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U.S. Republicans Vow to Deter Nuclear Deal; Russian Troop Buildup in Syria Worries U.S.; ISIS Puts Two Hostages Up for Sale; E.U. Leader Outlines Plan for Refugee Quotas; Shootings along Busy Phoenix Highway; Plane's Fire Equipment Didn't Stop Flames; Pastor Outed on Ashley Madison Commits Suicide; Voters Speak on Iran Nuclear Deal; Trump Insults Carly Fiorina; Football Referee Denies Racial Slurs after Brutal Tackle; China Promises No Currency War; Massive Flooding Hits Japan. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired September 10, 2015 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Trump and Cruz: how Republican rivals found common ground to blast the nuclear deal.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Also ahead: European leaders propose a new plan to share the responsibility in dealing with the flow of migrants.
BARNETT (voice-over): Bad calls and racial slurs: it's the excuse these high school football players are giving for ramming a ref.
ASHER: Want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Zain Asher.
BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. Thank you for joining us for this second hour of CNN NEWSROOM.
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BARNETT: U.S. lawmakers will debate three different Republican resolutions in the coming day aimed at curbing the Iran nuclear deal. But it was the Republican presidential candidates who were making the most noise about it on Wednesday.
ASHER: Ted Cruz and Donald Trump teamed up at a rally against the deal in Washington. CNN's Dana Bash reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, ENTREPRENEUR: We are led by very, very stupid people, very, very stupid people.
DANA BASH, SR. U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): True to form, Donald Trump boiled down his opposition to the Iran deal to basics and blunt talk.
TRUMP: They rip us off. They take our money. They make us look like fools.
BASH (voice-over): Trump was invited to this anti-Iran deal rally by an unlikely source, one of his rivals for the White House, Ted Cruz.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to thank my friend Donald Trump for joining us today.
BASH: Instead of attacking Trump, Cruz has embraced him, especially when he can help draw a crowd for a cause like this one.
CRUZ: This Iranian nuclear deal is catastrophic. It is the single greatest national security threat facing America.
BASH (voice-over): Although they agree that the Iran deal is bad, they disagree on what to do about it. It's a difference that divides the Republican 2016 field. Cruz would get rid of the Iran deal on day one he is in office.
CRUZ: Any commander in chief worthy of defending this nation should be prepared to stand up on January 20th, 2017 and rip to shreds this catastrophic deal.
BASH (voice-over): Trump would not do that.
TRUMP: This will be a totally different deal. Ripping up is always tough. Don't forget we lost all of our so-called allies in the deal. They're all making a lot of money. We're not making anything. They're all selling missiles and getting involved with Iran, using the money that we gave to Iran.
I will do something that will be very strong and, believe me, Iran will come back and they will be much different.
BASH: If the horse is out of the barn, what are you going to do about it?
TRUMP: You're going to have to watch. You just watch. It will be a whole different bag.
BASH (voice-over): No specifics, he insists, because he doesn't want to telegraph it to the Iranians, but he did make this Trumpesque promise to the crowd.
TRUMP: We will have so much winning if I get elected that you may get bored with winning. Believe me.
BASH (voice-over): Also at the rally, the woman who says she would like to serve in Trump's presidential cabinet, Sarah Palin.
SARAH PALIN, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: Only in an Orwellian Obama world full of sprinkly fairy dust blown from atop his unicorn as he is peeking through a really pretty pink kaleidoscope would he ever see victory or safety for America or Israel in this treaty.
BASH (voice-over): Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: In the meantime, U.S. presidential Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton showed her support for the Iran nuclear deal.
BARNETT: In a speech in Washington, Clinton said the deal should be only a starting point when it comes to dealing with Iran.
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HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: It's not enough just to say yes to this deal. Of course it isn't. We have to say yes and -- yes, and we will enforce it with vigor and vigilance. Yes, and we will embed it in a broader strategy to confront Iran's bad behavior in the region. Yes and we will begin from day one to set the conditions so Iran knows it will never be able to get a nuclear weapon, not during the term of the agreement, not after, not ever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Clinton also said that the nuclear deal protects Israel and she wants to strengthen that relationship if she is elected.
BARNETT: Now U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says a buildup of Russian troops in Syria will only make the situation there worse.
ASHER: Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is an ally to Moscow. But the U.S. wants him gone. A U.S. official monitoring the situation says that Russia has not provided a clear answer of its intentions.
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JOHN KIRBY, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: If true and if borne out, those reports would be -- could lead to greater violence and more --
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KIRBY: -- even more instability in Syria. And were not helpful at all to what eventually the international community should be trying to achieve inside of Syria.
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JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: I'm concerned about the reports about increased Russian military presence in Syria. That will not contribute to solve the conflict. I think it is important to now support all efforts to find a political solution to the conflict in Syria.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Now a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman did not rule out additional Russian actions to assist al-Assad's government.
She said in a statement, quote, "If there is a need from our side for additional measures to increase support for the anti-terrorist fight, this question will be reviewed in an appropriate way."
ASHER: In a disturbing new claim, ISIS says it is holding two more foreign nationals hostage and wants ransom money for their safe release. So the two men, one Chinese, one Norwegian, are advertized as being, quote, "for sale," in the latest edition of the terror group's online magazine.
BARNETT: That's right. Both are dressed in yellow jumpsuits and wearing a tag with their names and an ID number. Beneath those images, this chilling warning appears, reading, "Note, this is a limited time offer."
Norway's prime minister confirms that one of her citizens is being held hostage.
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ERNA SOLBERG, NORWEGIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The Norwegian hostage, a man in his 40s, was kidnapped in Syria at the end of January this year. Since then he has been held captive by various groups but today we have reason to believe he's being held captive by ISIL. The kidnappers have put in a series of demands for considerable amounts and ransom.
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ASHER: Ms. Solberg says her country will not bow down to the terror group's demands.
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BARNETT: Denmark closed a major highway as hundreds of refugees are marching north in an effort to reach Sweden. They are hoping to make it to Malmo, more than 200 miles away. (INAUDIBLE) Sweden's favorable policies and asylum seekers, Denmark has recently cut benefits for refugees.
ASHER: Meanwhile, European leaders are considering a new plan for mandatory country-by-country quotas to take in refugees from the Middle East. Senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen reports.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As the European Union continues to grapple with the massive influx of refugees, the union is having problems finding a common voice to address the issue. Now in a major policy speech, the head of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, took the European Union member states to task. He said that, at this point in time, the European Union is failing to address the issue and he said that the problem was that there were too little European values and too little union involved in the current approach.
He said that all of the politicians that are involved should take the plight of the people who are trying to come here to heart and try and put themselves in the shoes of the refugees.
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JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: This is not the time to take flight. It is a time of humanity and of human dignity. We Europeans, all of us, I thought before the interruption, all of us, we should remember well that Europe is a continent. We are -- nearly everyone has, at one time, been a refugee.
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PLEITGEN: Of course while his speech was very emotional, it also had to be rooted in the realities of European politics. And those politics remain very divided. Among nations like Germany, also like Austria as well as Italy and Greece, who are treating it as a humanitarian issue and saying that these refugees are going to come to the European Union in any case and therefore need to be cared for and on the other hand, nations like many Eastern European countries as well as for instance Denmark and Hungary, who are treating this more as a border control issue and all of these countries' problems and all of these countries' concerns needed to be taken into account. And that's what Jean-Claude Juncker did.
On the one hand, he suggested redistributing about 120,000 refugees to various countries across the European Union and called for mandatory quotas for taking in refugees.
However, the countries that want to be more restrictive on immigration, their concerns were talked about, as well. He also said that the European Union needs to do more to fortify and to patrol its borders to make sure that at least, in the long run, migration to the European Union is not uncontrolled but can be better controlled by the countries that are out on the outer fringes of the European Union.
Now on top of all of this, it became clear in Jean-Claude Juncker's speech that none of these --
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PLEITGEN: -- problems are going to be solved unless the flow of migrants to Europe is solved, as well with. He said that the European Union needs to do more to, on the one hand, to try and help solve conflicts like the ones in Syria, like the one in Iraq but also try to get economic progress going in places in Africa as well -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
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BARNETT: Now Fred eluded to it there, but we want to take a closer look at the proposed quotas from the European Commission president.
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BARNETT (voice-over): Take a look at this. The plan seeks to relocate 160,000 refugees from Hungary, Greece and Italy. The greatest number would move to Germany and France, followed by Spain and Poland, with the rest spread over 18 other E.U. nations.
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ASHER: Now Britain, Ireland and Denmark can choose, if they want to, to take part in the plan. But British Prime Minister David Cameron says that his government will come up with its own strategy for dealing with the migrant issue.
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DAVID CAMERON, PRIME MINISTER, GREAT BRITAIN: The answer is not quotas. All quotas will do is play into the hands of those who exploit vulnerable refugees. So, of course, Europe has to reach its own answers for those countries that are part of Schengen. Britain, which have our own borders and ability to make our own sovereign decisions about this, our approach is to say, yes, we are a humanitarian nation with a moral conscience. Will take 20,000 Syrians but we want a comprehensive approach that puts money into the camps, that meets our aid commitments, that solve the problems in Syria, that has a return path to Africa, that sees a new government in Libya. We have to address all of these issues.
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BARNETT: Now Secretary of State John Kerry says the U.S. wants to play a leadership role in dealing with humanitarian issues, particularly with the refugees.
ASHER: He met Wednesday with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss specifically what the U.S. can do.
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JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: We are committed to increasing the number of refugees that we take and we are looking hard at the number that we can specifically manage with respect to the crisis in Syria and Europe in their migration to date.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: The U.N. says that more than 360,000 people have crossed the Mediterranean Sea into Europe so far this year.
BARNETT: All right. Now we want to bring you really a scary situation happening along a busy highway in the U.S. state of Arizona. I have got friends and relatives who take this highway every day.
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BARNETT: Ten vehicles have been shot at in the last two weeks in Phoenix.
ASHER: Officials don't know who's doing it. They have not been able to stop it. One person we know has been injured in all of this. And no one has been killed. Now officials say the victims are not connected and the shootings appear to be random. In the meantime, the head of the Arizona Department of Public Safety is calling these incidents domestic terrorism and says the shooter is a coward. Listen to this.
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COL. FRANK MILSTEAD, DIRECTOR, ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: I think you have to be incredibly concerned about the safety of you or others that traverse that roadway. All of these acts are potentially lethal encounters. When you are shooting into a moving vehicle with unwitting occupants they are lethal encounters.
We don't have a suspect in mind yet. But we will find who this is and hopefully we get to them before someone is seriously injured or killed.
Somebody knows who this is. Somebody is very aware of who this is. And just out of humanistic instincts, you have got to call and come forward. There should be no benevolence for this person or apathy. This is a cold-blooded crime. This person's a coward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: And it's all very recent. The first shootings happened late last month when drivers reported projectiles hitting a windshield, the sides of vehicles and a headlight as well. We'll certainly track this story for you.
ASHER: OK. Next on CNN, a fire on a jetliner. The piece of equipment investigators are looking into after flames broke out on a British Airways plane with nearly 200 people on board. That's next.
BARNETT: Plus a pastor exposed by the hack of cheating website Ashley Madison website ends his own life. We'll tell you about the message his family has for others caught up in this scandal.
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ASHER: New information from about the fire aboard a plane that we brought to you yesterday. We know fire suppression equipment was deployed aboard a British Airways jet that caught fire in Las Vegas. It just didn't put out the flames. That's according to a source close to the investigation.
BARNETT: So officials are looking into why that is and what started the engine fire in the first place. Sara Sidner reports.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mayday, mayday, Speedbird 2276, request fire services.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Speedbird 2276, heavy fire services are on their way.
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A British Airways pilot is forced to abort a takeoff as fire engulfs the left engine and hull of the Boeing 777.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are evacuating (INAUDIBLE). We have the fire (INAUDIBLE). We are evacuating.
SIDNER (voice-over): Inside, 159 passengers and 13 crew members scramble to safety.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) and I looked up and the flames seemed to be about twice the height of the aircraft. This was before the fire trucks arrived.
SIDNER (voice-over): Not everyone got out unharmed: 27 people have been treated at the hospital with minor injuries.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were just gaining speed to take off and heard a big thud. I opened up the cover of my window and saw flames on the engine.
SIDNER (voice-over): A source tells CNN the plane's fire suppression equipment was deployed but failed to put out the fire. Investigators are now looking into whether a fuel line may have ruptured, causing the fire to spread. Analysts say the British pilot and the crew's quick response prevented this accident from turning deadly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was just shouting to people, just run away from the flight. Just run as far as you can get because if it does explode that's going to go some distance, you know.
SIDNER (voice-over): Tuesday's fire in Las Vegas comes --
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SIDNER (voice-over): -- just a month after this Delta commuter plane had an engine flame out on the tarmac in Cincinnati. No one was injured.
As for the Boeing 777, it has a stellar safety record. Put into service in 1994, there are now about 1,300 in use. In 21 years, only six other 777s have had serious incidents, according to airsafe.com.
In 2008, both engines failed on a 777, ending in a crash landing at London's Heathrow Airport. Everyone on board survived.
In 2011, an electrical fire broke out under the cockpit of an Egypt Air flight at the departure gate. Again, no one hurt.
But three people died in 2013 when an Asiana Airlines flight crashed while landing in San Francisco after the back of the plane slammed in to a seawall, the NTSB determining pilot error was to blame.
The other two incidents the world knows all too well: Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappearing over the Indian Ocean. No cause has been determined.
And MH17 ending in disaster, that Boeing 777 shot out of the sky over Ukraine.
SIDNER: It must be said that nearly half of all the major incidents with 777s have had nothing to do with the safety of the plane itself, making it one of the safest aircrafts out there. But when passengers see incidents like what happened in Las Vegas, it can certainly rattle their confidence.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: That was our Sara Sidner reporting there.
BARNETT: Now to another big story we are following for you. Lebanese leaders have reached a deal to end a garbage crisis that's caused an uproar and weeks of protests.
ASHER: The plan allows municipalities to manage their own wastes and establishes two landfills near Lebanon's border with Syria. The protests began after frustration over apparent government corruption, which left trash piling up in the streets of Beirut.
OK. Another story we are following, this one out of the United States. "Life is short, have an affair." That, believe it or not, is the slogan of the notorious cheating website, Ashley Madison. But for a pastor and a professor, it meant the end of their lives.
BARNETT: That's right. He committed suicide after he was outed by hackers, who exposed the names of millions of members. Laurie Segall has reaction from the pastor's family.
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LAURIE SEGALL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A pastor, a husband, father of two, a seminary professor with a sense of humor.
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TREY GIBSON, SON OF JOHN GIBSON: My dad was a great man. He was a great man with struggles. My dad reached a point of such hopelessness and despair that he took his own life.
SEGALL (voice-over): It was just six days after hackers exposed the names of millions signed up for Ashley Madison, a website for people seeking affairs. Gibson's name was on the list. CHRISTI GIBSON, WIFE OF JOHN GIBSON: I came home from work and I began to notice clues around the house that things were not what they were supposed to be. Eventually I discovered him and I was -- it was a moment of -- that life doesn't prepare you for.
How do you tell your kids that their dad is gone and that he took his own life?
CALLIE GIBSON, DAUGHTER OF JOHN GIBSON: I think that the hardest thing for me to deal with was that he honestly doubted the fact that I would love him enough.
SEGALL (voice-over): In his suicide note, Gibson wrote about being on Ashley Madison.
SEGALL: Do you mind sharing a little bit of what he said in that note?
CHRISTI GIBSON: He talked about his depression. He talked about having his name on there. He said he was just very, very sorry. He poured his life into other people. But somehow or another, he couldn't extend that to himself.
SEGALL (voice-over): Facing the harsh reality of loss, Christi said there is also forgiveness.
CHRISTI GIBSON: It wasn't so bad that we wouldn't have forgiven it and so many people have said that to us. But, for John, it carried with him such shame. He just couldn't see that.
SEGALL (voice-over): With the hack that left 32 million names of potential adulterers exposed, Christi has a message for communities grappling with infidelity.
CHRISTI GIBSON: Don't underestimate the power of love. Nothing, nothing is worth the loss of a father and a husband and a friend. It just didn't merit it. It didn't merit it at all.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: That was our Laurie Segall reporting there, such tragic consequences from that hack. Unimaginable.
BARNETT: And a spokesman for Ashley Madison's parent company, that's Avid Life Media, expressed condolences to the Gibson family.
ASHER: I want to read to you --
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ASHER: -- part of the statement.
That statement says, "Dr. Gibson's passing is a stark, heartwrenching reminder that the criminal hack against our company and our customers has had a very real consequence for a great many innocent people." BARNETT: Now we want to bring you information about the mysterious
death of a police officer near Chicago. A coroner tells local media that Lieutenant Joe Gliniewicz died from a single gunshot wound but can't yet say if it was a homicide, suicide or an accident.
ASHER: Officials say Gliniewicz was killed while pursuing three unidentified people into a heavily wooded area on September 1st. Now his death sparked an intensive manhunt. But so far, no arrests have been made. Gliniewicz was 52 years old and had been a policeman for 30 years.
BARNETT: There was a lot of movement in Washington on Wednesday as Republicans try to shut down the Iran nuclear deal. It was those seeking office with the most to say. We'll show you after the break.
ASHER: Also ahead, a high school football referee in Texas is speaking out through his attorney after a brutal hit. And he's making a very key denial.
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BARNETT: I appreciate you staying with us here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Errol Barnett.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher. Let's give you your headlines.
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ASHER (voice-over): More than 200 refugees who refused to leave their train in Denmark are now free to head to Sweden. The asylum seekers refused to register in Denmark because of its strict migration policies. Volunteers drove many of the people to Sweden, which is about two hours away.
[01:30:12] BARNETT: ISIS claiming it is holding two foreign nationals hostage and demanding ransom for their safe release. The two men, one Chinese and one Norwegian, are up for sale in the latest edition of the terror group's on-line magazine. Norway's prime minister says her country is taking this seriously, but will not pay ransom to terrorists.
ASHER: In the meantime, Secretary of State John Kerry is warning Russia's military build up in Syria could make the civil war there even worse. He spoke with Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, on Wednesday. He said experts are only there to teach Syrian forces how to use military equipment.
BARNETT: U.S. presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz slammed the nuclear deal with Iran at a rally on Wednesday. Cruz said if the deal is approved Iran could develop a weapon capable of killing millions of Americans.
Meantime, U.S. lawmakers postponed a debate on the Iran agreement saying the White House hasn't been transparent enough.
ASHER: Our CNN digital correspondent, Chris Moody, was at the crowd on Wednesday.
BARNETT: He spoke to potential voters who had choice words about the deal.
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CHRIS MOODY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 2,000 people in front of the capitol. Instead of focusing on local economic issues it's branched out to foreign issues. In this case, opposing the Iran deal.
SEN. TED CRUZ, (R), TEXAS & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If this deal goes through, we know to an absolute certainty people will die.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This deal is not to protect America. It is meant to make America more vulnerable.
MOODY: There's a lot of passion here. For some, it means the end of the world.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a couple of dollars in New York City and I wouldn't want to see them nuked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obama has the spirit of the antichrist.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have heard of Nazi, Germany, and Barack Obama is a similar man to Hitler.
SARAH PALIN, (R), FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm roasting. I'm melting. I have always said sweat is my sanity.
MOODY: How to get a thousand people to come to a rally in the afternoon, step one, invite Donald Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's it. That's the only step that really helps.
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: We will have so much winning if I get elected that you may get bored with winning. You'll never get bored with winning. We never get bored.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we don't have Donald Trump, we would be helpless. Donald has the personality to take no (EXPLETIVE DELETED) and to pick fights with people who should have been put down and slammed decades ago.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's speaking to the people and really saying what we feel.
MOODY: A lot of people are here to see Donald Trump but so is the media. Check this out. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's be honest, if it was just Senator Cruz
talking about substance, nobody would be here. But the second Donald Trump comes, there comes the sensationalism and there comes the media.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: That is Chris Moody reporting there.
Meantime, U.S. Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, has taken a jab at the appearance of one of his rivals. Now we are hearing from her. Trump was speaking about Carly Fiorina. He said, quote, "I kid you not." He said, "Look at that, would anyone vote for that? Can you image that, the face of our next president?" And it continues. He goes on to say, "I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not supposed to say bad things, but really, folks come on. Are we serious?"
BARNETT: The comments are in the latest issue of "Rolling Stone" magazine that will hit newsstands on Friday.
During an interview with FOX News, Fiorina responded to the insult.
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MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: What do you take that to mean, look at that face, would anyone vote for that?
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CARLY FIORINA, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER CEO, HEWLETT- PACKARD: I have no idea. Honestly, Megyn, I'm not going to spend a single cycle wondering what Donald Trump means. But maybe, just maybe I'm under his skin a little bit because I'm climbing in the polls.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: She handled that gracefully. There's no one he doesn't come after in the end. You can run but not hide.
BARNETT: A spokeswoman for the Trump campaign declined to comment.
Now to this story. Two high school football players in Texas who blindsided a referee with vicious tackles said the official made racial slurs.
ASHER: CNN's Ed Lavandera reports the referee is now defending himself and making some counterclaims, as well.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The video showing a brutal hit on a referee by two Texas high school football players has been viewed on-line more than nine million times. Today as disturbing allegations against the referee have surfaced, league and school officials continue their investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This event is shameful for us.
[01:35:] LAVANDERA: John Jay sophomore, Victor Rojas, charged and tackled referee, Robert Watts. Then senior Michael Marino piled on, spearing Watts with his helmet. The attack capped a brutal game.
At the hearing officials aimed much of their anger at the coaches for not controlling their players.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were multiple ejections. There was punches thrown throughout parts of the game. There was trash talking, late hits. That seems to be like a time bomb waiting to happen, and it did happen.
LAVANDERA: In the final seconds of the game, after just giving up the lead, John Jay High School's opponent was running out the clock when Watts was blindsided. The hit may have been triggered by simmering anger over what players considered bad calls by the refs, but the players also allege that Watts used racial slurs against them at least twice during the game. They say they told that to the assistant coach, Mack Breed (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The students allege that an assistant coach said that guy needs to pay for cheating us or words to that affect.
LAVANDERA: Breed (ph), a former player at John Jay High School, had been placed on leave. CNN tried to contact him for comment but so far he is not responding.
Watts' attorney says the players' allegations of racial slurs are not just false but a classic case of blame the victim. He said that Watts suffered a heinous and brutal assault and added Watts is under medical care.
Police are investigating whether the two should face criminal charges. They have already been suspended from the team and school.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will treat it as an assault on a school official.
LAVANDERA: Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Time for a short break here on CNN. When we come back, Chinese leaders weigh in on the country's slowing economy. We will tell you about the encouragement they are offering. Stay with us.
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[01:40:10] ASHER: Welcome back, everybody. We've just heard a major promise from China's premier about his country's slowing economy and economic position in the world.
BARNETT: That's right. They say China will never resort to a currency war. That's after the Yuan was devalued last month, a move some think was designed to boost the country's exports. It brought up the possibility of retaliatory monetary actions in the region.
Try saying that 10 times fast.
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ASHER: You did a good job, Errol. China is trying to ease global fears about the slowing economy.
Our Asia-Pacific editor, Andrew Stevens, is joining us live from the World Economic Forum in China.
Andrew, thank you for being with us.
You listened to his speech. He talked about growth in China continuing at a reasonable range and he mentioned possible reforms. I'm curious, what stood out to you in the speech? Anything that I guess in investors will latch on to, do you think?
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: I think he came out swinging with. He was positive about the economy. He made a fairly pragmatic case as to why he's confident about the economy. Certainly the people I spoke to after that said it that was a realistic assessment of where China is. And by definition, that almost says the gyrations, the wild volatility we have seen in relation to where the Chinese economy is, in investors minds, the massive moves on the stock market have actually been overdone. He does say, quite clearly, there are major problems to confront, that there are reforms that need to be carried out. Overall, he says very clearly on the right track. He describes the Chinese economy pretty boldly as shock resistant and resilient.
This is part of what he had to say. Listen to this.
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LI KEQIANG, CHINESE PREMIER: We will not be swayed by short term fluctuations in the economy. We will not take it lightly either. We are taking necessary measures of targeted discretional and control for the purpose of mitigating volatility. If there are signs that economy is sliding out of the proper range, we have adequate capability to deal we with the situation. The Chinese economy will not head for a hard landing.
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STEVENS: He is very emphatic on that point, no hard landing. He said we are not in a currency war. Remember, Zain, this is devaluation of the Yuan by the Chinese government, this had been telegraphed sometime ago in that they are committed to a reform process, which includes making the Yuan more market friendly or market driven, if you like. The timing was interesting given the fact that it came as China's economy did seem to slow, which would give it an export boost or could give it an export boost. There was suspicion about the timing. The broader picture is from the Chinese, which is echoed pretty much by everyone at the delegation at the World Economic Forum is that yes, it's been a tough couple of months. Longer term, they are OK. One point, which he pointed out, they have 7 percent growth in the
first half of the year. Let's assume you believe that number. We're talking about a $10 trillion economy. So for a $10 trillion economy to grow that's not that much more than the U.S. economy. If that to grow by 7 percent, that is a massive amount of real growth on the ground. This is a big economy now. When we talk about 10 percent growth before, it wasn't the same size overall economy. To continue to do that when it is much bigger says this is an economy which is still moving ahead and reasonably swiftly.
ASHER: The key point you made there, Andrew is if you believe that 7 percent number.
Andrew Stevens, thank you so much.
BARNETT: All right. We want to bring you some developing -- a developing story coming to us from Japan, north of Tokyo. Some live pictures being broadcast to us at this moment where we can show you, this is the River Kenu that burst its banks because of days of heavy rain in the region. Preliminary information that 90,000 people have been ordered to evacuate. One person is missing.
But as you get a sense of those cars submerged. Our Pedram Javaheri told us last hour it doesn't take a lot of water to pick up the cars and move them. You can see how serious it is. Disaster prevention officials, according to one point, they say the flooding is so wide spread, they've yet to grasp the full scale of the disaster. As you get a sense of these pictures. And again, one person missing, 90,000 ordered to evacuate because here the River Kenu has burst its banks. You see it, the camera panning around trying to get a sense of the scope and size of this. At this moment, Japanese officials are doing the same. We will continue to watch this footage and gather information as it comes in to CNN. We certainly want to show you that in real time as we track some of the biggest stories in the world. We'll come back to it later.
[01:46:02] ASHER: Pictures say it all. You saw the cars submerged, flooding in to the Houses, as well. Cars literally picked up and trash cans, as well.
ASHER: Scary stuff.
We will bring in our meteorologist here because severe storms in southern Italy has turned in to a raging river. That was on Wednesday.
Our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is joining us with more on that -- Pedram?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That incredible story as well. I want to touch on from Tokyo in and around that region 20 inches of rainfall has come down in Tokyo and the vicinity in the past 24 to 48 hours from a trio of storm systems that impacted the region.
We also had major storms cruise through Sicily and the southern area there across the central med. Look at video out of the region. Four inches came down in an area that is mountainous. Narrow. It doesn't take much to pick up vehicles and carry them downstream. I want to show you the satellite imagery. We know that across the region, near Sicily one of the shipping vessels reported 110 mile an hour winds off shore. Associated with this powerful storm that was across this region. So, I want to show you what happened with all of this. When you have three, four inches of rainfall and you are talking about this happening in a short time period, it does not take much to move somebody. In fact, when you talk about a vehicle potentially, the water up just about six inches or 150 millimeters, that is enough force to knock a person off their feet. Move it up to 24 inches, 600 millimeters, now you are putting enough force to move a vehicle. In fact at these levels, water is the speed at three miles an hour or essentially the speed that you walk. That exerts 20 pounds of force on an object. You take that speed up to six miles an hour. And now you are talking about putting in 80 pounds of force. That exponential growth in the speed and force it exerts is significant when it comes to what occurs over the region when it comes to flooding and that's why in the United States we often talk about turn around and don't drown.
In the United States severe weather output as far as fatalities, flooding is the number one killer in the U.S. With half occurring with people stuck in their vehicles. OK. I want to take you and show you what the NOAA has released for the summer of 2015 across the U.S. Hottest summer on record for the states of other and Washington. Much above average for everyone else. Areas not indicate ready normal range. Parts of the Midwest seeing temperatures below average so far this summer. We do have heat advisories and heat warnings across the area for 14 million people across California. San Francisco temperatures in the upper 80s, dropping to the 70s. Los Angeles closing in 100 degrees. Guys, on the last note out of California we have picked up much-needed rainfall, a half inch in Anaheim and downtown and LAX in particular picking up one-tenth of an inch of rainfall. This is the first time it rained there in over two months. Good news there.
BARNETT: Pedram, thank you very much.
We quickly want to cross back to live pictures coming to us from the river where we just witnessed this helicopter send an official down lift to rescue a person. One person is missing. 90,000 ordered to evacuate. According to local media, officials don't have a full grasp of the scope of all of this because it's only happened in the past few hours.
We will take a short break here on CNN and be back in a moments.
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[01:50:51] KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: I'm Kate Riley with your World Sports headlines.
The USA faced heat and rain in Wednesday's quarter finals. But the Italian was shining has she beat her opponent to become the second Italian to reach the semis. This will be her second u. s. Open semifinal appearance.
Prince Ali of Jordan is the only man who has stood up to the FIFA president in the last five years. And although he lost to Slepp Blatter in the election, he is back for another crack at the title. Blatter won it by 130 votes to 73. It was days later that he announced he was standing down. He had been contemplating whether or not to stand again. He says he is determined to stand and reform the governing body.
And we can usually take boxing I'm with a bit of salt. But Floyd Mayweather's camp is determined that this weekend's flight in Vegas will be his last. Mayweather's record stands at 48-0. Another win takes him to 49 for a tie with the great Rocky Massiano. This is his last contracted fight with the broadcaster Show Time. But some feel there could be one more to go.
That's a look at the sports headlines. I'm Kate Riley.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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[01:53:26] BARNETT: Live pictures from Japan showing an area near the Kenu River that burst its banks. One person is missing and some 90,000 people in the affected area have been ordered to evacuate. On that note, Zain and I have been watching the past few minutes as aerial evacuations get underway.
ASHER: Right. We witnessed one man, who was on the roof of his home with only the clothes on his back, waiting to be airlifted. We witnessed another person who rescuers managed to take out of a top floor window, as well.
But here's the information we have so far, as Errol said, one person missing. 90,000 people so far have been ordered to evacuate. Once again, the river banks of the River Kenu burst. And Japanese officials say they can't grasp the full scale of the situation with of this emergency. We know that 20 inches of rain of Ibaraki north of Tokyo.
These are images we have seen earlier. You can see --
BARNETT: Incredible there.
(CROSSTALK)
ASHER: -- people inside the home.
BARNETT: -- as the strong powerful water rushes behind them. Officials are doing what they can to get resources to this area. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has warned of unprecedented heavy rains even after this. There you have a sense of the power and force of the water. It seems to have demolished.
(CROSSTALK)
ASHER: A home seen carried away in the waters there. Incredible.
BARNETT: They have requested the dispatch of the Japanese self defense forces to help in rescue operations. That could be what we are witnessing already. An incredibly frightening situation for all residents here.
Here you can see what we witnessed moments ago, one of the many aerial rescues under way right now. All of this north of Tokyo in what is an unpleasant situation with, a river there bursting its banks causing quite an emergency.
[01:55:27] ASHER: I think what is really worrying about this is we may see more of this. We hear that the heavy rains are moving slowly north and perhaps there could be more flooding Thursday and Friday in other areas of Japan. Heavy rains could be moving slowly north. 20 inches of rain, we're told, have fallen north of Tokyo in an area called Ibaraki. Once again, one person missing, one person missing and 90,000 people in this area have been ordered to evacuate.
BARNETT: We will continue to watch this closely in the coming hours here on CNN
ASHER: OK. That does it for us. Thank you for being with us. I'm Zain Asher.
BARNETT: I'm Errol Barnett.
Stay with us. Rosemary Church is joining us next as we continue our breaking coverage. Stay with us.
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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
