are ravaged by war and internal conflict. So there is a choice and you should ask questions about what is inside the products that you're buying.
LAKE (on camera): What was your reaction when you first learned about the conditions in some of the places that supplied your company?
KRZANICH: A group of us went on and researched more about what was going on in the Democratic republic of Congo. And it was atrocious especially at that time, the slave labor, the working people literally people to death in these mines. This is a unique place where the materials that we're talking about, tin, tungsten, gold, they are on the surface. You can use any labor to collect it and it is profitable for them.
LAKE (voice-over): Intel's goal urged by U.S. legislation was to create a tagging and audit system. The company will only source from mines determined to be conflict free, and they are worked with smelters and refibers around the world to verify the origins of the material.
KRZANICH: We can do our part. We're engineers, and engineers are taught early in their education that you solve complex problems by breaking them down into pieces. We worked through and understood how much of the materials we get come from the DRC, where are the smelters. We broke it down by material and said these will be easier. Gold was going to be tougher. We don't buy as much gold as the jewelry industry. When you run a company like this, you look for places where it's unique to your company that you believe you can make an impact.
The real key here is that if consumers make choices based on this, then it becomes important to everybody in the supply chain as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And all week, CNN's Freedom Project is focusing on how businesses are fighting modern-day slavery. Tomorrow, we are focusing on the travel industry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Children are commercially sexually exploited in hotels in the United States. It happens all over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: You can see that report tomorrow only here on CNN.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says enough is enough with continued allegations of sexual abuse by peacekeepers in the Central African Republic. In an unprecedented move, he has demanded and received the resignation of his special military representative there. That representative hasn't been linked to any of the alleged crimes against civilians but the U.N. wants to send a message that it is serious about eliminating sexual exploitation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAN KI-MOON, SECRETARY-GENERAL, UNITED NATIONS: I cannot put into words how anguished and angered and ashamed I am by recurrent reports over the years of sexual exploitation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: For years, Ban Ki-moon has pushed for a no tolerance policy on sexual abuses carried out by U.N. personnel, but many sex abuse reports, particularly in African countries, have continued to surface. In the coming hours, the U.N. Security Council will hold a special session to look at those allegations.
Well, Kenya's dwindling elephant population is under threat from poachers who want the ivory. Wednesday marked World Elephant Day. It's meant to encourage conservation efforts to help the beloved giants.
CNN's Robyn Kriel takes a closer look now at wildlife teams' efforts to save the animals.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[02:45:02] ROBYN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's feeding time for the orphaned elephants. Many of their mothers were killed by poachers for their tusks. For these calves, their milk is a powered formula. And now their mothers wear green coats.
JOSEPH SAUNI, HEAD KEEPER, DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST: Elephants are very, very much intelligent. They give you love when you give them the love back.
KRIEL (on camera): It's almost impossible to stay clean when you're enjoying bath time with baby elephants. They are a lot like human babies. They love their bath time and they never want to get out. But what might look like a lot of fun is a lot of hard work to try to reintegrate these orphans back into the wild.
(voice-over): And that is the goal of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, teaching orphans how to be wild again. So far, they have successfully rescued, rehabilitated and released 200 elephants back into the bush. But releasing them into a dangerous environment makes little sense. So the trust partners with the Kenya Wildlife Service to fight other constant threats, like removing thousands of wire snares that trap animals.
SAUNI: So this traps the animal there and it falls down and dies.
KRIEL: In this South African bush, security comes from above. Then an urgent call from the anti-snaring unit. They've spotted a wounded bull elephant. We rush to join the vet team already on the ground.
DR. JEREMIAH POGHON, KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE VETERINARIAN: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
KRIEL: This doctor says that the bull's festering wound is probably from a poisoned arrow. With a single shot, he darts it with a tranquilizer.
UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
KRIEL: The team must work quickly. They closely monitor the bull's breathing. But the elephant fell on the wrong side. It's worse than they thought.
POGHON: We have to work on this one before.
KRIEL (on camera): We have to lift it up. Oh, my god.
(LAUGHER)
KRIEL (voice-over): After the first wound is cleaned and treated, the six-ton giant must be rolled over. The arrow wounds are about three weeks old. Another week without help for the 40-year-old bull --
POGHON: The poison gets into the abdominal cavity and kills it.
KRIEL: He's speaking from experience. He has treated some 500 elephants.
POGHON: We will inject our revival drug and, within one minute, the animal should be up.
KRIEL: But the large animal has trouble getting up. He needs help.
(SHOUTING)
POGHON: Small team, but we work on big elephants.
(LAUGHER)
KRIEL: And he is confident this one will make a complete recovery.
The outlook for the rest of Kenya's elephants may not be as good.
Dame Daphne Sheldrick has devoted her life to saving the species. She believes that Asia's insatiable appetite for ivory is driving the killings.
DAME DAPHNE SHELDRICK, DEVOTES LIFE TO SAVING ELEPHANTS: Something has to be done at the other end. There is a lot of poverty and unemployment. As long as he can get money from killing an elephant he's going to do that. But if there is no demand for the tusks there is no reason for him to go after the elephants.
I doubt whether my great grandchildren will actually be able to see wild elephants live a normal life. They are going rapidly, they say one every 15 minutes.
KRIEL: While these keepers will likely mother many more orphans, they remain determined to secure them a future in the wild.
Robyn Kriel, CNN, Tsavo National Park, Kenya.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Extraordinary report there.
Well, a mass grave unearthed in the middle of London. A grim discovery that may tell scientists more about one of the city's most notorious killers. That's coming next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:52:58] CHURCH: A mass grave below the streets of London may help scientists solve a 350-year-old mystery. Archaeologists believe they have found a so-called plague pit, which could give new clues about the disease that killed as many as 100,000 people during its last outbreak in London.
Kellie Morgan has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLIE MORGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the middle of London, a mass grave is unearthed. Dozens of skeletons huddled together near key transport hub, Liverpool Rail Station. It is a grim find but, at the same time, an exciting one. Archaeologists suspect these are victims of London's most notorious and puzzling killer, the Great Plague of 1665.
JAY CARVER, LEAD ARCHEOLOGIST, CROSSRAIL: We uncovered what is an open burial pit with at least 40 separate coffins placed in it apparently all at the same time. They were stacked up and some on their sides. It's a great candidate for a catastrophic event and, in all likelihood, it could date back to 1665 or one of the other 17th century outbreaks.
MORGAN: They are not the first skeletons to be found at the site, which was used as a burial ground for 170 years. The remains found her are people who lived in the era of the English Civil War, Shakespeare and the Great Fire of London.
Their resting place is now a construction site for the 21 kilometer Crossrail project, London's newest train route.
CARVER: This site lies under Liverpool Street itself, so without the Crossrail, there would be no reason to excavate it. So it's a wonderful opportunity to look at the site.
MORGAN: In the past six months, archaeologists have dug up 3,500 skeletons. But these are the first suspected victims of the plague, which claimed 20 percent of London's population. Little is known about this great killer. So it's hoped that the skeletons will help solve the 350-year-old mystery.
[02:55:01] CARVER: The question is, what was responsible, actually? What pathogen, what bacteria for the Great Plague outbreak? Through the scientific study we can do these days on ancient DNA from the samples of these individual skeletons, we might be able to tell exactly what pathogen is responsible for the outbreak and perhaps why it stopped.
MORGAN: Crossrail tunneling has been under construction for three years now and, in that time, has exposed some 10,000 artifacts spanning 55 million years. The $23 billion link for modern-day commuters, also proving to be a priceless link to the past.
Kellie Morgan, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Fascinating there.
Well, Tom Brady was in court Wednesday in the latest round of the Deflategate scandal. But all anyone could talk about was the courtroom sketch of the handsome athlete. Take a look. How closely does this drawing resemble the golden boy of American football? Of course, the Internet has been poking fun at it. And here is a meme showing the picture in Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video and another superimposed it over the painting "The Scream." And finally, here is the Brady sketch riding in the basket during that famous scene in the movie "E.T." Perhaps it just shows the toll this has all taken on the good-looking athlete. We'll see.
You have been watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church. Do stay with us. I'll be back next hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
