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Hala Gorani Tonight
Suspect in Deadly Bombing; Trump on Top. Aired 3-4p ET.
Aired August 18, 2015 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:01] HALA GORANI, HOST: This hour on The World Right Now, a suspect emerges in a deadly bombing.
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GORANI: Thai police hunt for a man seen leaving the scene of a blast that killed at least 22 people.
Plus as Greece's migrant crisis reaches a new milestone we look inside a massive ship designed to offer aid to Europe's newest arrival.
Also Trump still on top. New numbers show the Republican Presidential candidate winning support from female voters.
And some Starbucks Baristas are turning into bartenders in the coffee chains latest strategy to win sales.
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GORANI: Hello everyone, I'm Hala Gorani, we're with you again this hour. Thanks for being with us, we're live from CNN London, and this is The World
Right Now.
Well surveillance video is going to help Thai police connect the dots as they investigate Monday's deadly bombing at a popular shrine in Bangkok.
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GORANI: The police there say the man highlighted in this clip wearing the yellow t-shirt carried out the deadly attack, that it is him, that's what
they're saying.
You see him in the yellow t-shirt sitting down on a bench at the Erawan Shrine. He takes off his black backpack and places it under the bench,
then he stands up and leaves the scene without the backpack. Not long after the bomb goes off.
The blast at the Erawan Shrine killed at least 22 people including a number of foreign nationals and today a small explosive device was thrown from a
bridge toward a pier in the city creating even more tension in a city that is already very much on edge.
Here's Andrew Stephens in Bangkok.
ANDREW STEPHENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Another bomb goes off in Bangkok. This surveillance video shows water shooting into the air, the
bomb exploding on the Taksin Pier only a few miles away from Monday night's bomb that ripped through central Bangkok.
Thai officials are on the hunt for this man seen here in this surveillance video putting a backpack underneath a bench and then walking away.
Newly released cell phone video captures the chaotic scene during evening rush hour on Monday. Unsuspecting tourists and locals walk along a popular
footbridge before the sudden explosion below.
(Tiracet Kultama) was hit by shrapnel in the explosion.
I turned back to look where the sound came from and saw people scattered on the streets everywhere. I decided to abandon my motorbike and run off he
says. I've never been through anything like this before, I'm still scared.
People waiting in traffic captured the bomb going off right in front of them, smoke and embers filled the air. Surveillance video capturing the
unprecedented large and deadly blast lighting up the night sky.
I saw about five different ambulances screaming away from the scene, there were hundreds of medics, police, fire brigade.
The bomb claiming more than 20 lives and injuring over a hundred. Local police believe this was a "deliberate act of terror." Targeting a Hindu
Shrine, a major tourist attraction in Thailand also near a large shopping mall.
Thailand's Prime Minister making it clear this was an attack on the economy.
In our country he said there are individuals or groups of individuals who are seeking to destroy the country. The ongoing attempts of destruction
might be politically motivated targeting the economy tourism for whatever reason.
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STEPHENS: As night falls on the day after the attack the people of Bangkok are now coming out to show and to share their grief. There is a suspect
now. The government says they know why the Erawan Shrine was targeted but as yet there's no clear motive for what the Thai Prime Minister describes
as the worst attack ever on Thai soil.
Andrew Stephens, CNN, Bangkok.
GORANI: We mentioned another explosion today, Andrew Stephens mentioned it in his report. It was thrown a few miles away, it went off a few miles
away around a pier area. A Thai Police Spokesman says the second bombing is actually "very similar" to the attack on the shrine on Monday, so it
could signal some sort of pattern. We'll be discussing more of what happened in Thailand a little bit later in the program.
Now to a report you'll only see here on CNN. The United States has spent millions to vette and train rebels to fight ISIS in Syria. But so far this
program has only produced a small handful of recruits.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh interviewed one of these fighters who believes in the mission but says it is moving far too slowly.
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[15:05:03] NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is what nearly a million dollars' worth of pro-American Syrian rebel looks
like. These are the first pictures of the mere 54 moderate fighters the U.S. has pain stakingly vetted, trained and equipped with these fancy
weapons. But there aren't nearly enough of them yet to worry ISIS.
In fact, some of them were recently detained by Al Qaeda after a fire fight leading to claims the $41 million program was a failure.
So one of them Abu Iskander in Syria is speaking out.
ABU ISKANDER, NEW SYRIAN FORCE: Nearly 17,000 Syrian men want to join but the training is very slow, we need it to be faster. 30 days instead of 45
days. More trainees for example our training in Jordan did 85. We should have been 500 there and another 500 in Turkey. We are thankful but it
needs to happen faster.
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WALSH: These men are in a central part of America's Anti-ISIS strategy inescapably vital. The planes can bomb and the drones can watch but
without allied Syrian rebels willing to go on the ground and clear out ISIS and restore moderate societies everything else is pretty much pointless.
And as of now, inside Syria there are just about 40 of them.
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WALSH: Here they are entering Syria recently after training days before being attacked by rebels from the Al Qaeda linked Nusra front. Some of
those detained have now been released and despite the awful start Abu Iskander is determined to fight on.
The American's follow him using a GPS on his wrist and in his vest when he targets airstrikes for them.
ISKANDER: I go to the frontline against ISIS and I give locations for the war planes to bomb. We have advanced satellite communication devices to
target any place on the frontline whether we see it or not.
There are daily drone flights, and they are in the sky as I talk to you right now. I speak to the American every hour, a total of four hours a
day.
WALSH: One hurdle in recruiting for the Pentagon is that their unit is only allowed to fight ISIS. Not most Syrian rebels first and worst enemy,
the Syrian regime. But in spite of this restriction Abu Iskander all the same insists he will also fight the Assad regime.
ISKANDER: The second rule in the training project is that we fight whoever fights us. The Assad regime is fighting. We will take new errors from
ISIS and we'll have to face Assad. Are we going to sit still and not fight Assad? Make a no fly zone Syria then we won't see to Europe, but we will
stay in our homes. We don't want to cry on T.V. we want Assad regime to be stopped.
WALSH: After the vetting the detentions, the confused aims, one thing is clear his unshakable enthusiasm for the fight against ISIS and the regime
that lies ahead.
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GORANI: Well let's get more on this. Nick Paton Walsh is live in Beirut. Nick why haven't the United States trained more fighters? Why only such a
small handful?
WALSH: Like I say it's down to the vetting process. They talk about the need for quality not quantity one U.S. official I spoke to now.
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WALSH: Of course they maintain that now they've got this first 54 through there's another 70 imminently and then potentially they're going to get
large numbers graduating from programs in Turkey and Jordan in the months ahead. Their problem has really been it's the optics of how
extraordinarily small this first group is and the very high cost frankly of getting them ready.
$41 million that we know of so far towards the end of May this year spent on this program. Which will eventually cost half a billion dollars. So, a
lot of emphasis placed on the quality of the individuals and we saw when talking to Abu Iskander's enthusiasm, motivation for a secular Syrian
society moderation distanced from the extremism we've seen in the Nusra front and ISIS too.
That's clearly what the U.S. wants, they say this is not a standard command and control mission where they will direct these fighters in the field.
They have a degree of autonomy and you saw some of that too (inaudible) a policy probably which isn't exactly what many in Washington want.
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WALSH: Their actual drive or Abu Iskander's drive to attack the regime which will complicate matters for the U.S. potentially Hala.
GORANI: And what about these reports that some of these U.S. trained fighters have disappeared, that they're no longer in touch with any of
their U.S. sponsors, that others are not fighting because they're concerned of being kidnapped by some of the more radical Islamists groups in parts of
Syria.
So after all of this is it the fact that some are not even actually fighting?
WALSH: Well, as far as we know, and it's a mixed picture because the information is scattered but we're getting pretty consistent reports that
five of the new Syrian forces were detained by the Nusra front over a week ago, and those five have managed to negotiate their release.
[15:10:10] Now there have been reports suggesting that perhaps some sort of intermediary perhaps relatives of those men negotiated with Nusra to get
them out, the circumstances of how they managed to negotiate that release, not entirely clear at this stage. The injuries and fatalities and the
clash with Nusra seem to be a separate unit that were assisting the new Syrian forces with their security.
But at this stage, the 40 or so that we know seem to still be in Syria. While it sounds like they still have the resolve to move forward and
according to a U.S. official they're all still considered part of the program. This upset at the start hasn't dented their sort of membership so
to speak of that scheme.
They'll still get support and that includes potentially what is known as fire support which really is drones and aircrafts above them as they go
about their mission to attack ISIS. But you heard there Abu Iskander, so much of his role at this stage seems to be directing airstrikes, giving
information to the United States. Although it's clear from U.S. officials that isn't (entire) to their mission at all, they're meant to be on the
ground to take the fight to ISIS perhaps alongside other units that are considered moderate, Hala.
GORANI: All right, quite a challenge ahead. Thanks very much, Nick Paton Walsh, in Beirut with that exclusive report.
Well it is a challenge facing all of Europe that is disproportionately affecting Greece.
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GORANI: The United Nation says 160,000 people have migrated from places like Syria and Iraq through Turkey and then onto Greece this year alone.
That's almost 400% more migrants arriving in Greece this year versus last year.
Greece is of course a popular destination for many desperate people. You can see they face less than 23km of open water when setting out from a key
Turkish port city. That's shorter and safer actually than the stretch of Mediterranean between Libya and Lampedusa in Italy.
Kos is the ultimate destination. This was the scene as migrants and police lined up at a sports stadium in that Greek city last week. Clearly little
organization at a makeshift reception center people were fainting, four every hour we were being told. Since then there's been sort of a solution.
A cruise ship has arrived at the port city designed to alleviate the attention you see here to process some of these desperate refugees.
Atika Shubert has more.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the Greek solution to the refugee crisis on the island of Kos, a cruise ship to house 2,500 at
a time.
So this is how it works refugees can temporarily live aboard this ship while they're getting registered, now that should only take a few days and
then once they have their registration papers they can move off the island and for many here that is the doorway to Europe.
But will it work? Greek officials won't let media onboard but these pictures taken from inside by one of the refugees shows good conditions and
part meals provided. It's not without problems though, backed up toilets and the boat is filling up fast.
Fawaz Faoul says he is happy to be on board though.
FAWAZ FAOUL, SYRIAN REFUGEE: This is good solution, it's better to see the people outside in the street.
SHUBERT: But (Fatty Najar) an Anesthesiologist from Idlib, Syria warns the boat is getting crowded.
Now it's getting full he tells us and it's better to process our registration quickly. There will be too many people inside. I told my
neighbor just this morning there must be 2,000 people just inside this cafeteria he said.
The number camped out on the streets has diminished but this is only a partial solution. The boat is for refugees fleeing the war in Syria and
Iraq only. For thousands of others from Pakistan to Nigeria the wait is much more, weeks or longer. They crowd outside the police station to
register in the baking sun, camped in squalid conditions.
Plus the cruise ship is only scheduled to be here until the end of the month and with as many as a thousand arriving on these shores every day Kos
may find it needs more than a boat.
Atkia Shubert, CNN, Kos, Greece.
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GORANI: Earlier I spoke with the chief spokesperson for the UNHCR. I asked Melissa Flemming what she thought of the cruise ship solution and
also about the staggering numbers of migrants we've seen. That conversation is coming up in about 20 minutes for her reaction to this
cruise ship.
It is a sort of processing center so it's better than what was there before, but is it enough? I will be putting that question to her.
A quick break. When we come back mourning and anger in Tianjin.
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GORANI: While tributes are paid to those who died in last week's massive blast officials make a series of arrests. We'll have more for you on that.
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[15:17:00] GORANI: There are no survivors from the Indonesian passenger jet that crashed in a remote jungle over the weekend.
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GORANI: Teams found the bodies of all 54 people who were onboard on Tuesday. Authorities say helicopters are preparing to evacuate the
remains.
The airliner lost contact with air traffic control Sunday during a short domestic flight. Searchers also located the planes black boxes, they were
in good condition, and those may provide clues as to why the plane went down.
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GORANI: It was a somber day in Tianjin, China, once again people stopped to remember those killed in last week's chemical blasts.
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GORANI: Fire fighters there paying tribute to their fallen colleagues many of whom were among the 114 people who were confirmed dead. 52 fire
fighters by the way remain missing and now authorities have detained several top executives of the company that own the warehouse that exploded.
Our Will Ripley is following developments from Tianjin.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The environmental consequences here in Tianjin are staggering and this can help you put it in
perspective.
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RIPLEY: These are apartments where thousands of people are supposed to be moving in in less than two months but within side of them you find things
like this. This is a barrel of chemicals an unknown chemical propelled from the explosion late Wednesday, a chemical that has a reaction to the
rain water causing white steam to come up. And we've seen this stuff lying all over here along with other chemicals.
In fact we saw hazardous materials crews out trying to clean up as much as they can. But it just underscores residents' concerns about the
environmental impact. The Chinese government took us along today and showed us one of their environmental quality monitoring stations where
they're testing the air, and the soil and the water. But for residents who have homes near the blast zone they say those assurances that all levels
are testing normally it's just not good enough for them. They have very serious concerns about the long term health consequences for them, and
especially for those who have children.
Meanwhile the Chinese government is promising to crack down on whoever's responsible for this given the magnitude of destruction. Look at that, a
good portion of Tianjin's bus fleet has been wiped out. And now we're learning that 10 top executives with Rohi International, this is the
shipping and logistics company that owned the warehouse at the center of this explosion. They were bringing in chemicals, storing them, and then
distributing them throughout China. And now there are accusations that these chemicals were being stored in perhaps illegal quantities and that
not all information was being revealed to the proper authorities.
Possible charges could include abuse of power and criminal negligence. This as today marks the seventh day since the explosion and in Chinese
tradition it is a time for the families of the 114 at least confirmed dead, and the dozens more who are missing to stop and pay condolences to those
who have been lost.
Will Ripley, CNN, Tianjin, China.
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GORANI: To South Africa now. The family of the late Nelson Mandela is coping with a pretty sizable scandal. This time one of his grandson's is
facing rape charges further tarnishing the image of the former President's family.
David McKenzie is in Johannesburg with more.
[15:20:12] DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The grandson of South African icon Nelson Mandela has been arrested and charged with the
rape of a minor according to a senior member of South Africa's police service.
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MCKENZIE: Mbuso Mandela, a 24 year old, is accused of raping a 15 year old girl in the suburb of Greenside, an area north of downtown which is a
popular bar and restaurant strip. Mbuso Mandela's lawyer told CNN that they haven't yet entered a plea and that the investigations are in their
early stages.
Since the death of Nelson Mandela his extended family has been embroiled in several scandals that have deeply embarrassed South Africans who view
Nelson Mandela with a saint like status.
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MCKENZIE: Mbuso Mandela will be in court later this week where he should get a bail hearing.
David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg, South Africa.
GORANI: The Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to show his flair for adventure.
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GORANI: That is Putin right there in the Khaki uniform getting into a mini submarine earlier today and going to the bottom of the Black Sea. He went
down 83 meters to see an ancient ship discovered off the coast of Crimea. President Putin is there to try and market it as a tourism destination
following Russia's annexation of Crimea. And surprisingly perhaps the area has struggled to attract vacationers. And the continued violence in
Eastern Ukraine is not helping that is for sure.
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GORANI: Coming up, CNN's latest poll on the U.S. Republican contenders is out.
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GORANI: And once again Donald Trump is dominating. We'll speak to our political director to digest the numbers, stay with us.
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GORANI: In the race for the U.S. Presidency he may be causing controversy after controversy but it doesn't seem to be hurting Donald Trump in the
polls at all.
He is the clear Republican frontrunner in the new CNN ORC Poll, way ahead of Jeb Bush and Ben Carson.
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GORANI: Trump won the support of 24% of Republican voters with Bush winning 13%, Carson is at 9%. 8% favor both Scott Walker and Marco Rubio.
The other candidates drop off from there.
Trump also gained the most in the poll of six points I should say not 6%, 6% points since July. This is the first CNN poll since the top candidates
debated on August 6th.
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GORANI: Let's get more now to understand what these numbers mean, CNN's Political Director David Chalian joins me now live from Washington.
Let's look first of all David at the overall numbers here. Why is Trump still so much in the lead? In fact he's solidifying his position as a
frontrunner.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: That's exactly right Hala, he's moved basically from fascination and celebrity to serious contender for the
Republican Party nomination.
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CHALIAN: There's still a long way to go obviously before the voting starts in February but he is consolidating his lead. 24%, he's got one out of
every four Republican voters in his camp well ahead of the competition. And if you look at how he's doing across the issue areas on the economy, on
immigration, on the ability to battle ISIS, he is dominating his opponents by wide margins. The Republicans in this poll trust him more than any of
the others to handle those big issues.
[15:25:09] GORANI: OK, we realize that part of the reason is because establishment candidates are seen so unfavorably. He is presenting himself
and selling himself quite well as the anti-establishment, honest, genuine, authentic, even if he says offensive things candidate and it's working for
him.
But here's one surprising result from this poll. He's more popular with women than with men. 60% of Republican women have a positive opinion of
Donald Trump. 57% of men. After everything he's said and the words he's used to describe women in the past, his tiff with Megyn Kelly of Fox News,
how do you explain this result?
CHALIAN: I was out in Iowa this weekend at the state fair with Donald Trump out there and I talked to a lot of Republican women who are very
excited about his candidacy. They thing his Tiff with Megyn Kelly was simply the media trying to take on Donald Trump again and he beat that
back.
One of the things I heard over, and over and over again is that irrespective if you're a man or a woman, these folks that are attracted to
his candidacy love the fact that he takes on the press, that he tells it like it is exactly like you're saying. I mean there's no better brand sort
of marketing expert than Donald Trump and he's doing that now to great political appeal with his policy position such as on immigration. But also
just his ability to not sound like any other politician. As you said, very, very much opposed to the establishment.
GORANI: But let's, I mean let's try to project ourselves forward here a few months. I mean just a few weeks ago Donald Trump was dismissed as a
side show, a reality T.V. star, an ego maniac who is just trying to sort of promote himself by running for President. But he has no chance.
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GORANI: Does he have a chance now? Are people starting to take him seriously as potentially the man who will win the nomination?
CHALIAN: I will tell you that for the first time since he's been in the race in the last week or so I have heard Republican operatives who are
running and managing all his opponents campaigns starting to take him much more seriously as a potential threat for the nomination.
They were treating him much like some summer sideshow as you were saying initially. But now I hear from lots of Republicans that as long as there
remain 16 candidates not named Trump who are splitting up the rest of the vote he has the ability in that kind of large field to consolidate and
remain a real power through this process.
Now I don't know that we, you know, can say today that he's going to be the nominee or not. In fact in our poll 58% of Republicans tell us they think
the party would be worse off, not better off, for the General Election if Donald Trump is their nominee. So he's still got a lot of work to do. And
24% is probably not where you need to be to win the nomination at the end of the day when it's going to come down to one, or two, or three
candidates.
But right now, he's in the driver's seat. He's dominating the conversation, he's setting the agenda. Every other candidate is responding
to him and for establishment folks like Jeb Bush or Scott Walker they're kind of fading into the background right now.
GORANI: Right, certainly in the polls not at all anywhere near where Donald Trump is, David Chalian, thanks very much for joining us from
Washington.
CHALIAN: Thank you.
GORANI: Let's hopefully speak again soon. Coming up - Thai police now have a suspect in an attack on a Shrine popular with tourists in Bangkok.
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GORANI: You can see that suspect in the yellow t-shirt there in the grainy surveillance video, details on the investigation next.
And desperate people are pouring into Greece and Italy by the tens of thousands. But the U.N. says it is nothing Europe cannot handle.
My conversation with the UNHCR's Chief Spokesperson is straight ahead.
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[15:31:15] GORANI: Welcome back, here's a look at your top stories. And in Thailand police now have a central suspect in Monday's attack on a
popular Hindu Shrine in Bangkok.
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They say they are very sure the man highlighted in this video carried out the attack. In the clip you see the man is sitting down on a bench and
removing his black backpack, then he walks away leaving the backpack behind and not long after that the bomb went off.
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GORANI: The U.N. says 160,000 migrants have entered Greece so far this year. That is a huge increase from 2014, nearly 400%.
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GORANI: This cruise ship is docked in the port city of Kos. It is a temporary processing center for those trying to enter Europe.
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GORANI: Well it was a somber day in Tianjin, China, as people stopped to remember those killed in last week's chemical blast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Fire fighters there are paying tribute to their fallen colleagues many of whom were among the 114 people confirmed dead. And also 52 fire
fighters remain missing.
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GORANI: Nelson Mandela's 24 year old grandson has been charged with raping a minor.
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GORANI: South African Police say Mbuso Mandela sexually assaulted a 15 year old girl at a restaurant more than a week ago. A bail hearing is set
for Friday.
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GORANI: We're learning more about the 22 people killed in an attack on a Hindu Shrine in Bangkok. Many were foreigners including a British
national.
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GORANI: Media reports say Vivian Chan Wing-yan was a law student at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Two Malaysian nationals also died
in the blast, along with two people from Hong Kong.
Senior international correspondent Nick Robertson joins me now with more on the attack investigation.
All right, let's talk about that surveillance video because we clearly see that man in the yellow t-shirt taking his backpack off, he's sitting on a
bench, and authorities are saying, he's the bomber.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He's the bomber, he takes it off, he puts the bomb under the bench. And they're saying as well
that they can now say that the bomb that went off today didn't injure anyone, it went off in the water.
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ROBERTSON: They say it was a large bombe, they can't say quite how large because it went off in the water but they are saying it's exactly the same
as the bomb that was put under the bench.
GORANI: Do we know I mean - do we know anything more about this suspect here in the yellow t-shirt?
ROBERTSON: The police clearly have some information because they're saying now, they don't have a claim or responsibility, they don't know who it is
but they are saying that a Thai national was involved. The foreigners involved they say that is still a working progress but that clearly means .
GORANI: They're not saying he's a Thai national. They're saying a Thai national is involved so there could be a second suspect.
ROBERTSON: And they're saying that this man is the bomber. And they haven't named or shown video footage of anyone else yet.
The implication is that he may be a Thai but we don't know that. And from this video it is hard to tell.
GORANI: And so this is very grainy video but is he wearing a disguise, it looks like he might be.
ROBERTSON: He could have been. This is an area that's used by young backpackers, it's used by elderly people visiting the Shrines there. At
that time of day it's a really busy location. So it could be.
You know when you look at that t-shirt it looks like something that's as little big that can be taken off and discarded so he won't be picked out in
the crowd later perhaps.
GORANI: And today's explosions authorities are saying it is basically the same kind of bomb.
ROBERTSON: Yes.
GORANI: So they suspect the same group or person or .
ROBERTSON: The implication is .
GORANI: . people.
ROBERTSON: . They've said beyond that they're saying it's exactly the same bomb so the implication is that it's the same group or person involved.
This one was thrown from a motorcycle they say.
GORANI: OK. Well of course we don't know if it's a person or if it's a group, authorities may have more information but what are the most likely
theories at this stage?
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[15:35:01] ROBERTSON: Somebody trying to cause political instability. This is a - this is a military led government, they took power last year so
that could be the root of this violence. But it would be atypical of the sort of political violence, it hasn't been on this scale, these number of
causalities.
Concern about perhaps ISIS, Southeast Asia, 600 people mostly from Malaysia and Indonesia have gone to join ISIS, and Iraq and Syria concern about some
of those returning. But that again seems unlikely.
GORANI: It's not really their MO either.
ROBERTSON: Well their MO is dastardly bombs that target innocent civilians and kill a lot of people, but perhaps where experts are sort of looking
mostly to now.
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ROBERTSON: Southern Thailand, along the border with Malaysia, indigenous Malay Muslim and Thai Muslim is how they would describe themselves - is how
they are described by the government. Malay Muslin is how they would describe themselves. Separatists insurgency it's been going on for about
12 years.
GORANI: But that it.
ROBERTSON: . The death toll in the early days were quite high. It's been going down but this year.
GORANI: But it's at. I was going to say sorry to interrupt it's extremely unusual for those insurgents to strike outside of their own territory.
ROBERTSON: They had their first strike outside of their territory in May this year, a car bomb that went off, and it injured seven people, it could
have been much worse.
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ROBERTSON: But their attacks, they're ramped up their attacks, March, April, May, June this year they've ramped up their attacks. In the month
of May alone they have made 50 IEDs, 33 have gone off, 7 have been caught, there is 60,000 government troops down there, this is an area the size of
Connecticut, it's 500 miles away from Bangkok, it seems very remote for the capital.
But this is something that's been going on and the sense is that these rebels feel with this military led government their voice isn't getting
heard. The previous government they were in talks, peace talks, nothing's happening now, they're getting frustrated, that's the concern.
GORANI: That's one of the theories. Nick Robertson, thanks very much for the latest on the investigation.
CNN of course has been covering Europe's migrant crisis very closely. Key milestones convey the scope of the problem like the staggering number we
heard today. 160,000 people flooding Greece, Greece alone.
We've also introduced you to some of the people so desperate to leave their homes that they will face the real possibility of death for a chance of a
better life. Here's a reminder of what we've seen this year.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: [Video] Rescuers are combing the sea this hour for survivors after a boat packed with migrants overturned between Libya and
Lampedusa. Authorities say up to 700 people were on board.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: [Video] They are not sea worthy vessels at all, they don't have good motors.
ADRIAN EDWARDS, UNHCR SPOKESMAN: [Video] UNHCR now believes the number of fatalities there have been over 800 making this the deadliest incident in
the Mediterranean that we have recorded.
WALSH: [Video] You've seen where the victims of this continental trade and misery end up in boats adrift.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: [Video] living in tense and squalid conditions under a Paris bridge, this wasn't the life these people had hoped for when they
fled their homeland.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: [Video] There may only be a 6km distance between Turkey and Greece but the journey is still very much a Perilous one.
WILLIAM SPINDLER, UNHCR: [Video] Unprecedented number of refugees fleeing the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and other places have been arriving in the
last few weeks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An estimated 3,000 migrants live in tents in the beleaguered port of Calais waiting for a chance to cross the English
Channel.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Migrants storm a road in Calais making a desperate dash for open vehicles to hide in.
GORANI: [Video] They say they'll do anything because Britain holds the promise of a better future, something they tell me they are just not
finding here in France.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thousands squat at this area from Sudan, Eretria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and many other regions in crisis.
PHILIP HAMMOND, U.K. FOREIGN SECRETARY: We've got to distinguish genuine asylum seekers fleeing persecution from economic migrants seeking a better
standard of living.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [Video] I see we are in a third world country, no toilets, no water, is this Europe? If this is Europe we're going back to
Syria.
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GORANI: We told you earlier this hour about the cruise ship docked in Kos, Greece designed to process and welcome migrants flooding the city because
it was so chaotic just a few days ago. Remember when we were telling you about how so many of them were locked inside a sports stadium for 24 hours.
This ship is just one partial and temporary solution to a problem that the United Nations says is only growing.
Melissa Flemming is the Chief Spokesperson for the UNHCR. I spoke to her earlier and began by asking her what she thought of this ship and its
impact on the crisis.
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MELISSA FLEMMING, CHIEF OF COMMUNICATIONS, UNHCR: Well, it's not enough but it's a solution, it's a creative solution for a temporary solution.
What we need are longer term solutions because it doesn't look like this stream of people seeking safety in Europe is going to stop.
[15:40:09] GORANI: And yes, let's talk about the numbers I mean in terms of Kos, in terms of Greece alone we're looking at several times just in the
first eight months of the year the number of refugees than the whole of 2014. What does Europe need to do to respond here because it doesn't seem
to have a plan to take all these people in.
FLEMMING: Yes, well obviously this is a problem for Europe, it's not just a problem for Greece. Greece happens to be a border country and it also
happens to be a country in crisis and financial crisis as we all know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLEMMING: But a country also that doesn't have the asylum system in place as more sophisticated countries in the north do.
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FLEMMING: So it does not really have the capacity. We do believe that Greece could do more to beef up its infrastructure, to receive people in
dignity, so that they wouldn't - they don't have to suffer upon their arrival. We are hoping in the future there'll be more possibilities to
regularize the arrivals of people coming to Europe's shores so that the onward movement is not another dangerous journey for refugees to have to
undergo.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Even the Commissioner himself, Antonio Guterres, has said as diplomatically as U.N. Diplomats say things but he has said essentially
Germany and Sweden, those two countries by the way have taken tens of thousands of refugees many from Syria, are bearing too much of the burden.
I mean in a way essentially saying the rest of Europe is not doing enough. And when you look at the numbers they're taking in very, very small
numbers.
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FLEMMING: That's right. I mean Germany and Sweden together are taking in you know almost 45 to 50% of the refugees. Today Germany predicted that
there could be up to 750,000 asylum seekers this year. And that there needs to be a system in Europe moving forward where all asylum systems are
strong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLEMMING: Of course people are going to seek asylum in the countries that are going to receive them, to process them, and to work on their
integration and not all countries in Europe have those systems in place and that's where refugees are just transiting through.
GORANI: But look at the numbers though I mean why is there so much resistance in Europe? Really a group of very rich countries compared to
countries like Turkey or Lebanon when the number in terms of the percentage of the total European population is tiny. Why so much resistance?
FLEMMING: It is minuscule. I mean compared to the 4 million refugees in the neighboring countries and we really have to keep that in mind. It is -
it is a number that of course Europe can manage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FLEMMING: It's just probably it being so unusual, the press attention to the, you know, large numbers of people on boats and crossing borders. The
fact that a lot of it is irregular that people have to resort to using illegal routes, notorious smugglers. This is in a way doesn't do them any
favors. We emphasize that this is a true refugee crisis. The majority of people arriving on Europe's shores are fleeing Syria, they're fleeing
Afghanistan, Iraq, Eritrea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLEMMING: These are people in need of international protection, in need of asylum, and we believe that Europe is for the most part doing the right
thing but much more needs to be done.
GORANI: Melissa Flemming of the UNHCR. We'd like to hear from you, go on my Facebook page, Facebook.com/halagoranicnn, let me know what you'd like
us to cover and what you think of what we've covered in the program today. But there's lot more to come, don't go anywhere there's a quick break.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: When we come up - when we come back up a new CNN poll shows Donald Trump ahead of the field on a host of issues including illegal immigration.
We will take a look at his controversial proposals. We'll be right back.
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[15:46:08] GORANI: Well, as we reported earlier this hour Donald Trump is still very much the clear Republican frontrunner in the new CNN ORC Poll
ahead of Jeb bush and Ben Carson.
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GORANI: Trump won the support of 24% of Republican voters with Bush winning 13% and Carson at 9.
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GORANI: The poll shows that Donald Trump has won over Republicans on several key issues including illegal immigration. 44% of voters said they
trusted him over other candidates on the issue, he's been very vocal about it. And that is up 30 percentage points since June.
Tom Forman takes a look at Trump's controversial immigration proposals.
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TOM FOREMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Close to 700 miles of the 2,000 mile border with Mexico is already fenced and heavily monitored.
Finishing the job with a state of the art wall and it would take to secure that border could cost close to $33 million per mile based on one
government estimate. Whatever the cost, Trump says, no problem.
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: [Video] I will build a great, great, wall on our southern border and I will have Mexico pay for
that wall.
FOREMAN: If Mexico won't play along, Trump imposes a torrent of fees on Mexican citizens, Corporate CEOs and Diplomats who visit the U.S. Possibly
tariffs and cuts to foreign aid too. But Mexico is the United States third largest trading partner and all of that could cost the U.S. as well so his
opponents are not impressed.
CHRIS CHRISTIE: U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: [Video] And this is not a negotiation of a real estate deal, this is international diplomacy
and it's different.
FOREMAN: Trump also wants to deal with the 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. The deportation rate has been near 400,000 per year
but to get rid of all those folks deportations would have to sore almost 28 times higher. And even if he's talking about only those with criminal
records it's not clear how he would find them or fund it.
And then there is the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, which says "All persons born in the United States are Citizens of the United States."
Trump wants to change that. Arguing that if two people are here illegally and have a baby that child should not automatically be a U.S. Citizen.
But legal scholars say that would require changing the constitution so even many proponents of the idea admit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will be litigated, there isn't any doubt about it.
FOREMAN: In other words, Trump can say he'll end the birth right rule, but he can't do it even if he were pressed.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Coming up, don't be surprised to see wine on the menu at more Starbucks across the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: I'll explain after this.
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[15:50:32] GORANI: The Pentagon is now sending military troops to help fire fighters in the Western United States.
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GORANI: That's because the situation with wildfires is so bad. It's the first time they're doing this since 2006.
The military is also helping with C130 transport planes equipped to drop very large quantities of fire retardant.
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GORANI: 25,000 fire fighters are already on the lines and that's a huge effort. Meteorologist Tom Sater has more from the CNN, Center.
Are they making any headway here because with the help of the military at least they've got these huge plane loads of fire retardant.
TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well the military personnel Hala's really going to help just control the grunt work. They can work some of the fire
lines and give the more experienced fire fighters time to get to the bigger blazes. It's been quite a summer for the entire northern hemisphere.
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SATER: Fires in Russia, mainly in Siberia, down to Greece and Albania, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, but nothing like we've seen in North
America. And this is just ongoing and we're not even half way through the fire season and we haven't seen anything quite like it now the numbers are
a little deceiving. Take a look at this.
Total U.S. wildfires almost 41,000 but a ten year average is 50. Well you would think that things are going OK. But what you do not know here and
this is confusing these are much larger fires. It may take a thousand of the 10 year to add up to one. They're so much bigger, it is so dry,
they're burning longer and really just exhausting the entire resources of every agency around with 2 million more acres across this year than we've
ever seen.
Now here is the drought for the Western U.S. 42% is severe, 23 extreme. We know about the four year drought in parts of California. 10 states, over
100 fires, 82 are large fires. So this really tells you something and that's why Canada is sending help, Australia, New Zealand. I mean this is
amazing.
Now there are five levels, no need to read them, just the fifth one because we're now at the highest level. Geographic areas experienced major
incidents that have the potential to exhaust all agency fire sources.
In 1996 the U.S. Fire Wild Life Agency spent 16% of their budget fighting fires, this year's it's over 50% and there's a long way to go. I've never
seen a number like this. 6,000 maybe the highest, three weeks ago maybe 10,000, now over 25,000 fire fighters. And speaking of exhausting, I mean
they've been working 16 hour days minimal, no help from mother nature.
Let me show you some of the pictures here. The first one up in Washington State, I mean talk about some major fire power here to try to drop these
repellants, anything you can, the retardants that is, and of course water bombing flights are being made.
Other wildfire pictures will tell you this, when it comes to the state of California, they are 1800mm behind in rainfall on this four year drought.
They need three times what they typically get in the whole year, to end this drought, that's 50% more than the rainiest year ever. And they're not
going to have that even though it's an el nino year.
So we're hoping that the winds will die down a little bit but they're going to be picking up in the next couple of days and the temperatures will as
well Hala. We're going to need help from many nations of course to fight this across all of North America. Canada's had a rough summer too.
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GORANI: All right, Tom Sater, thanks very much. So Tom, I don't know if when you go to Starbucks you'd be happy to see wine served or not. I don't
usually go to Starbucks for alcohol but Starbucks lovers are looking for an extra buzz - who are looking for an extra buzz are getting a treat this
week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: The coffee giant is adding alcohol to the menu at five more of its locations bringing the total number of shops that sell booze to 70 across
the United States. The company is hoping to expand the program to thousands of its stores over the next five years. So what is going on?
Let's check in with CNN money correspondent, Cristina Alesci, who joins us from our New York Bureau.
What's the strategy here because I didn't even know there was a single Starbucks shop that served alcohol. What are they trying to achieve?
CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: That's because it's a U.S. thing and they're actually going to open possibly more than five stores, it's
five markets that they're going to add stores that serve alcohol. That's New York City, Denver, Orlando, Miami, and Northern California.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALESCI: And what's interesting about this strategy is that Starbucks realized a couple of years ago that its sales were trailing off after 4pm.
So this is an effort to increase those sales after 4pm which kind of makes sense because drink a lot more coffee in the morning, although I drink it
all day, so.
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[15:55:05] ALESCI: But it's going to be difficult for them to get to the kind of aggressive goal that they're looking to get to.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALESCI: Which is 2,000 stores by about 2019, 2020 in the U.S. out of their 12,000 stores. And it's already taken them five years to get to 70 because
the first store to serve alcohol was actually in Seattle back in 2010.
This is a program called Starbucks Evenings. So it's been out there and it's not just alcohol, it's also small plates like Truffle Mac & Cheese,
and some other things they think will pair well with beer and wine, Hala.
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GORANI: Right, well I wonder if it'll come in the Starbucks cup that way you could, you know sort of discretely sip your gin and tonic without
anyone knowing what's in there.
ALESCI: I like that.
GORANI: But has it worked in the previous stores? I mean are they making money off of that is that why they want to expand it.
ALESCI: It's too small to really tell how much they're making off of it and it's such - it's only 70 locations. What the company has said is that
it would like to generate a billion dollars in extra sales by introducing alcohol in the 2,000 stores by 2020. But again it's fairly aggressive and
it's unclear. You know a billion dollars is a lot of money but you have to put it in the context of about $16 million in overall topline number.
So I mean, yes a billion dollars is a lot but for Starbucks maybe not so much.
GORANI: All right, Cristina Alesci, thanks very much. The U.S. President might roll into town on Air Force One but Britain's Prime Minister has to
make do with an Easy Jet flight and a packet of Paprika Pringles.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: This video has gone viral after it was taken by a fellow passenger, a teenager by the way who spotted David Cameron flying on the
budget airline.
The 16 year old twitter user who posted it wrote "I was three seats away from David Cameron on my flight to Portugal guys, I'm crying he was eating
pringles!"
For those wondering the crisps are believed to have been, as I mentioned, Paprika flavoring. Some people thought that was actually more surprising
than the fact he was flying Easy Jet. This and his - I think there was a bodyguard with him there as well, at least he got.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right, this has been The World Right Now, I'm Hala Gorani, thanks for watching, Quest Means Business is up next.
END
