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Astonishing New Video of Explosions that Rocked Tianjin; Interview with Col. Cedric Leighton; Greek Lawmakers Approve Third Bailout; Greek Ministers also met with the EU Commissioner for Refugees in Athens. Aired 3:00-4:00a ET
Aired August 14, 2015 - 3:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You're watching CNN Newsroom, I'm Natalie Allen. And we begin this hour with astonishing new video of the explosions that rocked Tianjin, China Wednesday night.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's go. Let's go down. Let's go.
ALLEN: They were videotaping until they realized they needed to get out and away. We also have this drone video which shows just some of the devastating aftermath. Look at that. Smoke is still rising from the chemical warehouse where the explosion started. At least 50 people were killed in all of this, 17 of them firefighters.
You can see these obliterated fire trucks near the blast site. What exactly sparked the explosions is still unclear. A biological and chemical response team is on the ground in Tianjin. We should learn today if it's safe for them to enter the blast site, where they'll try to determine what chemicals ignited the explosion. Our Will Ripley has more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy --
WILL RIPLEY, CNN NEWS INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You can feel the raw power and sheer terror on this newly released cell phone video.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No baby, no.
RIPLEY: A series of catastrophic explosions, ripping through warehouses, unleashing hazardous chemicals. New daytime images reveal the fiery devastation at the blast site in this Chinese port city of more than 13 million people. Huge clouds of choking toxic smoke billowing into the sky.
Experts say one of the explosions was as strong as a small earthquake. This surveillance video obtained by ABC News shows a man standing near the entrance of a building as a wall caves in on top of him. Buildings shook more than two miles away from the source of the blast. A waterfront industrial district in Tianjin, about two hours south of Beijing.
Dozens are dead, including 12 firefighters and more than 500 people injured. As you walk past smashed buildings and the charred wreckage of cars, you can still smell chemicals. It's not clear exactly where hazardous materials were released into the air, but the environmental group, Greenpeace is warning of a major health risk for residents who are already in shock.
The desperation here evident while I was reporting live outside a hospital. Distraught survivors and security officers demanded to see the pictures on my phone. Police didn't try to stop them. This city, overwhelmed by disaster and loss.
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ALLEN: That's our Will Ripley reporting. He is there for us and he will be continuing to report for us. I'm joined now by Stefan Andersen who was only a few hundred meters away from the blast. He joins me live via Skype from Tianjin. Stefan, thank you for joining us. We appreciate it.
And I want you to just -- we have seen this unbelievable video of how massive these explosions were and the aftermath looks something out of a -- of a warzone. Describe the moment of the explosion, what you were thinking, what you witnessed, what you saw and heard.
STEFAN ANDERSEN, WITNESSED TIANJIN EXPLOSIONS: Just -- the first explosion -- the first thing I see is a huge bright light coming in my window of my bedroom and I go to the window to have a look at it and at the moment I stand up and look out of the window a huge explosion just happens.
And my whole building, I live on the eighth floor, was shaking and something is very, very wrong now but I'm not sure what is going on at all. So I go to wake up my colleague and on the way back I -- just before I actually enter my room, standing behind the wall the second explosion happens.
And blows all of my windows in my apartment just blew in. And now the building is just shaking, it feels like it jumped. Then we know like we have to go right out, right away.
ALLEN: And I know that that second explosion, Stefan, we're told was equal to 2100 tons of TNT and that one just -- that video that we had from someone taking the video just -- it filled the whole screen. What kind of -- what were you feeling? How afraid were you?
ANDERSEN: I was very, very scared. At the very first moment I thought there was an attack and it felt like the building next to me just completely crashed. No, it was terrifying -- it was terrifying but we came down to the street and then we could see quickly that it was actually pretty far away. Well it was far away, like 1 kilometer. But, yeah.
ALLEN: Did you -- did you -- what did you do at that point? I know you -- you've taken a lot pictures of the aftermath. Where did you know to go? What was the scene like that you were witnessing as people started realizing how massive this was?
ANDERSEN: We run down to the street quickly and everyone from the whole complex is down on the streets and in the beginning a bit chaos -- it's a bit chaotic like there's thousands of people in the street.
But it seems to like all the times people were pretty calm. Like I think I was more panicked than they were and we started to calm down and we were actually starting to realize it was far away and it seems to be okay now. And at that moment we think of like I don't think we will be able to go back to the apartment so we round up just passports, wallets, cellphone and then get out of there.
ALLEN: Well we're glad you're okay because we're looking again at the aftermath. We know that hundreds are in the hospital, 50 people died. We really appreciate you joining us with your accounts of witnessing that. Thank you, Stefan Andersen for us.
ALLEN: We have a dangerous new development in the fight against ISIS. The U.S. is investigating reports the terror group used mustard gas in an attack against Kurdish Peshmerga this week. It reportedly happened near Makhmour, Iraq making several people sick. The U.S. believes that ISIS most likely used either mortar or rocket shells to deliver the mustard gas.
And this, another disturbing report about ISIS, quite disturbing. The New York Times just published a story about how the terror group uses sex slavery as a recruiting tool and embraces it as part of its culture.
Listen as one rape victim who appeared on PBS Frontline describes the scars from her horrifying experience of rape by ISIS.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via translator): They did everything to me, that's why I'm still in pain. I can't sleep. I wake up at 3 a.m. because I remember their smell. Their smell makes me brush my teeth more than 10 times a day. It will stay with me forever.
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ALLEN: And we're learning there are so many victims like her. Earlier I spoke with Colonel Cedric Leighton, a U.S. Military Intelligence Veteran about the culture of sex slavery within ISIS. I started our interview by asking him how the militant group justifies its actions.
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CEDRIC LEIGHTON, FMR. MEMBER U.S. JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Well they're basically trying to take selective verses of the Quran and use them as a way in which they can justify their actions. So you're dealing with several factors here.
You're dealing with many societies within the Islamic world who in essence do not provide a means of sexual expression for a lot of people that are -- that are within those societies and it -- outside of the bounds of marriage and so this is a way in which that kind of sexuality can be expressed.
But of course, the problem that you run in to is that this is not something that is condoned by Islam. It is not condoned by mainstream Islam of either the Shiite or the Sunnis sects and it is one of those areas that -- where ISIS is really treading on some thin ice in terms of theology when it does take -- undertake these actions.
ALLEN: And you talked about the fact that they can -- they're condoning it and using it and I want to talk about the fact that they're also using this is another part of the sickness as a recruiting tool --
LEIGHTON: Yes.
ALLEN: The fact that they can do this.
LEIGHTON: Yes, absolutely. And they're looking at it as a way in which to attract young males -- young males of military age which in essence are the 17 to 28 or so year-old young males and they are the prime target for ISIS recruiting efforts, and those recruiting efforts have yielded some benefits.
They've, of course, been able to increase their number of fighters that they have and one of the ways that they do that is they promise these recruits that they will have, in essence, sex slaves at their service and this is one way that they get these men to serve with them and it is also one way in which the whole system condones this kind of behavior.
ALLEN: And it's wide-ranging in the system and its systemic situation. Human Rights Watch said 105 women and girls, a doctor had examined. She said 70 appeared to have been raped in ISIS captivity. The bottom line is when this is all over, and hopefully soon with ISIS, they could face crimes against humanity for this.
LEIGHTON: That's correct. In fact, they could be brought in front of not only the International Court of Justice and the Hague, but also a special war crimes tribunal such as we've seen in the case of the Bosnian and Serbian situations so that is definitely a path that the world powers could take because these crimes are so egregious.
They are so beyond the norms of behavior that nations have come to expect in the 21st century that ISIS and its leaders can very well expect to be charged under the U.N. Charter as well as under international law for these crimes.
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ALLEN: Colonel Cedric Leighton we appreciate your joining us to talk about this very important subject, thank you.
LEIGHTON: You bet Natalie. Thanks for having me.
ALLEN: The U.S. will reopen its embassy in Cuba this morning for the first time since 1961. The American flag will fly once again over this building. A powerful symbol in the shift in the once faulty relations. Secretary of State John Kerry will be there.
Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, however, is not entirely happy about the situation. New photos show the 89-year-old on his birthday, yesterday. Castro published a letter in a Cuban newspaper telling the U.S. it owes Havana millions of dollars because of the decades old trade embargo.
Well ahead of today's ceremony, CNN's Patrick Oppmann got an exclusive look inside the embassy.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome to your new embassy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Words for over a half century, U.S. diplomats in Cuba were unable to say.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to the new embassy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
OPPMANN: The day Cuba and the U.S. officially restored diplomatic relations, officials at the embassy greeted their colleagues with hugs and American flags.
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OPPMANN: CNN was granted exclusive access to the reopening. Members of the Cuban staff marveled that the cold war era hostilities have been overcome. And did you ever think you'd work here and see the change that we've seen in the last six months?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I really never thought that I would see this in my lifetime.
OPPMANN: The head of the embassy says he and his staff are taking part in history.
JEFFREY DELAURENTIS, CHARGE D'AFFAIRES, U.S. EMBASSY IN CUBA: It's really a privilege to be part of all this. It's a privilege to be part of an administration that has made a courageous decision to make this change. And it's also a privilege to be able to lead this mission as it -- as it transitions from an interest section to an embassy.
OPPMANN: That transition is more of a sprint as staff get everything ready for Secretary of State, John Kerry's visit. Redoing the long unused flag pole.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But they will use the Spanish feed.
OPPMANN: Hosting an influx of foreign press in planning for every contingency.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After a CMR that anybody would want to go back to the (ph) and use the WI-FI there and then Justin should still be around holding spaces.
OPPMANN: A long list of challenges in a country where few things ever seem to go right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How early should I be --?
MARTINA POLT, MANAGEMENT OFFICER: This is where we keep everything running.
OPPMANN: Management officer, Martina Polt, takes us to the basement to get a first look at the sign and the seal that will go on the entrance to the embassy.
POLT: Pretty cool sign isn't it.
OPPMANN: What I'm walking next to is something that hasn't been seen in 54 years in Cuba. It's the sign to the U.S. Embassy in Havana. She says reopening the embassy is the high point of her career.
POLT: This is fantastic. This is a -- I think there are so many Foreign Service offices that have waited to be here. And I think I'm being envied by a lot of people who say well this is the culmination of a lot of work by a lot of people.
OPPMANN: The work will continue until the last moment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mark time.
OPPMANN: Nothing is left to chance. The Marines even practice raising the flag. But as the big day arrives, American diplomat say the U.S. Embassy in Havana is ready to step back into the spotlight. Patrick Oppmann, CNN Havana.
ALLEN: I think the Marines are ready to raise that flag. CNN will have special live coverage of the American flag raising at the embassy there in Havana. It all begins at 9:30 a.m. Eastern for our U.S. audience. That's 2:30 p.m. in London, 3:30 Central Europe time for our CNN international viewers right here.
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ALLEN: We have breaking news just in to CNN, according to Reuters, Greek lawmakers have just approved the country's third bailout after a marathon night of debate.
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ALLEN: Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras urged parliament to sign off on the $95 billion deal calling it a necessary choice for the nation. But there are still some other hurdles to overcome. The loan still needs to be given the green light by the Eurozone finance ministers meeting later today. Live pictures here of the Greek Parliament as that vote just ended.
After a surprise devaluation earlier this week, China's currency has made a slight rebound.
We will have details next. Plus from the weather world, forecasters say this year El Nino may be the biggest on record and this weather maker could affect almost every part of our planet. Derek will break that down for us.
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ALLEN: If you are just joining us, we have breaking news into CNN this hour. Reuters says Greek lawmakers have just approved the country's third bail out after a marathon night of debate.
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ALLEN: Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras urged parliament to sign off on the $95 billion deal calling it a necessary choice for the nation, but there are still some other hurtles to overcome. The loan still needs to be given the green light by the Eurozone finance ministers. They're meeting later today.
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ALLEN: Concern over China's economy is just one factor weighing on oil prices. They continue their slide Thursday with the price of U.S. crude falling to a new six-year low. The drop reflects the surplus of American oil. The devaluation of the Chinese Yuan plus reports of higher Iranian oil production. CNN Money's, Paul La Monica has more for us.
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PAUL LA MONICA, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Oil continues to plunge a new six-and-a-half year low at one point below $42 a barrel. Many of the same factors are still at play here. There are concerns about oversupply. OPEC continues to pump a lot of oil, particularly Saudi Arabia.
Now we're worried about Iran which has a lot of oil sitting there waiting to be exported, having their oil going on to the market as well. That would put more pressure on prices. At the same time, there's a shale gas explosion in the United States. Many companies still pumping a lot of oil from the U.S.
So you add all that up and there is definitely a supply glut, one of the main reasons why we went from $100 a year ago, all the way down to $42. But the new wrinkle that has people more concerned, China. China's economy is a bit of a question mark right now and if the Chinese economy is weakening a lot more than people thought, that will lead to lower demand for commodities like oil. And you're already seeing other commodity prices tumbling too.
Copper, corn, wheat, so it's not just oil. It's the demand part that's now a big problem.
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ALLEN: CNN Money's Paul La Monica there for us. Meantime China allowed the value of its currency to rise against the U.S. dollar today by a fraction of a percentage point. That ended three days of declines after a sudden devaluation.
On Thursday government officials said the Yuan should remain strong in the long run. They said the move to devalue the currency came from a desire to bring in market-oriented reforms and was not an effort to make its exports cheaper.
Well a new report predicts the months ahead may bring the worst El Nino on record.
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ALLEN: The warm water phenomenon in the Eastern Pacific Ocean dramatically impacts weather around the world. Researchers say this time coastal South America could see more floods and Australia will likely see drought.
To help us learn more about what El Nino is and why it matters so much, let's go to Derek Van Dam. It's not like we didn't have enough weather extremes to worry about here of late.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN WEATHER: Yeah right, climate change to El Nino. Here we go. We'll just add another one on top of it Natalie. Well this one is one we want to pay attention to. We're raising the red flags because it's significant, especially when we compare it to the last strong El Nino event which was back in '97 and '98 and I'll talk about that in just one moment.
But you summarized it quite well Natalie, it's the warming of the Eastern Pacific waters. El Nino, the term literally translated from Spanish to English means the child. It all has to do with fisherman off the coast of South America that were looking for their cold water harvest around Christmas time.
And unfortunately the warm waters that settled into the area, well they started to name that particular phenomenon after the lack of the fish that they would normally see corresponding with that time of the year being Christmas.
On a typical season we would have the trade winds blowing across the equator from the Eastern Pacific to the Western Pacific. And this has been anything but a normal season so let me explain what is actually happening here. The trade winds would typically build up warm water over the Western Pacific but with these trade winds starting to ease along with our strong El Nino, it's taking that warm water and pushing it eastward.
And it's taking the thunderstorm activity, or the southwest monsoon that impacts Southeast China and into India and Indonesia along with it. Here's some hard evidence to prove to you exactly my point.
Anywhere you see this shading of red, indicates water temperatures across the Eastern Pacific above where they should be this time of year. And we have been studying this phenomenon for many, many years, in fact dating back to records back to 1950.
And let's compare that to well what was the strongest event. Where are we headed in comparison to that record event from '97 to '98, that was when $45 billion U.S. attributed to the strong El Nino.
Well our projections indicate anywhere between two and a half to three degrees Celsius warming for the water temperatures over the Eastern Pacific. That is going to have profound impacts on the world's weather. Natalie, back to you.
ALLEN: All right Derek, well you've got your work cut out for you than keeping on top of El Nino. Thanks. Well more ahead on our top story here.
CNN sits down with the top diplomat in Cuba, and the man in charge of the U.S. Embassy there. Hear his thoughts on America's new policy toward Cuba as we are just hours away from the opening of the embassy.
Plus the latest on the race for the White House including speculation, the Vice President is considering a presidential run.
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ALLEN: And welcome back to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world, this is CNN Newsroom. I'm Natalie Allen.
Our top stories right now, Greek lawmakers have just secured in the past few minutes enough votes for the country's third bailout. The vote held after an all-night debate session. They've had a lot of those haven't they?
Just hours before Eurozone finance ministers will meet to approve the deal. They will do that today. We have live pictures for you here of the aftermath of the series of huge explosions that rocked the Chinese city of Tianjin Wednesday night.
A biologic and chemical response team is now on the ground there and we should learn today if it's safe for them to enter the blast site and they will try to determine what chemicals ignited the explosion that killed at least 50 people and put hundreds in the hospital.
The U.S. is investigating reports that ISIS used mustard gas in an attack against Kurdish Peshmerga this week. It reportedly happened near Makhmour, Iraq, making several people sick. The U.S. believe ISIS most likely used either mortar or rocket shells to deliver the mustard gas.
In just a few hours, the U.S. Embassy in Cuba will reopen marking a historic shift in diplomatic relations. Secretary of State John Kerry will be there as U.S. Marines raise the American flag over that building right there.
Jeffrey DeLaurentis heads the U.S. Embassy in Cuba. Our Patrick Oppmann sat down him for an exclusive interview about today's events and what the restored relations mean for the future of Cuba and the U.S.
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JEFFREY DELAURENTIS, U.S. EMBASSY CUBA, CHARGE d'AFFAIRES: We've got the first Secretary of State coming since 1945, so it goes even further back than the revolution. This is -- this is very big, big deal we're looking very much forward to it. So for us it's all hands on deck in getting everything ready.
OPPMANN: What's different now that the United States has an embassy in Havana?
DELAURENTIS: Well, we obviously negotiated some operational changes with the Cubans in the course of our discussions to reestablish diplomatic relations and will now be able to travel the island. We'll obviously be getting in more staff.
We're able to manage our own property a little bit property a little bit better in terms of making the embassy more welcoming and accessible to Cubans who used to -- who wish to visit.
OPPMANN: You'll be the first chief admission head of the embassy who will be able to travel outside of Havana, first time in many years without requesting authorization. How important is that to your work and what kind of exchanges are you looking to have that previously you weren't able to do with Cubans?
DELAURENTIS: It's essentially getting around -- getting around the island. I have, in my own head kind of a travel plan and basically it's seeking an opportunity to meet with as many of the 11 million Cubans on the island as I possibly can. So again, it's throughout the society and getting to know Cuba as we should as any embassy in any location does.
OPPMANN: One of the biggest issues of course, on the United States side is the billions of dollars in seized property and even Cuban officials are the first to say this is a very poor country you know, what hope do you have that those people lost so much with the revolution, Americans, have any chance of ever recovering something?
DELAURENTIS: We want to begin to structure how we're going to address these issues and this is clearly one of our -- one of our top priorities. There's a lot of work to do. It will be, I would say, long, complicated and complex, but we're ready to go forward.
OPPMANN: President Obama, it's no secret, has said that he's considering a visit to Cuba. How do you think the Cubans would receive him if he decides to come?
DELAURENTIS: It would be an enormous understatement to say that his arrival would be met with extraordinary enthusiasm.
OPPMANN: Cuba five, 10 years down the road, Raul Castro says he will no longer be in power. What are your hopes and expectations for the country looking towards the future, that future?
DELAURENTIS: Well it's up to the Cuban people to determine what their country will look like with greater contact and information and so forth, the message -- the American message of opportunity and democracy can be delivered in a voice that will be very hard to silence.
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ALLEN: We turn now from Cuba, and we will be covering of course the raising of the flag at the embassy there, but we want to turn to the presidential race in the United States.
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ALLEN: A big question on the democratic front, will this man, the current Vice President, Joe Biden, run for president? Some supporters say he is consulting political heavy weights about a possible bid, but little has been heard from Biden, himself.
Donald Trump is already treating Biden like an opponent. The Republican candidate slammed Biden on allegations from his law school days.
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think I'd match up great. I'm a job producer. I've had a great record. I haven't been involved in plagiarism. I think I would match up very well against Biden.
ALLEN: If Biden does jump into the race he would face a tough fight. The latest CNN ORC Poll of Likely Democratic Caucus-Goers in Iowa for instance shows Biden in third place, far behind front runner, Hilary Clinton.
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ALLEN: Well on the other side of the presidential race some head- turning comments from one Republican candidate and it's not Donald Trump. Jeb Bush is taking on some controversial issues closely connected with his brother's presidency. Chief Congressional Correspondent, Dana Bash, has that.
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DANA BASH, CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The question to Jeb Bush, if the U.S. had not invaded Iraq in the first place, would ISIS be a problem now?
JEB BUSH, (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Who knows, I mean this -- that's just such a -- a, you know, complicated hypothetical. Who knows, I can't answer that. I'll tell you though, that taking out Saddam Hussein turned out to be a pretty good deal.
BASH: The last time Bush was asked to hypothetical, knowing what we know now, would he have gone to war in Iraq, it took him five days to give the right political answer, no.
BUSH: Knowing what you know now, what would you have done, I would have not engaged, I would not have gone into Iraq.
BASH: On this new remark about taking out Saddam Hussein, Bush advisors immediately push back on any notion he fumbled, noting that President who opposed the Iraq war from the start has said similar.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think the fact that Saddam Hussein is gone is a good thing.
BASH: Today, Bush had a new take on all these hypotheticals.
BUSH: If you think about all the variables that could have happened had we not invaded then, we might have invaded later, who knows. I mean that's -- then you're in back to the future. You might as well make a move out of it.
BASH: He was reluctant to stake out a firm position on torture for terrorist suspects. Another controversy from his brother's administration. Something President Obama stopped immediately after taking office.
BUSH: When you're president, your words matter and I'm cautious about making commitments without having all the facts because this is a serious undertaking. I do think, in general, that torture is not appropriate.
It's not as affective and the change of policy that my brother did and then was put in to executive order form by the President was the proper thing to do.
BASH: One of Bush's competitors climbing in the Iowa polls, neurosurgeon Ben Carson, is now in the line of fire from a fellow doctor, accusing him of using tissue from aborted fetuses for medical research, something he told CNN is unnecessary.
BEN CARSON, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Virtually everything that can be attributed to progress by using fetal tissue can also use other types of tissue.
BASH: Today in New Hampshire Carson defended his research as different.
CARSON: Tissue specimens, tissue banks are maintained everywhere. It would be irresponsible to throw the tissue away.
BASH: It's always been clear that to be politically viable, Jeb Bush would have to convince voters that he is different from his brother. But over the past few months it's also become clear how hard it is, understandably so to do that personally for him. Especially on controversial issues that are tough for George W. Bush.
So Jeb Bush made one statement today that he hopes that people will take away, that he believes the country is safer because of his brother, and it's not just because he's a Bush. Dana Bash, CNN Washington.
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ALLEN: Seventy years ago, this Saturday, news spread around the world that World War II had ended, after Japan surrender. In just a few hours, Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, is expected to deliver a statement about the 70th anniversary.
There's a lot of speculation about what he will say, especially after he pushed new defense measures through parliament's lower house last month. Highly unusual move there. Kathy Novak joins me live from Seoul, South Korea with more about this and Cathy hello to you.
What Abe will say, that's highly anticipated, especially there in South Korea and in China, correct?
KATHY NOVAK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right Natalie, this is something that will be closely watched here in Seoul. People will be watching out to see how much remorse Prime Minister Abe is likely to show for the actions of Japan during the Second World War.
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NOVAK: This is a statement that is made every decade, and the landmark statement that is often referred to is the one that was made by then Prime Minister Murayama in 1995 on the 50th anniversary of the Japanese surrender where he offered a heartfelt apology where he expressed remorse.
Where he talked about Japan's aggression and there are reports in the Japanese media that Prime Minister Abe today may also refer to an apology and to aggression. The wording will be closely watched here.
The question will be referring back to the 1995 statement, will he go further than that. That seems relatively unlikely because Abe is a Nationalist. He is someone who has talked about wanting to move forward, so then will he refer back to the wording of that 1995 statement or is there a chance that he might even water it down.
If that happens, that will not be very well-received in China or, indeed, here in South Korea where the relations are still tense because of the history between these three countries.
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ALLEN: So as they wonder what his message will be, what specifically do South Koreans want to hear?
NOVAK: Well one of the major sticking points, Natalie, is the issue of the people referred to as comfort women. That's the euphemism for Asian women, particularly from here in Korea, up to 200,000 of them who say they were forced to be used as sex slaves for members of the Japanese military.
And they have been gathering at the Japanese Embassy here in Seoul weekly, every Wednesday to protest and to say they want an unequivocal apology on behalf of the Japanese Government and they also want individual compensation. They say that any apologies that may have happened in the past from previous Japanese prime ministers have not gone far enough.
And there are very few of these women still surviving Natalie. Fewer than 50 remain here in South Korea so time really is running out if it is likely that they are going to receive an apology and this is something that really is at the forefront of the national debate here in South Korea.
Generations of people really do want to hear this from Japan, but whether or not we are likely to hear that from Japanese Prime Minister Abe today, Natalie, remains to be seen.
ALLEN: Well, we'll see. Yes, sex slaves called comfort women, well we all know how outrageous that is. Well thank you Kathy Novak. We know you will be watching it for us and reporting back. Thank you.
Sweltering heat, little food or water, and barely any room to move. That is the situation facing thousands of migrants arriving on the shores of a Greek island. We'll tell you what Athens is doing now to try to help them.
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ALLEN: Welcome back. Russia's top diplomat has triggered quite a reaction on social media for cursing under his breath during a news conference.
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ALLEN: Sergey Lavrov was alongside his Saudi counterpart, in front of the media when it happened. They were discussing the crisis in Syria. A microphone caught Lavrov saying the f-word followed by the word morons. It's not clear who he was referring to as he spoke in Russian.
SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: (SPEAKING IN RUSSIAN).
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ALLEN: There you have it. Lavrov spokeswoman said she didn't hear the comment and the talks with his colleague went well.
ALLEN: Well Greece is trying to bring an exploding migrant crisis on its island of Kos under control. Days after some migrants scuffled with police and some fainted in scorching heat, Greece is sending a ship to Kos to help register migrants so they can leave the island.
Greek Ministers also met with the EU Commissioner for Refugees in Athens. CNN's Ian Lee has more now on this tense situation.
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IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They wash up on Europe's shore, dazed, cold and frightened. Every trip, every arrival from migrants in cramped boats a potential catastrophe. Up to 1000 people a day make the watery journey to the Greek Island of Kos.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are doctors, graduated from economy medicines. We are all students and graduated but there's nothing (ph) there's just war, just bombs.
LEE: For many this is what they leave behind, rubble, death and destruction. Promises of a better life in Europe often met with disappointment. On Wednesday, chaos broke out at a stadium turned makeshift shelter.
After authorities locked in 2500 people with limited food, water and shelter from the sun. Riot police struggled to control the situation. Dozens of people needed medical treatment according to Doctors without Borders.
The most vulnerable in all of this, the elderly, pregnant, and of course children. The European Union approved 2.4 billion euros to deal with the migrant crisis, of which Greece will receive almost half a billion, desperately needed for an island that is more used to dealing with disorderly tourists than refugees.
MOHAMMED ZACHEA, SYRIAN REFUGEE: -- to me very quicker and that way. It is very hot here. We cannot stay here because we have some women, children and they are all sick.
ERASMIA ROUMANA, UNHCR REPRESENTATIVE: Well it is the responsibility of the national authorities to have this in an organized manner and to deal with the issue of refugees. Because this will continue.
LEE: Roughly 124,000 migrants have made the voyage to Greece so far this year. And as the wars continue to ravage their homelands, so will the boats packed with refugees. Ian Lee, CNN London.
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ALLEN: Another migrant horror story and we have certainly seen a lot of those. Well we have an update now on a story that has brought a huge response from a lot of you.
By the end of the year, an American family hopes it will be able to welcome home a special needs child from China. His name is Jia-jia. The nine-year-old was abandoned by his parents as a baby after a botched surgery left him paralyzed. The Wilson family is trying to adopt him. They spoke with CNN.
BRIAN WILSON: Jia-jia just -- he really touched a special place in our heart. There is a family and friend of ours that they adopted Jia-jia's best friend and that's how we got to know him. And, you know, as soon as we met him he just, you know, there was something -- something about him that just really touched us. God told us that was our son. ALLEN: Well the Nilson's -- Wilson's excuse me, needed to raise
$30,000 to adopt Jia-jia. Within hours of setting up a Go Fund Me page, they surpassed their goal. See that number there? $47,167.
They plan to donate the extra funds to other families who wish to adopt. And we certainly hope we will follow up and show you pictures of Jia-jia with his new parents.
All right, coming next from witnesses to first responders, we'll show you what happened when a man staggered out of this fiery wreck.
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ALLEN: Welcome back. In the U.S. state of New Jersey a fiery collision between two tractor-trailers could have turned deadly but some quick thinking tourists jumped in to action when they saw one of the drivers was caught in flames. Our affiliate WABC has the story for us.
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KALA RAMA, CHANNEL 7 EYEWITNESS NEWS: Anthony Wilson was recording what he thought was a tragic accident on the turnpike in East Brunswick but soon realized he would be a first responder along with his wife and brother-in-law.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The guy was on fire so you got to put him out.
RAMA: The driver of the tractor-trailer emerged from the cab with his legs on fire.
JACQUI WILSON: The truck driver was obviously in shock and he was just standing there, didn't know what was happening, so we're trying to get his jeans down, he had a belt on, trying to undo the belt and then eventually we managed to get his jeans down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So that's just when I sort of padded him out and put my feet on him, put my hands on him and finally got him out.
RAMA: But as the explosions got louder, they realized they all needed to move. But Simon said the driver, dazed and confused started picking up loose change that had fallen out of his jeans in the middle of the turnpike.
ANTHONY WILSON: I thought it was a miracle. I couldn't believe it.
RAMA: After checking out the burns down his leg, he headed to the ambulance waiting 100 yards away.
WILSON: We're sort of still in shock, because it was pretty horrific. It was a close call, but like Jacqui said that's just what you do. You don't think twice when something happens. You just jump in and help.
RAMA: And still today they're concern was how is this driver doing? We can tell you that he is in serious condition here at St. Barnabas Medical Center. From Livingston, New Jersey, Kala Rama, Channel 7 Eyewitness News.
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ALLEN: Air New Zealand is getting attention for its latest quirky safety video. Take a look.
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ALLEN: This time Air New Zealand teams up with players and coaches from the countries hugely popular national rugby team, the All Blacks. Players sing and dance in the air safety video in a spoof of, you can probably tell, the movie "Men in Black".
Among the cameos who appear as devils, former England captain Martin Johnson and Australian legend, David Campese.
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ALLEN: At least all the airlines are starting to get a little more clever with those safety videos. Thanks for watching, I'm Natalie Allen. Early Start is next for viewers in the U.S. For viewers elsewhere, stay with us for another hour of CNN Newsroom. Thanks for watching.
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