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Massive Floods Hit Japan; Update on Migrant Crisis in Europe; ISIS Advertises Hostages for Sale; Rally Outside Capitol on Iran Nuclear Deal; 50 U.S. Intelligence Analysts Accuse Higher Ups of Altering ISIS, Al Qaeda in Syria Reports; China Promises No Currency War; Donald Trump Insults Carly Fiorina; Apple Stock Falls on Day of New Products Unveiling. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired September 10, 2015 - 02:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[02:00:15] ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Massive floods in Japan. Homes washed away and people stranded on rooftops. The latest coming up.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Migrants stuck at the train station. Denmark closes rail links in Germany in an effort to slow the flood of refugees.

BARNETT: And later, Republicans attack the Iran nuclear deal and may have found a new way to defeat it.

CHURCH: Hello and welcome everyone, to our viewers here in the United States and of course all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: I'm Errol Barnett. Thanks for joining us. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

CHURCH: And we begin this hour with breaking news in Japan where rescue efforts are underway right now after days of heavy rainfall that's triggered widespread flooding.

BARNETT: At this stage, Reuters reports that 90,000 people have been ordered to evacuate after river banks burst in cities north of Tokyo. Local media reports the flooding is so widespread they have not started to grasp how dire the flooding it. The water has washed away a number of homes. One person is missing and we saw moments ago military helicopters air lifting residents one by one in what is certainly a frightening situation for so many people.

CHURCH: We want to go to Pedram Javaheri right now who has some more information on what is happening here.

We understand one person is missing at this point, could very well be more. Pedram, what information do you have?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Guys, this is a pattern we have seen set up for so many days now. The month of September is the wettest time of year in Tokyo. They get eight inches this month, 210 millimeters of rainfall. The situation has become dire because of a trio of weather patterns

lined up. Of course we have a tropical feature back to the south that has cruised by the area as well and another tropical storm will come in from the north. So we've had three weather patterns produce this rainfall that is in some spots over 20 inches of rainfall. We are talking about half a meter coming down in two to three days. Any amount of water that even if "n" one that is as prepared for disasters. 112 volcanoes and 12 typhoons every year. And this much rainfall is a very dangerous scenario and laying the land of the rainfall totals, 300-plus millimeters. A foot in Tokyo itself. The monthly average is eight inches. And the problem is it's coming down in successive nature. The reservoirs and rivers are not going to be able to keep all of the water in place and another tropical feature tries to cruise by in a couple of days and it does enhance the rainfall when it comes to additional rainfall. Another possibility of 100 to 150 millimeters. Half of what has caused the problem could come down still over the next couple days with the storms passing by the areas around a densely populated and mountainous area in Japan.

CHURCH: That is a lot of rain that people have had to deal with. We have seen people stranded on rooftops waiting to be rescued.

Pedram Javaheri, keeping a very close eye on this. Of course, we will stop back in for an update soon.

JAVAHERI: Certainly.

CHURCH: Thanks.

BARNETT: Let's get more information from the ground.

Our Will Ripley joins us on the phone from Tokyo.

Will, we understand this is all happening, as Pedram just said, in a highly populated area. Just bring us up to speed on how urgent the situation is right there for many people.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a very urgent situation, Errol. The people along the Kinugawa River has a large population. There are elderly residents there. There are at least three elderly people who have been hurt. You think about some of the communities in the outlying area of Japan, this is where the age population live and they live in these homes that are not always up to the building code use see in places like the capital. That's why we are seeing the scary pictures of the homes floating along here and people who try to get up to the upper level floors to evacuate. Of course you have to think of people with limited mobility and the dire situation they are in right now.

We just received a new number. Now more than 171,000 people have been ordered to evacuate this particular area. This is counting both Ibaraki and Tochigi prefecture. 171,000 people and that number is expected to go up as authorities continue to assess the scale of this flooding. It truly is quite a serious situation.

The Tropical Storm Etau moved through yesterday. A lot of us received typhoon warnings on our phones and it was followed quickly by heavy rain that did cause minor street flooding here in Tokyo. But is it in the rural outlying areas that are especially prone to flooding disasters and that is apparently what we are seeing unfold right now and we still don't know the scope of it -- Errol and Rosemary?

[02:05:54] BARNETT: And what adds to the danger here, Will, is Japan's weather agency warning that because the system that brought the water in the first place is moving so slowly and deliberately there is a fear for more flooding and landslides in places that are more mountainous, the Japan defense forces are being dispatched to some of these areas to do what you mentioned there, help rescue those unable to kind of help themselves. You say there are many elderly people in this part of the country. And so we wonder if the country has enough resources. We are watching these pictures from earlier of the helicopters doing air lifts from a populated area. What kind of resources are been thrown at this?

RIPLEY: I will say, Errol, Japan is an island nation that has seen many natural disasters, earthquakes, floods, typhoons, and the self- defense force here, the Japanese military is very well equipped to respond quickly to this sort of a situation. That's what we are seeing on the ground right now.

Without alarming people, we also need to point out that there is also the Fukushima concern that some of the flooding in the area around the Fukushima nuclear plant, which is run by the Tokyo power company, Tepco, they have been storing the water from in these above ground storage tanks and there is a concern about what would happen in a flooding situation? Is this contaminated water going to be released into the environment. What we do not know what is happening at Fukushima right now. That is something that the authorities are monitoring closely and we will as well in addition to the immediate needs of these people who have had to climb up to their second story balconies to get help.

BARNETT: Will Ripley on the line with us from Tokyo with some new information.

Now 171,000 people in this region north of Tokyo ordered to evacuate because of the urgent pictures that we are witnessing here. Homes being swept away, people being air lifted and one missing at this hour. We will continue to track this story in the hours ahead.

CHURCH: We move to Europe's migrant crisis now. And it's on to Sweden for hundreds of Middle Eastern migrants stuck on a train all day in Denmark.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Crowds of supporters cheered the asylum seekers who didn't want to be forced to register in Denmark. BARNETT: Danish authorities finally decided to let them leave the

train. Volunteers drove them on the two-hour trip to Sweden, which has been more welcoming to refugees.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MIGRANT: I'm feeling happy. We're all happy because we live -- we don't want to stay here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Not everyone has been so lucky. About 200 refugees waited in Germany as Danish authorities closed rail links with Germany until further notice.

CHURCH: Denmark has not been the most accommodating country for migrants. The government recently cut benefits for asylum seekers by up to 50 percent.

Refugees got a warm welcome in Munich, Germany. Hundreds of police, medical personnel and volunteers have turned out as people stream in from Hungary, Austria, and other countries.

BARNETT: Most are fleeing the civil war in Syria and the fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. One volunteer says more than 1,000 people have signed up to help and welcome refugees.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED VOLUNTEER: So lots of people are just really happy that they can do something even if it's only the small thing of first relief or just actually welcoming the people, smiling at them and saying after your long odyssey of bad flight and after all the stress you've gone through in your home countries, you are welcome here and we want to welcome you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:10:15] BARNETT: Reaction is more divided in some parts of Germany. Supporters of an extreme right wing party marched Wednesday against what they call asylum abuse and foreign infiltration.

CHURCH: One city council in the Saxony region says that some people want to help the refugees find a home and build a new life. Others are scared of foreigners with a different country arriving in their town.

Germany is not the only country whose people are split over how to handle the crisis.

BARNETT: Amra Walker reports the issue is threatening to drive a wedge through parts of Europe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CHEERING) AMRA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An enthusiastic welcome for a wave of Middle Eastern migrants arriving in Austria over the weekend. For a grateful minority, the promise of safety and sanctuary. And for many, reprieve from the hardship faced in their journey through neighboring Hungary, whose authorities have been widely criticized for their handling of the recent influx.

But why the stark change in a matter of meters? Attitudes have differed between Eastern and Western Europe since wartime. That is partly owing to the lack of economic opportunity offered by the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe.

Those attitudes were visible when the Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban, stated he did not want to accept Muslim refugees.

VICTOR ORBAN, HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translation): nobody has the right to tell us to change and live together with a large number of Muslims.

WALKER: He is not alone. His Slovak counterpart, Robert Fico, stands firmly against attempts to impose immigration quotas.

ROBERT FICO, SLOVAK PRIME MINISTER (through translation): When terrorists are grouping in Syria, how are we to distinguish them without any controls? Let's differentiate things. When it is voluntary and natural, the government can support it. But I refuse it when someone tells us to receive people we don't know anything about.

WALKER: Despite Germany accepting hundreds of thousands of asylum seeks, tensions elsewhere prove that other parts of Western Europe aren't as accommodating.

In France, ethnic violence and controversy over Muslim head scarves have plagued the country in recent years.

Switzerland banned the instruction of minarets since 2009.

But European leadership is trying to set a different tone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are we distinguishing between Christians, Jews, Muslims? This continent has made the -- distinguish on the basis of religious criteria. There is no religion or belief or philosophy when it comes to refugees.

WALKER: While the fleers of hardship may have much to celebrate upon arrival in Austria and Germany, and their supporters are abundant, finding acceptance and tolerance may be more difficult than simply crossing a border.

Amra Walker, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Several European leaders believe the only way to solve the refugee crisis is by tackling it at the source in Syria where so many have fled from ISIS and civil war. BARNETT: Earlier, France's prime minister talked to CNN about his

government's intention to launch air strikes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANUEL VALLS, FRENCH PRIME MINISTER (through translation): All these matters, which of course, strike minds and opinions, migration, refugees, which we have to once again receive in a generous way in the name of our values, this crisis cannot be solved just by receiving them. It has to be dealt with at source. These are very complicated and difficult subjects and of course in Syria so long as we haven't found a political solution, so long as we haven't destroyed this terrorist group or Islamic State, so long as we haven't got rid of Bashar al Assad, we won't find a solution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: In a disturbing claim from ISIS, the militants say they are holding two more foreign nationals hostage. They want ransom money for their safe release. The two men, one Chinese and one Norwegian, are advertised as for sale in the latest edition of the terrorist group's online magazine.

BARNETT: Norway's prime minister confirms that one of her citizens is being held hostage but her country will not bow down to terrorists. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERNA SOLBERG, NORWEGIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translation): The government takes this case very seriously. We cannot and will not give into pressure from terrorists and criminals. Norway does not pay ransoms. That is a principle we cannot give up in meetings with cynical terrorists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Some governments have handed over hefty sums of money for the return of their citizens.

In a startling new report from "The Daily Beast," intelligence analysts say their reports on ISIS and al Qaeda in Syria were altered and manipulated by senior officials.

[02:15:18] CHURCH: And more than 50 analysts formally filed complaints and now the Pentagon's inspector general has opened an investigation. According to "The Daily Beast," two senior analysts at the U.S. military's Central Command accuse those high up in the chain of command of portraying the terror groups as weaker than initially reported by the analyst and suggests the reports were manipulated to support a public narrative that the U.S. is winning the fight.

BARNETT: Now there was a lot of movement in Washington on Wednesday as Republicans try to shut down the Iran nuclear deal. But those seeking office had the most to say. We'll have more on that after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAVAHERI: Good morning to you. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. This is CNN Weather Watch.

(WEATHER FORECAST)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:20:00] CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. U.S. lawmakers will debate three different Republican resolutions in the coming day aimed at curbing the Iran nuclear deal. Republicans hope to finish voting by Friday. The resolutions allege secret side deals regarding nuclear inspections and say President Barack Obama broke the law by not disclosing details of the deal.

BARNETT: Now a spokesman for the White House says if Congress does not vote by September 17th, the deal will automatically go into effect. Democrats say they have enough votes to protect the agreement.

Now demands for Congress to kill the deal were loud and clear during a rally outside the capitol.

CHURCH: Sarah Palin and Republican president candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump pulled no punches.

CNN's Dana Bash reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: We are led by very, very stupid people. Very, very stupid people.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF 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: Trump was invited by one of his rivals for the White House, Ted Cruz.

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R), TEXAS & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to thank my friend Donald Trump for joining us today.

(CHEERING)

BASH: Instead of attacking Trump, Cruz has embraced him especially when he can draw a crowd for a cause.

CRUZ: This Iranian nuclear deal is catastrophic. It is the single greatest national security threat facing America.

BASH: Although they disagree the deal is bad, they disagree on what to do about it. It is a difference that divides the Republican 2016 field. Cruz would get rid of the 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: Trump would not do that

TRUMP: This will be a totally different deal. We lost all of our so- called allies in the deal. They are all selling missiles and getting involved with Iran and using the money 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 (on camera): If the horse is out of the barn what do you do about it?

TRUMP: We're going to have to watch. Just watch. It'll be a whole different bet.

BASH (voice-over): No specifics, he insists, because he doesn't want to telegraph it to the Iranians. But he made 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: Also at the rally, the woman who would like to serve in Trump's presidential cabinet, Sarah Palin.

SARAH PALIN, (R), FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Only in an Orwellian Obama world full of sprinkly fairy dust blown from atop his unicorn as he is peeking through a pink kaleidoscope would he ever see victory or safety for America or Israel in this treaty.

BASH: Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Earlier, we were telling you about a report from "The Daily Beast." U.S. intelligence analysts say they reports on ISIS and al Qaeda in Syria were dramatically altered by senior officials to make ISIS appear weaker than they are.

For more on this report, CNN military analyst, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, joins us now.

Thank you, sir, for talking with us.

You have written extensively about whether the U.S. government is lying to us about the war against ISIS. And now we see "The Daily Beast" reporting on more than 50 spies formally complaining about their reports on ISIS to make the situation look better than it is. What is going on here exactly?

RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think it is fairly obvious to anyone who is listening to what the Pentagon and State Department are saying and watching the news reports coming out of the media in the Middle East, the U.S. media, the ISIS media. Everybody is reporting, and they are totally different. The U.S. is painting this rosy picture of containing and degrading and pushing ISIS back on its heels and what we're seeing from ISIS is the ability to move troops, take cities, and continue to attract new members. It is just attuned with what we're hearing from the United States. One has to assume the intelligence estimates are being changed somewhere up the chain. And now we see these military analysts saying just that. This is very dangerous. It almost turns into a propaganda machine.

CHURCH: Right. And if the public is being misled, and the war on ISIS is not going as well as we are told, what is the real situation on the ground right now in Syria and Iraq?

[02:25:00] FRANCONA: Well, we are conducting an anemic air campaign. We are not causing the kind of damage that we need to do to stop ISIS. ISIS is a strong today as it was when we started the air campaign over one year ago because they have this constant influx of new recruits and we're not striking the targets when we find them. There are oppressive rules of engagement that prevent the pilots from hitting the targets when they see them. Everything has to come up the chain of command and down the chain of command and by that time the target has disappeared. The commanders in the field have to have the authority to engage the targets. But as it stands right now, is -- stalemate is a polite term. Is has the upper hand on the ground.

CHURCH: A sobering assessment there from Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. Many thanks to you.

BARNETT: Still to come on CNN NEWSROOM, as the migrant crisis expands, we look at one Syrian family struggling to pay for food in Jordan. That report after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: And a warm welcome back to our viewers right here in the United States and of course all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. Let's update our top stories right now.

Rescue efforts are underway after days of heavy rainfall in Japan triggered widespread flooding. At least 171,000 people have been ordered to get to safety after rivers burst their banks north of Tokyo. The flooding is so widespread officials have not grasped the full extent of the flooding.

Japan's prime minister is weighing in on the crisis. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) [02:30:04] SHINZO ABE, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translation): There is concern that the region will see unprecedented heavy rains. The government will work as one to prioritize the safety of the people and do our best to prevent any further disaster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Denmark has 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 because of Sweden's favorable policies on asylum seekers. Denmark has cut benefits for refugees.

BARNETT: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and British Prime Minister David Cameron will be meeting to discuss a host of bilateral issues, including the Iran nuclear deal. The deal signed by six major world powers, including the U.K., would alleviate sanctions on Tehran in exchange on concessions on its nuclear program.

CHURCH: In New York City, police say an officer has been place on modified assignment following a mix up with a retired tennis star. James Blake says as many as five officers tackled and handcuffed him outside his Manhattan hotel on Wednesday. Police say Blake was detained after he was misidentified as a suspect in an ongoing investigation. The incident remains under investigation.

BARNETT: The expanding refugee crisis is pushing more people into hunger.

CHURCH: In Jordan alone, the World Food Program has had to drastically reduce its monthly food allowance.

Becky Anderson introduces us to a Syrian family struggling to survive.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Arude Almad Ashman's (ph) monthly food shop in a supermarket in a northern neighborhood of Amman. It's tough for this 45-year-old mother of seven to make ends meet, relying as she does as a Syrian refugee almost wholly on assistance from the World Food Program. That aid has been cut in half. At $14 a month, her food vouchers amount to 50 cents per day per family member.

ARUDE ALMAD ASHMAN (ph), SYRIAN REFUGEE (through translation): I decreased a lot of my grocery needs. I only with oil. My son wants chicken. We keep only eating sugar and oil and we hope they don't keep cutting our coupons. For god's sake find us a solution. I beg them, I beg them not to cut the food coupons.

ANDERSON: Her family fled their hometown of Holmes in Syria in 2013, fearing for their lives after the death of one of her sons and the detention of her husband at the hands of the Syrian regime. Home, for now at least, is this two-room dwelling.

This family is considered one of the more vulnerable with so many mouths to feed and no steady income. As such, they still qualify for assistance. But due to a lack of funding, more than 200,000 families, a third of the Syrian refugees here in Jordan, no longer have any food aid at all. Meaning that a meal like this, however meager, is considered somewhat of a blessing.

The U.N. says food insecurity amongst refugees is drastically increasing. As years go by, families like this living below the poverty line and they are reaching rock bottom.

(on camera): Can you show me a picture of your husband? And what happened to him?

ASHMAN (ph) (through translation): He went to get a car license. When he was at the license department they arrested him. The government security intelligence put him in the car and took him away. I don't know what happened.

ANDERSON (voice-over): I asked what would happen if her food assistance was cut further.

ASHMAN (ph) (through translation): Either I go back to (INAUDIBLE) or I go back to Syria under the shelling and bombardment. If it wasn't for my sons I would go back to Syria now.

ANDERSON: She's not giving up home of going home, but for now, she just appeals to the international community to not forget about their plight.

Becky Anderson, CNN, Amman in Jordan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Investors in the United States are experiencing one of the wildest stock market swings in the past 25 years. That is according to a U.S. investment group that says the turbulence is like 2008.

BARNETT: It was another down day on Wall Street as well. The closing bell, the Dow lost more than 200 points. China's slowing economy and fears of a fed rate hike is fueling volatility.

[02:35:03] CHURCH: Let's look at the markets in the Asia-Pacific region. The Nikkei and Australia are closed if for day. Both are down around 2.5 percent. A similar story in Hong Kong, down 2.16 percent. Shanghai Composite losing nearly a percentage point there.

BARNETT: We have news coming out of the region. China's premier, Li Keqiang, says that his country will not result to a currency war.

CHURCH: That is after the Chinese currency, the Yuan, was devalued last month, a move that brought up the possibility other nations would retaliate with their own currencies. Also, Li Keqiang is speaking out about the state of his country's slowing economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LI KEQIANG, CHINESE PREMIER (through translation): Despite moderation in species, performance of the Chinese economy is stable and moving in a positive direct. Having said that we face difficulties but we have more opportunities than challenge. It is the creativity and passion of the public that gives us confidence in overcoming the difficulties we face. We have the capability to achieve all the major targets of economic development this year and lay a solid foundation for economic growth in the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: That sounds optimistic.

Let's bring in our Asia-Pacific editor, Andrew Stevens, live from the World Economic Forum.

You listened to this live, Andrew. And we have a bit of a satellite delay but tell us how frank the prime minister was at acknowledging problems and a sense of reaction to his address.

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: Errol, he was certainly frank in acknowledging problems using words like "painful and treacherous conditions" that do confront the Chinese economy but he was upbeat on the actual outcome. His point was, yes, we are going through a tough patch at the moment and we have the tools to deal with it, there will be no hard landing, those were his words. That's when the economy falls off a cliff. And when it is the second biggest economy on the planet that would be a hard landing. He says that China is a source of optimism for the global economy and they are standing by to do what they need to do and he talks about the innovation of the people. These are standard lines, innovation, inspiration, that sort of thing. But these are backed up by tools at Beijing's disposal. Officially, the economy is growing at 7 percent. Unofficially, it may be 5 percent or as low as 4 percent. But what he said, Errol and what is key, is that we're not particularly looking at this headline number we are looking at unemployment. We are looking at whether there are enough jobs being created. If there are not enough jobs that's when we act. At the moment we created eight million jobs up until the ninth month of this year. That is three- fourths of the target for the year. They are on target to hit that and they say everything is looking in order and it's generally positive.

BARNETT: And people there certainly weren't expecting a bombshell announcement from the prime minister. But based on people you have talked with now that he has delivered his statement are people comforted by what they heard or do they have a reason for concern?

STEVENS: Historically, people would tend to roll their eyes when they hear this positive language coming from Beijing, Errol. It does not have a ring of authenticity about it. Li addressed the crowd and delegates here in a much more direct tile. And the people I spoke to afterwards did say they thought he was pragmatic, that he was acknowledging there are issues and also acknowledging that they have the fire power to deal with them. He said as you said at the beginning of this piece there is no currency war. I don't think that's been an issue here. But that is a reassuring thing to hear. So I think the reaction has been positive. China is going through a difficult patch at the moment. It is a massive economy. Growing at 7 percent. That is still a massive amount of growth of real hard economic expansion in a $10 trillion economy.

BARNETT: Pragmatism is always appreciated.

Andrew Stevens live for us in the World Economic Forum in China. Approaching 2:40 in the afternoon there. Thanks.

[02:40:07] CHURCH: We'll take a short break here. But still to come, Donald Trump has launched another verbal attack at a rival and fellow Republican. Ahead the comments aimed at U.S. Presidential Candidate Carly Fiorina's looks and what she has to say about that.

Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARNETT: Donald Trump has taken a jab at the appearance of one of his rivals in the U.S. presidential race. And now we're hearing from her. When speaking about Republican candidate, Carly Fiorina, Trump said, quote, "Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that the face of our next president?" And he goes on to say, quote, "I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not supposed to say bad things but, come on, folks, really, are we serious?"

CHURCH: The comments are in the latest edition of "Rolling Stone" magazine due on newsstands on Friday.

Fiorina responded to the insult during an interview with FOX News. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: What do you take that to mean, look at that face, would anyone vote for that?

(LAUGHTER)

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 getting under his skin a little bit because I'm climbing in the polls.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: A spokeswoman for the Trump campaign declined to comment.

People continue to pour out to see the Republican candidates. Tea Partiers flooded the West Lawn for a rally against the Iran nuclear deal on Wednesday.

BARNETT: Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz headlined the event.

But as Chris Moody reports, it was Trump who pulled in the crowds.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

[02:44:59] CHRIS MOODY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 2,000 people in front of the capitol. This is remnants of the Tea Party. 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)

CHURCH: Intense out there.

BARNETT: Very intense. People saying he represents a sliver of the Republican ideology and party. And you heard them there.

Now, you see this all behind us, a big day for Apple, except apparently on Wall Street. The company stock fell 2 percent as the company was unveiling its latest iPhones and new products.

CHURCH: With a look at what Apple has on tap here is tech correspondent, Samuel Burke.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is iPhone 6S. You can pay at places like this and the color looks like this.

SAMUEL BURKE, CNN TECH CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The iPhone is more than half of Apple's revenues, so updating it once a year is a must.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thought they look similar, we have changed everything.

BURKE: The iPhone 6S and S-Plus have a faster processor, improved camera and what they call a 3-D touchibilty. You can push the screen harder or softer and different menus will appear depending how you touch it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the iPad pro!

BURKE: One of the biggest announcements, the anonymous screen on the iPad Pro. 12.9 inches, it will be available in stores starting in November at $799. A bigger iPad means a much improved battery life and a full-sized keyboard on the touch screen as well as a cover with a physical keyboard and a stylus pen you can write on the screen with called an Apple pencil.

(SINGING)

BURKE: The Apple watch is getting two new finishes, rose gold and new aluminum. And there are 10,000 watch apps. Facebook messenger and Go Pro will add apps as well.

There is a new version of the Apple TV, the set-top box that connects your TV to the Internet. It will now have its own dedicated app store and operating system called TVOS and you can tell it what to play with Siri through a microphone on a new remote control.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe the future of television is apps.

BURKE: The renewed device has a bigger focus on games so along with the apps on your phone you can lose even more time playing them on your TV. The Apple TV starts at $149 and goes up to $199.

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CHURCH: Nobody really very excited about any of this. BARNETT: Luke warm reaction.

[02:49:35] CHURCH: Lacking the innovation.

We will take a short break and have more ahead on our breaking news out of Japan. Massive flooding sweeping away houses there and sending thousands of people fleeing for safety. These images are unbelievable. Terrifying. For so many people there on the ground. We'll be covering that when we come back.

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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.

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CHURCH: We want to go back to our top story. Japan's self-defense forces have been deployed to rescue stranded residents of Ibaraki prefecture. Look at the images of people desperately waving for help above flooded ground, just above.

BARNETT: You see what they're dealing with. At least 170,000 people have ordered to get to safety north of Tokyo. Local media report the flooding is so widespread at this stage the officials have yet to grasp the extent of the flooding.

Our Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is here to update us on the situation.

Talk about how serious the situation is. DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. Right. Unfortunately, there is more rain to come in that area. And looking at the aerial visuals you can see the berm that was holding the water away from the residents just burst its banks like that and you can imagine the force and torrent of water that pushed through that narrow space. Horrifying for those people. But unfortunately this was a trifecta of weather patterns, and we scoured the internet for visuals to show you. This is back on Tuesday so you can see what the set up has been that led to this flooding that's just now occurred. We have this trifecta, Tropical Storm Etau, and here is kilo and notice this cloud cover blanketing the mainland of Japan that is a stationary front that has set up light drizzle and rainfall in the area adding to the rainfall totals and take Etau and move that across the region and that brings more excessive rain with another tropical storm bringing rainfall to the area. This is Tokyo, which is the largest metropolitan area in the world. This is their wettest time of the year averaging eight inches or 210 millimeters of rainfall. But when you are talking about roughly 15 inches of rain since 24 hours ago. And 12 inches of rain when you normally experience well, roughly five to eight inches in a normal year. You can imagine what that leads to and that is flooding. Here's Kilo moving in. We have orographical lift producing precipitation in the mountainous regions.

I'll leave you with Tokyo's forecast. We have a wet forecast on Friday. Errol, Rosemary, it looks as if Saturday and Sunday will finally start to dry out in that region and conditions should start to improve. But we still have a possibility of 100 more millimeters of rainfall in those areas.

[02:56:23] BARNETT: That's what's so scary, there could be landslides because of this.

And we have new pictures we can show you as we follow this developing story north of Tokyo. More than 170,000 people ordered to evacuate.

I'll turn things over to Rosemary, who will join you after the break with more after this.

CHURCH: We're back in a moment.

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