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Migrants Face Harsh Conditions in Hungarian Camp; Stopping War in Syria Has No Easy Answers; U.S., Russia, Tensions over Syria Involvement; Chinese Imports and Exports Fall in August; North Korean Defector Describes Life There as "Hell on Earth"; Germany's Plan for Migrants; Weather Highlights; U.K. Drone Kills ISIS Fighters in Syria; Authorities Analyze Tweet from "El Chapo's" Son; Archeologists Unearth Superhenge in Southwest England; WORLD SPORT Highlights. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired September 08, 2015 - 00:00   ET

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


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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): As thousands more migrants pour into Europe there are promises of aid and shelter.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Plus CNN goes one-on-one with a North Korean defector. Why he believes Kim Jong-un's days are numbered.

VAUSE: Archaeologists make a discovery which only expands the mysteries of Stonehenge.

ASHER: Hello, a warm welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Zain Asher.

VAUSE: Great to have you with us. I'm John Vause. CNN NEWSROOM begins right now.

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VAUSE: Two hours from now in Paris French president Francois Hollande will open a special U.N. conference and Europe's migrant crisis is expected to be front and center. This comes amid growing frustration between European leaders and the migrants themselves.

ASHER: Hollande has already announced France is going to take in about 24,000 refugees as part of a European Commission proposal to settle 120,000 refugees over the next two years.

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FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): It is our responsibility and my responsibility to urgently respond and also to make choices. France is ready to take part and to play its role.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: Prime Minister David Cameron says Britain will take in 20,000 refugees over the next five years from camps in countries which border Syria, not those who have already entered Europe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CAMERON, PRIME MINISTER, GREAT BRITAIN: We are proposing that Britain should resettle up to 20,000 Syrian refugees over the rest of this Parliament. In doing so we'll continue to show the world that this country is a country of extraordinary compassion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Chancellor Angela Merkel says Germany is going to be coming up with another $3.4 billion in addition to nearly $3 billion already set aside.

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ANGELA MERKEL, CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY (through translator): I'm happy that Germany has become a country with which a lot of people outside of Germany actually associate with hope. That's a very positive picture.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: But in Hungary, hundreds of migrants in a relocation center have clashed with police. Many are angry they've been held for days in a camp littered with trash, with little food and not enough blankets as nighttime temperatures plunge.

ASHER: CNN's international correspondent Arwa Damon is on the Hungarian-Serbian border and shows us the misery the migrants are facing.

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ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the reaction of a desperate people who just want to keep going. Trying to force their way through the police line, but fail. They simply can't take the conditions here anymore.

This is what awaits them when they cross into Hungary. It's meant to be a holding site, but they end up waiting for days for the buses to arrive amid the filth with little to no shelter and just a small local non-profit to help.

In the tiny medical tent, a little boy who collapsed. Exhaustion and dehydration, we are told. Most are refugees from the wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. They fled to save themselves and their children.

Fouad Abdullah Aziz (ph) saw ISIS take over his city, his children exposed to the rotting corpses of their victims in the main squares. Still, the boys are homesick and on fused.

DAMON: Along the road he keeps telling his daddy, I want to go home.

DAMON (voice-over): All Fouad (ph) can respond is, "God is good, the day will come when we will go back home."

His only memento from Syria, tightly wrapped in plastic to protect it during the sea crossing, his barber kit, a trade he can no longer practice in Syria under ISIS.

"It was forbidden; you can't cut beards and your hair has to be one length," he tells us.

Home as they knew it is gone. It's what drives most to make the journey.

"I am an old woman. I ran from Assad's brutality," this woman shouts, "and they put me here in the sun? I lost my home, my everything. All I have left are my sons."

The injustice of all they have been through boiling over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my life.

DAMON (voice-over): They are both led on but the bottleneck of humanity intensifies as others continue to arrive -- Arwa Damon, CNN, on the Hungary-Serbia border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: For months European leaders have said there are no easy answers to this.

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VAUSE: It's a complex problem which cannot be fixed overnight.

Then there is the wisdom of a 13-year-old boy who managed to explain the refugee crisis in 32 words.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mama said, please help the Syrians. The Syrians need help now. You just stop the war. And we don't want to go to Europe. Just stop the war in Syria. Just that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Just stop the war. That really is the issue here at least for more than 4 million Syrians who fled their own country. If there wasn't a war, they wouldn't have left.

Joining us now to tell us there are no easy answers and it's a complex problem to try to stop the war in Syria is our military analyst, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona.

Colonel, thank you for being with us. Everything the U.S. allies have been trying to do in Syria just

doesn't seem to be working right now. A key component of that is the training of the moderate rebels.

What exactly has gone wrong there?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, the numbers just aren't there, John. The goal was to train 15,000 Syrian rebels, moderate Syrian rebels, that were going to be vetted, trained, sent back into Syria. They were going to be our boots on the ground, they were going to be the primary force that was going to take on ISIS.

The numbers just aren't there. If you look at the numbers, what we've got, we've actually sent in less than 100. The problem is the vetting. You have to find people you trust, provide (INAUDIBLE) tried to have -- it failed miserably because they're going into a very complex situation in which they're feeding out (ph) alliances and all these (INAUDIBLE), they're fighting each other.

So it's a very complicated problem and I understand the problems the Americans are facing, but there's no easy solution here.

VAUSE: You touched on it, these moderate rebels were meant to be the boots on the ground essentially for a war-shy West.

If they don't cut it, if you don't get the numbers, does the entire plan fall apart?

FRANCONA: It does. One of these solutions that people have talked about is the use of Kurds as the boots on the ground because the Kurds are a very effective fighting force. They've demonstrated that. They were successful in Kobani (INAUDIBLE) with American air cover back in (INAUDIBLE). People have said, well, let's use that as the model.

The problem is the Turks do not want that. And we've had to make some deals with the Turks. I think part of our deal with the Turks to use those air bases. which are very important is we've not had Kurds involved in any of this fight against ISIS in that area that they want to set up as a safe zone. So we are forced to rely on these moderate Syrian rebels and that's just not working.

VAUSE: And you mentioned Turkey, there is this announcement of stepped up Turkish air power working with the U.S. to try and establish these safe zones.

And, again, without ground forces, can they deliver on that promise of a safe zone?

FRANCONA: I don't think they can. You know, we've talked about this before. Really, to declare a safe zone, to really say that we're going to move ISIS out of this area, but somebody has to physically go in there and do it.

And the ground force we're training is not capable of that. The Turkish army is not going to do it, we're not going to commit ground boots. So we're reliant on these boots on the ground, this moderate Syrian rebel force, not going to happen.

If we can come to some accommodation with the Kurds, we have got a chance of making it happen. Failing that, I don't see how this resolves itself.

VAUSE: We're talking about direct involvement; the U.S. says no, the allies say no. But there are these reports out there that the Russians may, in fact, be saying yes, at least when it comes supporting Bashar al-Assad.

Do you see that as some kind of indication that maybe the regime, the Assad regime, is moving toward collapse?

FRANCONA: I think so. And we've seen this over the past several months as the Assad regime is pulling back. Even the president has said in his speeches that we're going to give up areas that are not as important and focus on keeping our strategic areas.

So he's pulled back further toward Damascus. And the Russians see this as a sign of collapse. And it looks like they're getting ready to intervene. This is just going to complicate things even worse. It's not bad enough that we've got ISIS, the Iranians, the moderate Syrian rebels, the Free Syrian Army, the Al Qaeda affiliate; now we're going to introduce yet another combatant.

This is just very, very complex and is just going to complicate the political solution that eventually has to happen.

VAUSE: Yes, Hezbollah, the Al-Nusra Front. It's a big mess, to say the least. Col. Francona, thank you for being with us. We appreciate it.

FRANCONA: Good to be with you, John.

ASHER: We want to go to Moscow now, where Matthew Chance has more on the importance of the Syrian region to the Kremlin and why the U.S. has rising concerns about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's an escalation in this fighting that Washington says is among its chief concerns, if reports of Russia deploying extra forces to Syria prove accurate.

Over the weekend the U.S. secretary of state also warned his Russian counterpart of an increase in refugees and of the risk of confrontation with anti-ISIS forces. The State Department's alarm giving what are still --

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CHANCE (voice-over): -- unconfirmed reports the degree of credibility. But evidence in the public domain of increased Russian military involvement in Syria remains thin.

Recent combat images broadcast on Syrian state television are one strand of evidence. Analysts say this Russian-made armored vehicle is of a modern type not previously seen in Syria and appears to be painted in Russian army camouflage.

There's also speculation that Russian voices can be heard amid one battle scene. Russia, of course, freely admits sending weapons and advisers to assist its Syrian ally. The allegation that Russia is preparing a major military deployment, though, is categorically denied.

Speaking in Vladivostok last week, President Putin called the reports premature. Russia directly engaging ISIS in Syria, he said, is not on our agenda, not yet.

CHANCE: The Kremlin makes no secret of its deep alarm at the prospect of its key ally in the Middle East being toppled; if Bashar al-Assad falls, so, too, may Russian influence in the region. Moscow also has a strategic naval base at Tartus in Syria, Russia's only Mediterranean port, so has a strong interest in maintaining support for the Syrian regime and maybe even expanding it.

CHANCE (voice-over): But Russia also has genuine security concerns about ISIS. The group's fighters, like these showing off a Russian- made warplane captured on the battle fields of Syria, identify Russia as a key enemy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language) Vladimir Putin.

CHANCE (voice-over): "This is a message to you, Vladimir Putin," one ISIS fighter says, "these are your jets that you sent to Bashar al- Assad. We will send them back," he promises.

It may be just bravado, but with a simmering Islamist insurgency of its own and hundreds of Russians known to have joined ISIS ranks, this is a threat the Kremlin takes very seriously -- Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN, there is more evidence of China's slowing economy; imports and exports are both down. Live to Hong Kong after the break for the latest reaction on the financial markets.

ASHER: Plus an interview with a significant North Korean defector who describes living in the Communist country as, quote, "hell on Earth." That's coming up.

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VAUSE (voice-over): Live pictures from Tibet, where Chinese leaders are there to mark 50 years since it became an autonomous region. The grand ceremony is being held at the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet's capital.

About 20,000 people are expected to attend these celebrations. The Tibetan government in exile says Beijing, though, is rewriting history, disputing the claim Tibet has always been part of China, blaming that as an excuse for continued Chinese occupation.

According to state media, a senior Chinese official speaking in Lhasa today said there would be no letup on the government crackdown on separatists and dissidents.

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ASHER: Staying in Asia now, new trade figures shows China's economy continues to weaken. Both imports and exports fell sharply for the month of August and that could really be a drag on world financial markets.

VAUSE: Let's see how they're performing in the region right now. We can see Hong Kong flat pretty much. Shanghai down by almost 1.5 percent. Similar story in Japan with the Nikkei. In Australia, though, the S&P SX200 up by almost three quarters of one percent.

ASHER: For more on the latest trade numbers I want to bring in CNN's Asia Pacific editor, Andrew Stevens, who's joining us live now from Beijing.

So Andrew, we're just getting these trade surplus numbers. We're seeing that imports fell which, indicate that domestic demand is potentially weakening. My question to you, is what does that say about the state of China's economy and what potential impact could that have, not just on China's markets but of course on U.S. financial markets as well when they open?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in China, if you look at those numbers and they are not good at all. The bad news just keeps on piling up for the state of China's economy. Those imports you're talking about, down 14.3 percent in August, that is a big fall and a much bigger fall than expected.

We have to take into account the fact that the price of commodities of the incoming raw materials that China imports so much of has also been falling in price. So that will distort the actual number, make it look a little bit worse than it is because the values are falling.

Even so, this clearly shows an economy, a domestic economy that is not buying nearly the same amount of goods that it was -- certainly international goods as well. On top of that you have exports also weak, down by 6 percent, a little more than 6 percent.

And even though that's a slight improvement, Zain, on the previous month, it does show that China's export engine is not going to be able to carry this economy, certainly not going to drive it back out of the slowdown that's going through at the moment.

Interestingly if you look at those export numbers, the exports are rising to the U.S., which says the U.S. is strengthening and they're also going -- it's strengthening in the ASEAN, the neighboring countries around China.

Europe and Japan are weaker, though. So it doesn't really change the outlook too much for what the Fed may do, which is what investors are watching at the moment. China is slowing down now, waiting to see how strong the U.S. economy is and whether we'll get the rate increase later this month.

ASHER: I also want to ask you, Andrew, looking at the numbers right now, the Shanghai Composite is down about -- at least a couple of minutes ago -- down about 1.3 percent, 1.4 percent. So obviously there's been extreme market volatility.

My question to you is what, sort of long-term reforms in the wake of all this volatility are we going to see from the Chinese government?

STEVENS: Well, it's very much reforming, sort of needs must at the moment. We've had new news out --

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STEVENS: -- today saying that the Chinese government is going to scrap tax on dividend payments. So when you get a dividend on your stock ownership you used to pay tax, that will now be scrapped. Also the circuit breakers we're talking about, which is not so much trying to change the direction of the market but at least some order into the crashing China stock market.

Longer term reforms really, I mean, markets are exactly what they say they are. There's a market, there are buyers and there are sellers. You have to let them decide what the prices are.

So reforms that are needed as far as internationally recognized market reforms go is just let the markets get on with the job they're designed to do, less intervention, less heavy-handed intervention from China.

It's a very delicate balance for them, of course, because they don't want to see the market crashing, so it is going to take time. There are a lot of reforms on the table that need to be done, reforming those big state-owned enterprises.

But at the moment when you have a weak, weak economy, you have a stock market which is falling rapidly, it's difficult to introduce these reforms. So even though they're needed, they could be being pushed back at the moment -- Zain.

ASHER: OK. Andrew Stevens live for us there in Beijing. Andrew, thank you so much. VAUSE: One of the suspects in last month's bombing at a Bangkok shrine has confessed to possessing illegal explosives. According to Thai police, Yusufu Mierili made the admission after he was detained trying to cross the border into Cambodia.

ASHER: The August 17th explosion which was caught on surveillance video killed 20 people and wounded dozens; in addition to the nine arrest warrants already issued, police say they're looking for two additional suspects, including this man, who they have identified as Abu Dustar Abdulrahman.

VAUSE: South Korean officials say the North has agreed to resume family reunions for those separated by the Korean War.

ASHER: One hundred people from each country are to take part in the reunions which are scheduled to take place on October 20th and 26th. The last reunions were held in February of 2014.

VAUSE: Staying in North Korea now where it seems the son has surpassed the father, at least in terms of sheer bloodthirsty brutality.

Not content to send thousands to gulags, to allow his people to starve to death, leader Kim Jong-un has gone one better than dad. A murderous rampage among his inner circle of elites -- that's according to one recent defector -- and that high-ranking defector has been talking to Kyung Lah, who joins us now live from Seoul, South Korea.

So, Kyung, what other insights did he have?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in short, he's saying that Kim Jong-un will not last. This is coming from a defector, who left North Korea very recently, just last year. And he says, because Kim Jong-un is culling among his own elites, they live gripped by fear.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAH (voice-over): To the outside world, Kim Jong-un appears overly young, at times a caricature. But to his people, there is little doubt about their dictator's capacity, says this North Korean defector.

"They are terrified," he says. "The fear grows more intense every day."

Fear that drove this defector to dare the harrowing escape out of North Korea. He agreed to speak to us only if we completely hid him in the shadows and altered his voice.

This defector, who worked among Pyongyang's elite, fears the regime would murder his family, trapped in the North, or hunt him down. But he wants the Western world to know what life under Kim Jong-un is really like.

LAH: So you think he's more of a tyrant than his father? "Kim Jong-il didn't kill people in his inner circle," he says, "but Kim Jong-un killed many of his own, purging close advisors, like his own uncle, Jang Sung-taek, his former right hand man, executed.

"After that, I thought I need to hurry up and leave this hell on Earth."

LAH: That's how it feels like in North Korea, hell on Earth?

"Yes, of course."

You see these crowds cheering and crying as Kim Jong-un approaches.

Do they believe it?

"It's blind worship, they're programmed to clap and cheer when they see Kim Jong-un on TV. But in my personal opinion, upper class elites don't believe it."

LAH: This number is quite high.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quite high.

LAH (voice-over): Seoul National University interviewed 146 North Koreans who defected in 2014, the most extensive research conducted with recent defectors. The defectors perceive internal support was highest in 2012, when Kim Jong-un took control but they believe that support has steadily dropped during his reign.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New leader.

LAH: New leader.

LAH (voice-over): "Can the new leader earn trust from his elites after the purges," he asks?

"They could be feeling anxious, their loyalty weakened. It's already happening," believes this defector.

"I can tell you for sure upper class North" --

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LAH (voice-over): "-- Koreans don't trust Kim Jong-un."

LAH: Do you see the regime lasting?

LAH (voice-over): "There is no collapse of North Korea while Kim Jong-un is alive," says this defector.

"North Korea will not collapse as long as Kim Jong-un lives."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: And the defector is making this very bold guess, we need to underscore that this is a guess on his part, that Kim Jong-un will not last more than 10 years -- John.

VAUSE: I hope he's right but I guess the question is, is it possible to verify his claims?

In the past there's been accusations that sometimes these defectors exaggerate, they tailor the message for an audience in South Korea and the West.

LAH: That is very possible. We don't know how much truth he's giving us. What we can tell you is that CNN did verify his status as a defector independently from a couple of different sources.

North Korean defectors, when they leave that culture, there needs to be an understanding of what they're leaving. They are leaving a culture of deception. They are raised in it. They have to survive in it.

So lying is a part of North Korea. When they come here, they then are plunged into a democracy, which is very difficult to navigate. Here, North Korean defectors can make a lot of money if they go to the South Korean press. The South Korean press pays for these interviews.

The more outrageous their story, the more money they can ask for. CNN does not pay for those interviews, John. We are hoping by doing that we get a little bit closer to the truth.

VAUSE: Yes. It's always typical to know what's happening inside North Korea but clearly I think we're getting some valuable information there. Thank you, Kyung.

Kyung Lah for us this hour in Seoul.

ASHER: Time for a quick break here on CNN NEWSROOM. When we come back, violence in Germany against incoming migrants, even as hundreds actually welcome them.

VAUSE: Also ahead, more Mexican officials charged in El Chapo's daring jailbreak. Details when we come back.

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VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.

ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher. Let's give you your headlines.

VAUSE: This just in to CNN: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says his country is willing to accept 20,000 Syrian refugees. Mr. Maduro says he has ordered his foreign minister to meet with members of the Syrian community but he has not offered any other details on this plan.

ASHER: Hundreds of migrants clash with police at their holding site in Hungary. They are fed up with harsh treatment and a lack of support. Some of them have been stuck in the camp near the Serbian border for three days, awaiting processing. The migrants look to head on to Germany.

VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE) court says it overturned American Amanda Knox's murder conviction because of glaring errors and deplorable carelessness in the handling of the case. In its official explanation the court says there was no evidence linking Knox and her then- boyfriend to the 2007 murder of her roommate, Meredith Kercher. Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were convicted twice and acquitted twice.

ASHER: Four more public officials in Mexico could end up behind bars charged with helping druglord Joaquin Guzman, also known as "El Chapo," helping him escape from his prison cell. Two members of Mexico's intelligence agency and two guards at the prison have now been charged. This brings the number of public officials implicated in the July escape to seven.

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VAUSE: Germany's pledging another $3.4 billion in this migrant crisis and says it's willing to accept even more refugees.

ASHER: The country is also initiating specific plans to deal with the thousands of people arriving every day.

Senior international correspondent Atika Shubert has more from Munich.

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ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They keep coming. Thousands every day at the main train station in Munich, often greeted by applauding locals or welcoming volunteers. It's no wonder that Germany is the preferred destination for so many refugees.

But not everyone in Germany welcomes the newcomers. Early Monday morning, a fire burned down a shelter for 80 refugees. Five were treated at hospital. It took 150 firefighters to put out the blaze, raising fears of yet another arson attack on immigrants.

In fact, as the number of refugees arriving climbs, so do the number of attacks. According to the interior ministry, more than 340 recorded incidents so far this year from vandalism to arson.

On Monday morning, German Chancellor Angela Merkel rallied the nation to tackle the refugee crisis with pragmatic compassion.

"We will need the voluntary support," she said.

"We already know we need 10,000 volunteers to help. This crisis is going to change our country, but I think we are up for the challenge," she said. In her speech, Merkel outlined a plan to deal with the crisis. An

additional $3 billion now set aside, bringing it to $6 billion allocated to help house, feed and find jobs for up to 800,000 refugee applicants; 150,000 temporary homes still needed to be built.

SHUBERT: As you can see, refugees already coming across here. This is the kind of reception center that German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she wants to see more of. You can hear the kind of warm welcome they're receiving.

But Chancellor Merkel also said that those who are fleeing war and persecution will be given refuge here. On the other hand, those who are deemed to come from safe and politically stable countries will be returned home.

SHUBERT (voice-over): For now, that distinction is lost on the thousands arriving here every day. They're just relieved to have a safe place for the night before thinking about what happens after tomorrow -- Atika Shubert, CNN, Munich.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: And making conditions even worse, some strong storms are forecast in the coming days now move across Southern Europe. So let's go to our meteorologist, Pedram Javaheri, who joins us with more on this right now. OK. We've got those storms moving in.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

VAUSE: And are they hitting the areas where many of these migrants are basically camping out in the open?

JAVAHERI: In the open, no. They already had other storms impact this region but there is a storm developing, as you said, that's mid- to late week I think that's going to pick up in intensity. It could be what we call a medicane, and typically takes on hurricane characteristics, we've seen this about 100 times since the 1940s.

[00:35:00]

So it doesn't happen too often. We'll break down exactly what's happening in this region.

This is what we're dealing with across the region, one of the camps there, the refugee camps out of Lebanon. An incredible sandstorm blew through this region in the past couple of days and I want to show you an impressive satellite imagery. Not often you see one, from about 35,000 kilometers up, looking down toward the land.

You see an expansive area of sand that's been blown right off of Syria out towards Cyprus. This pattern reduces visibility, makes it very hard for any sort of land tracking that is taking place over this region.

Summer temperatures have been extremely hot. That's already been very challenging for a lot of people. Now as we transition into September, the jet stream takes a nose dive that really supports some of the energy necessary for these storms to begin to get considerably stronger.

As we look at the models from Tuesday into Wednesday, particularly Wednesday afternoon, the storm that we are tracking looks pretty potent at times and, again, I want to show you the general Mediterranean climate. This is out of Greece and Athens.

Notice June, July, August, you see the dry season, then the rains continue pouring in from September and beyond that. The sea surface temperatures are certainly conducive for development of storms, 25 to 30 degrees in some spots.

I've put the areas here as far as the migrant routes across Northern Africa, parts of exiting out of Turkey on into Southeastern Europe as well and bring in the storm system for you. Comes right off areas around Eastern Spain, pushes north through Algeria, pause it for you into about the afternoon hour, say 2:00, 3:00 in the afternoon on Wednesday.

Right there, off the southern coast of Italy, where we have winds that would potentially be 75 to 90 kilometers per hour. These storms, when you see them, we've seen them in the past, one in 2014, another one in '06, another one in '95, they spawn on the order of five, six waterspouts and tornadoes near land as well. They're certainly potent. Beyond that, it moves on over land.

So this is a big story. And you know the sort of boats and dinghies and rubber boats the folks are traversing with over this region.

Something worth noting, waves don't have to be large to capsize a boat. In fact, a wave height just 30 percent of the boat's length will capsize a boat.

If you have a boat 10 meters long, a 3-meter wave height will take this boat and flip it over and this is a concern here, when you have wind speeds nearing hurricane force. It's something, if officials are watching, people that are directing the migrants, this is worth noting because Tuesday into Wednesday, definitely one of the more dangerous days so far this year to be traversing over these waters because of the storm system.

VAUSE: Just keeps getting worse, doesn't it?

JAVAHERI: Yes. It doesn't get better. These months, these storms will pick up more and the frequency will be more as well.

VAUSE: OK, Pedram, we'll talk more next hour. Thank you.

ASHER: Thank you, Pedram.

In addition to announcing help for Syrian refugees, the British prime minister says he's also taken military action in Syria for the first time. Here's our Phil Black with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) REYAAD KHAN, ISIS PROPAGANDIST: Look around you. When you sit in comfort and ask yourself, is this is how you want to die?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was Reyaad Khan, in a propaganda video released last year, calling for Westerners to join ISIS. He's shown laughing, with other fighters. He says they all want to die for their cause.

KHAN: We just want to meet our lord, we just want to give our blood and use our bodies as a bridge for Khilafah.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): Last month Khan's desire for death was fulfilled.

CAMERON: Today I can inform the house that in an act of self-defense and after meticulous planning, Reyaad Khan (ph) was killed in a precision air strike carried out on the 21st of August by an RAF remotely piloted aircraft while he was traveling in a vehicle in the area of Raqqa in Syria.

BLACK (voice-over): The British prime minister told Parliament this execution of a British citizen was entirely legal.

CAMERON: We were exercising the U.K.'s inherent right to self- defense. There was clear evidence of the individuals in question planning and directing armed attacks against the U.K.

BLACK (voice-over): The prime minister said Khan was the target but two others were also killed in the attack, including a second U.K. citizen.

This man, Rahul Amin (ph), seen in the same recruitment video.

RAHUL AMIN (PH), ISIS PROPAGANDIST: Forget everyone. Read the Quran. Read the book of Allah.

BLACK (voice-over): The prime minister's opponents demanded to know what was the information, what was the threat, could such a strike happen again?

It could, David Cameron said, but he gave few details about why it was necessary this time.

CAMERON: So the choice we were left with was think this is too difficult, throw up our hands and walk away and then wait for the chaos and terrorism to hit Britain or take the action in the national interest and neutralize the threat. And I'm sure that was the right thing to do.

BLACK (voice-over): Parliament has approved British warplanes to strike against ISIS in Iraq only, not Syria. David Cameron says this attack was a special case. Analysts say it's a dramatic shift in the British government's policies.

MICHAEL CLARKE, DIRECTOR, ROYAL UNITED SERVICE INSTITUTE: It was a pretty surprising statement because he was saying all in one go that we have extended the bombing war to Syria, that we've started extrajudicial killing of our enemies.

BLACK (voice-over): This was unprecedented. The British government's first targeted drone attack against British citizens in Syria. The prime minister hopes the British --

[00:40:00]

BLACK (voice-over): -- public will accept the decision was necessary and right -- Phil Black, CNN, London.

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VAUSE: Amid the fighting in Syria, one man sits at the head of ISIS. And we haven't heard a lot about Abu Baker al-Baghdadi, at least on a personal level until now.

ASHER: That's right. CNN senior international correspondent Atika Shubert spent time with a young Yazidi girl named Zainat (ph), who was captured by ISIS fighters. Zainat (ph) says she ended up cooking and cleaning for Baghdadi's family and there she met another captive, the American girl, Kayla Mueller.

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ZAINAT (PH), ISIS CAPTIVE (through translator): When Kayla came back to us, we asked her, why are you crying?

And Kayla told us, Baghdadi said, I'm going to marry you by force, you're going to be my wife. If you refuse, I will kill you.

When I heard what Kayla told me, I wanted to escape. I told Kayla to escape with me, but Kayla refused and she said, if I escape they will behead me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: We can't independently confirm all the particulars of Zainat's (ph) story, but Mueller's family has told CNN some of the details do, in fact, match what they found out from government officials. ISIS says Mueller was killed by a Jordanian strike inside Syria. Officials in Washington say that's just not true.

ASHER: And just an update for you, Zainat (ph) did, in fact, escape. But find out how and hear what else she had to say about being enslaved by al-Baghdadi in Atika's exclusive report. That airs Wednesday, of course, only here on CNN.

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ASHER: Italy's top court says American Amanda Knox was freed from her murder conviction because of, quote, "glaring errors and deplorable carelessness" in the handling of the case. VAUSE: The court released its official explanation on Monday of why it --

[00:45:00]

VAUSE: -- threw out Knox's second guilty verdict last month. Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted twice of killing her roommate, Meredith Kercher, back in 2007. The court said there was no evidence physically linking them to the crime.

ASHER: Four more Mexican officials are now charged with helping Joaquin Guzman, also known as El Chapo escape from prison in July.

view That now brings the number of public officials implicated in the drug lord's breakout to seven. Two members of Mexico's intelligence agency and two guards at the prison have been charged. They're accused of not alerting others to Guzman's escape.

ASHER: In the meantime, El Chapo's son is making headlines now with a tweeted photo believed to be of his father.

VAUSE: Now authorities are trying to decide if the picture is a clue to the cartel kingpin's whereabouts or maybe it's just something else. Here's Brian Todd.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sources tell CNN the seemingly harmless photo could be a tantalizing clue, a brazen taunt or a brilliant diversion in the search for one of the world's most wanted men.

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, believed responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people. The photo was apparently posted on Twitter by Alfredo Guzman, the 29-year-old son of the brutal leader of Mexico's most dangerous drug cartel. That's Alfredo in the center, flanked by two men. Their faces are obscured by oversized emoticons.

Now a Mexican official tells CNN the man on the left is believed to be El Chapo. A former DEA official agrees.

MICHAEL VIGIL, FORMER DEA CHIEF OF INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS: It appears to be Chapo Guzman because the cleft right under his lower lip looks very similar in both photographs.

TODD (voice-over): In English, the caption reads, "Comfortable here. You already know with who."

And the photo is tagged with the location, Costa Rica.

A Costa Rican official says his government doesn't believe El Chapo is there and others point to a city near El Chapo's base in Mexico, called Costa Rica. But experts say it could be another trick, a fake location designed to mislead police.

VIGIL: This will cause the Mexican government to react to the photographs and take resources from the area where he's actually at and move him someplace else, which gives them a little bit more freedom of movement.

TODD (voice-over): Michael Vigil says if the photo was recent, and really was posted by Guzman's son, it would leave him vulnerable to being tracked by law enforcement.

But experts say El Chapo is notorious for playing cat and mouse with police, he's known to change his appearance. In July he escaped from a high security Mexican prison through this elaborate tunnel. Years earlier he slipped away from police who had him cornered through a different tunnel hidden under his bathtub.

Now analysts say authorities are likely expanding their search for El Chapo, focused not only on his son but they're also likely tracking his wife, Emma Coronel, a former beauty queen, said to be seen here in photos posted in Mexican media.

Coronel's a U.S. citizen and gave birth to Guzman's twin daughters near Los Angeles in 2011.

A Mexican official says her phone was one of the leads used in El Chapo's capture in Mazatlan last year. There's now enormous pressure on the Mexican government to find him again.

TODD: If they ever close in on El Chapo, do you think he'll be taken alive?

ARTHUR RODERICK, FORMER U.S. MARSHAL: Well, if he's in Mexico and the Mexican military closes in on him, I think there's going to be a fight. And I'm pretty sure he's going to end up like Pablo Escobar, he'll be shot in the exchange of gunfire there.

TODD (voice-over): But it will likely take a massive and very well coordinated operation to find El Chapo and corner him.

TODD: It's believed he's likely hiding out in Sinaloa state, where analysts say he's got a criminal infrastructure of corrupt officials who are sympathetic to him and local residents who consider him a Robin Hood-type hero. They're known to tip off El Chapo when authorities approach -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: A short break here on CNN. When we come back, archaeologists in Britain announce a discovery which dwarfs Stonehenge.

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PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, I'm Patrick Snell you're your WORLD SPORT headlines.

Starting off with the race for France 2016, the three-time European giant, Germany with a giant step towards qualification winning against Scotland in Glasgow, Monday. Thrilling match as the Scots battled hard, but found themselves 2-1 down until James McCarthy makes it honors even there.

But when you have someone by the name of Thomas Muller on your team, you know the next goal is never too far away. And so it proved, the Bayern Munich man has already scored twice. Here he sets up the Dortmund's Ilkay Gundogan for the winner, 3-2 Germany.

Well, we know her sister, Venus, is standing directly in the way of Serena Williams' bid for the calendar year slam of the U.S. Open. They'll meet in a quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday. But Victoria Azarenka could be the bigger threat to Serena's march to the title, the two-time runner-up is through to her fourth U.S. Open quarterfinal after a 3-4 win over Varvara Lepchenko of the United States on Monday. The Belarusian is a former World number one and is seeded 20 at this year's open.

Meantime the women's second seed, Romania's Simona Halep is moving on, Halep breaking Jana Cepelova of Germany 10 times en route to a three- set win that lasted the better part of three hours. Halep has now reached the quarters in all four majors. She'll face Azarenka next.

You're bang up to date. Thanks for joining us. I'm Patrick Snell.

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VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody.

Pope Francis is at it again. He'll announce new marriage annulment guidelines today for Roman Catholics. Details are being kept under wraps but the pope is expected to streamline and simplify the entire procedure.

ASHER: Many have complained the current process is outdated and far too complicated. Annulment, which is different than a divorce, is a ruling that a marriage was never valid in the first place.

VAUSE: It has been hidden for thousands of years. Archaeologists have unearthed a new Superhenge in Southwest England.

ASHER: They say it's bigger and more impressive than the world famous Stonehenge located nearby. Erin McLaughlin has more on the new discovery that will likely rewrite history.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIC MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It takes your breath away. People from all over travel to see Stonehenge, its construction and its purpose remain a mystery thousands of years old.

And now we're learning that just two miles away from here, a discovery so extraordinary, experts are calling it archaeology on steroids. Scientists used ground-penetrating radar technology to make the

discovery. They found at least 40 stone slabs in spaces for at least 160 more. It's incredible to be here, knowing that, beneath my feet, the remnants of an ancient monument 15 times the size of Stonehenge.

The National Trust's Nick Snashall says the new find rewrites the history of the area.

NICK SNASHALL, NATIONAL TRUST ARCHEOLOGIST: This place seems to have formed to have had three different functions. It started life as a settlement. Once the settlement went out of use and they'd stopped building Stonehenge, then it became a place that was revered, it became a place of ritual. So that's when they seem to bring in the stones.

But then very shortly there afterwards, somebody decides that the ritual needs to be done in a different way, that the ceremony and site are not doing it quite right. So they change it and they bury the lot.

MCLAUGHLIN: And what does this tell us?

[00:55:00]

SNASHALL: I think what it tells us is that the story of the Stonehenge landscape is much more complicated than we'd ever thought it was.

MCLAUGHLIN: So the mystery of Stonehenge deepens.

SNASHALL: Always.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): Erin McLaughlin, CNN, Durrington Walls.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: You know what this means, don't you?

ASHER: What does it mean?

VAUSE: It now means that the folks in Nebraska, who have got Carhenge, which is basically Stonehenge made out of old 1950s Cadillacs --

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: -- because they're basically the same size as the stones. They're going to have to expand. A lot more Cadillacs.

ASHER: And it's so complex when you think about what it was constructed for and what the Superhenge --

VAUSE: They know that.

ASHER: He doesn't care. OK.

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

VAUSE: And I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. Another hour of CNN NEWSROOM with Zain and me after a very short break. You're watching CNN.

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VAUSE: About face and giving up, hundreds of migrants have abandoned their attempt to walk from a camp near the Serbian border to Budapest.