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Trump Talks His Vision of the Future; Carson Surges, Trump Readies for Debate Attacks; Search Continues for 4 Missing in Utah Flash Floods; Live TV Shooting Survivor Speaks Out; Hungary Enacts Laws to Stop Migrants at Serbian Border; Russia's Latest Intervention in War-Torn Syria; North Korea Urged to Refrain from Irresponsible Provocations; China's Largest Brokerage Firm President Investigated for Insider Trading; Trump Puts Down Iran Nuclear Deal; Women Who Escaped ISIS Use Photography to Heal. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired September 16, 2015 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:00:07] ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: You're looking at live pictures along Hungary's border with Serbia this morning. Migrants are trying to cross through Europe and instead are being forced to wait.
Plus, the search for women and children swept away by floods in the Western United States continues. We'll get you an update on this story.
One day before he stakes the stage, Donald Trump rallies voters on a battle ship.
Hello, and welcome to those of you tuned in from around the world. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
The stage is literally set for Wednesday night's CNN Republican presidential debate. While most of the candidates spent the day preparing, Donald Trump was true to form on the campaign trail. The billionaire reality TV star talks about his vision of the future. He promised to take better care of the country's veterans and make the military stronger. Trump was short on specifics but he didn't hold back on the bluster.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: We're going to come out with plans in a short time. We're going to be building up our military. We're going to make our military so big and strong and so great.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And it will be so powerful that I don't think we're ever going to have to use it. Nobody is going to mess with us.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BARNETT: Now, a new poll shows Republicans Ben Carson closing in on Donald Trump. In the meantime, the front-runner is getting ready for a new round of attacks in Wednesday night's debate.
John Berman has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: The polls come out and we're really killing it. We are killing it.
(CHEERING)
JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A new poll from "The New York Times" shows Ben Carson closer than ever with Jeb Bush drifting farther back. Bush has dropped 7 points since august. Nothing and no one has managed to push Trump from its perch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's Donald Trump say about the decision?
BERMAN: But when the going gets tough, the tough go negative.
For the first time an outside group, the conservative Club for Growth opened its wall let.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Trump, the worst kind of politician.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Announcing they'll spend more money in Iowa on ads, bashing Trump for what they call his liberal economic ideas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: He has a record, and it's very liberal. He's really just playing us for chumps.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Not to be out anti-Trumped, Governor Bobby Jindal, poll at less than 1 percent, released a new video, too, attacking how Trump shapes his foreign policy views.
BOBBY JINDAL, (R), LOUISIANA GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In all fairness, what do I know?
BERMAN: Trump knows the attacks are coming but doesn't sound too concerned.
TRUMP: So, the debate, I hear they're all going after me. Whatever. Whatever.
BERMAN: And despite recent dustups with Carson and Fiorina, not to mention Bush, Walker, Paul and Pataki, Trump says he's ready to play Mr. Nice Guy. Well, Nice Guyish.
TRUMP: I like Carly, and I like Ben. Many of these people are terrific people, but nobody is going to be able to do the job that I'm going to do. Nobody.
(CHEERING)
BERMAN: Jeb Bush supporters beg to differ. A super PAC backing Bush is unleashing its vast war chest spending $24 million on ads in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: -- new charter schools --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: -- to highlight his achievements as governor of Florida, hoping something, if not spending, will make people listen.
John Berman, CNN, Simi Valley, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Our political analyst, Josh Rogan, joins us from Washington D.C. to talk about all of us.
Josh, great to have you with me.
Donald Trump continues to lead in the polls, and by far, so that means he has the spotlight and the target on his back in his latest speech in front of a decommissioned battle ship. He'll provide specifics now on national security. What do you make of this move before the big debate?
JOSH ROGAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Sure. Well, up until now, some of the GOP candidates have made the decision between engaging Trump or ignoring him. Now that he's still leading after the first debate, ignoring him is no longer an option. All the other candidates on the stage are going to have to engage him in one way or the other. One of the things they're likely to engage him on is foreign policy. A radio broadcaster caught Trump in something of a stumble last week when he didn't know the Kurds from the Quds force. A lot of candidates will try to force him to put meat on the bone of his policy proposals and show that he doesn't have the experience to be commander in chief. For Trump, there hasn't been anything yet that's really dinged him. It remains to see if the attacks will be successful.
[02:05:31] BARNETT: It's getting intense. How concerned should the Trump team be at groups like the club for growth, for example, saying they'll spend $1 million in Iowa against Trump because they see his views as too liberal?
ROGAN: Trump has said he's not overly concerned about the tens of millions of dollars being poured into ads by the Republican spectrum. He says all publicity has good publicity. It's all about staying on the news and the more people attack him, the more he can play the victim, and there's no cost of attacking back. The more he gets attacks, the more he's seen as the victim, he can attack back and use it to propel his own narrative.
BARNETT: When we look at the other 10 Republicans joining him, they all have quite a lot to lose here. Carly Fiorina, for example, also seen as an outside candidate, has been moving up in the polls. She fought for his space on stage. We expect her to go toe to toe with Trump. Bush has fallen into the single digits. How much elbowing will we see from them?
ROGAN: I think we'll see the stakes are high for all the candidates. Carly Fiorina is now on the main debate stage for the first time. She is obligated and will be pressured to prove that she can hold her own with all of these other powerful figures, and she is uncharacteristically, risen in the polls since her latest battle with Trumps. Most of the others have suffered in the polls following that encounter. That's her task. For Bush and Walker and to a lesser extent, Chris Christie, they see their poll numbers falling fast. They have to do something to change the tide. They see themselves becoming less and less relevant, and this is a big problem. There's no amount of money that can solve it. They realize this is their chance to take some of the attention that is going forward Trump on this huge stage and make their argument. They're going to have to be aggressive. Their going to try to focus on themselves and will probably be unsuccessful at that.
BARNETT: And it's important, the issues discussed, but because Donald Trump is there and because he hasn't limited what he's said, this is sure to be good television as well.
Josh Rogan, our CNN political analyst, thanks for breaking some of it down.
ROGAN: Any time.
BARNETT: And join us Wednesday night for the Republican presidential debate. The live coverage begins at 6:00 eastern time in the states, 11:00 p.m. for those of you in London, on CNN.
And U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is marking Hispanic Heritage Month by a swipe at Donald Trump. Biden says Trump's anti-immigration stance is a sick message that's been tried in America before.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want you to remember, notwithstanding the fact that there's one guy absolutely denigrating an entire group of people, appealing to the baser side of human nature, working on this notion of accident phobia in a way that hasn't occurred in a long time since the no-nothing party at the end of the 19th century. Folks, the American people are with us. I know it doesn't feel like that, but I'm telling you, the American people agree with us.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BARNETT: Biden says Americans are more drawn to the positive messages of Pope Francis who will be visiting the U.S. next week.
So some other stories we're following for you. In Utah, search-and- rescue crews will be back out to look for four people missing in flash floods. A wall of water and debris came roaring down a canyon and sweeping away cars. 16 people, most of them women and children were killed in the flooding.
Our Kyung Lah reports many of the victims were returning from a trip to a park when this disaster hit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A frantic search using heavy machinery or their own muscle.
Volunteer Chris Wyler dug all night.
CHRIS WYLER, VOLUNTEER: I was digging, picturing if it was one of my babies out there, and I wanted to keep pushing.
LAH: Desperate to find the women and their children, one as young as four years old, swept away in these rushing waters. They were in their cars when flash floods struck caused by heavy rain in the mountains above this canyon town.
As the search stretches into the morning hours, relatives and friends begin to line the muddy banks. Many in this community are members of FLDS. They learn three survived. The rest either missing or found dead.
Flash floods can overwhelm without warning as Lydia Wyler leaned. She was recording this video, not worried at first --
[02:10:] LYDIA WYLER, WITNESS: At the time we were awe struck. It was amazing.
LAH: -- then this happened.
(on camera): When you saw those kids and the women coming out of that car?
WYLER: I didn't realize until then. Then my heart started pounding. Then I was like, oh, my goodness. This is seriously dangerous. And then it started, the vehicle started sliding.
LAH (voice-over): All the victims in this car escaped unharmed. But for the others missing on the banks of this river, a deeply religious community prays for a miracle.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Colorado City, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us with more on the story.
Pedram, from that video, you have a sense that people don't realize how powerful the water is when it's covering a road. During my time in Arizona, they would always say if you can't see that you'll be able to get through the water, avoid it all together. This is how people have died.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's how it happens. And people underestimate the weight of the water. Take a moving box, fill that with water, that weighs about 1700 pounds. You put several of these as far as that amount of water around the vehicle, you're talking about it weighing more than a vehicle. That's why flash flooding is the number one weather related killer. Part of what occurred, it was a one in 200-year event, two inches per hour over this region. The other one has a lot to do with what occurred over the roadways. At about 4:30 in the afternoon, 2:30 in the afternoon, they peaked at four feet. They dropped, and then take a look at what happened within 15 minutes, another surge of peak occurred there with water levels getting up to 6 feet before the gauge stopped reporting. That's something that's worth noting with this particular flooding event where people go outside and see the conditions improved, and then it gets worse within 15 minutes of the initial flood.
We'll talk about additional rainfall. We know the Valley Fire, one of the more destructive fires across the state of California turning into a bad situation when it comes to over 60,000 acres. Rainfall in the forecast, about a quarter of an inch, and the Butte Fire gets rain. This time of year, June through September, the driest time of the year for southern California. L.A. picked up nearly 2.5 inches of rainfall. That's the single wettest day in two years. An impressive sight for them as far as rainfall there. Snowfall was the name of the game across the Sierras. We know there's a major snow drought across the Sierra Nevada, one of the driest on record, but the data goes back about 50 years as far as indicating how poor this year has been, but a new study, the scientists analyzed tree rings and looked at the core of the tree rings. When you look carefully, you know dry seasons within tree rings are indicated by compacted tree rings that are bunched up together. The tree is becoming stressed so the rings are tighter. Very accurate when you look at the error margin, it's small. When you have wet seasons, you see the tree rings that are quite wide as the moisture is prevalent and snow melt helps. That's something that they're observing, and the last time the tree rings were this stressed, you'd have to go back to the 1500s, when it comes to about 500 years of tree ring observations showing us this particular year looks to be the worst in about 500 years.
BARNETT: All the firefighters have been saying they've never seen anything like what we're witnessing now. It's unprecedented.
Pedram, thank you very much.
The sole survivor of the shooting attack that happened during a live TV news broadcast is now sharing her story. Vicki Gardener, a Chamber of Commerce official, was being interviewed when a gunman opened fire and shot her. That incident killed two TV journalists last month. She tells FOX News how the tragic event unfolded. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VICKI GARDNER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & SHOOTING SURVIVOR: He basically came up behind, we're talking, and, again, it was a tiny bit of a distraction, probably more than I would even recognize, but then it was just very fast. And I saw movement, and then gunfire. Lots and lots of gunfire, and so I just, the only thing I could think of is play dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[02:15:] BARNETT: WDBJ's Alison Parker and Adam Ward were killed during that attack. The shooter died of a self-inflicted gun wound hours later.
Still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, the U.S. reacts to North Korea's nuclear threats.
Plus, we'll take you live to the Serbian/Hungarian border. Live pictures from there. Hundreds of migrants are camping out waiting and hoping to make it across.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: Hi, there. I'm Patrick Snell with your "CNN World Sport" headlines.
Match day one in the European Champions League has proved to be rather disappointing for both Manchester teams. After a one season absence, United's return to the tournament was a sour one after losing 2-1 to the PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands despite being one-nil up.
And terrible injury news for the Red Devils, too, with United confirming that left back Luke Shaw suffered a double fracture of the right leg and will undergo surgery. Manchester City also losing 2-1 after being one-nil up as last season's Champion's League runners up Juventus celebrated their first win in England in almost two decades.
Has not been bad a last few days, though, for Cristiano Ronaldo. First the world premier (ph) scored 5 in La Liga against Espanyol this past weekend. And after that, you can now add three more, two of them against Shakhtar. (INAUDIBLE) Ukraine with penalties, the third taking him to 80 goals now in the Champions League. And that once again, for now at least, makes him the record-scorer in tournament history. Real won the game, by the way, 4-nil.
Ahead of their Champions League game against Maccabi Tel Aviv on Wednesday, there's been mounting tensions if Chelsea would the somewhat prissy (ph) behavior. The club's Portuguese head coach, Jose Mourniho, the special one, taking great issue with one British report's assertion that wherever he's managing, Mourniho historically underachieved in his third season.
You're bang up to date. Thanks for joining us. I'm Patrick Snell. (END VIDEOTAPE)
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[02:19:54] BARNETT: Welcome back. Serbia says it will ask Hungary to allow hundreds of migrants stuck at the border they share to pass through. We can show you live pictures from the Serbian side of the Serbia/Hungary border. A young child there, presumably with his mother, families, people milling about.
Hungary has plugged the final hole in its fence there and enacted new laws to stop migrants from coming through illegally, arresting anyone who does. The government says some people are trickling through legally at assigned points. It has accepted at least 70 asylum applicants and rejected 40.
Still, as Ben Wedeman reports, hundreds of migrants plan to stay at the border until they can continue their journey.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(SHOUTING)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Open the door," they chant on the Serbian Hungarian border, but their words fall on deaf ears.
(SHOUTING)
WEDEMAN: The door stays shut. It slammed shut late Monday when Hungary closed off the official and unofficial crossings and imposed harsh penalties for anyone trying to get over.
Baffled by the sudden change, the Syrian from Aleppo had a message for the prime minister of Hungary.
"We want to pass to Germany, Austria, Denmark," he says. "No one wants to stay in your country."
WEDEMAN: Vows this Iraqi --
"We'll wait here for six years if we have to. We have nothing left to lose."
But Hungary says it must control its borders.
Hundreds are now camped out in fields by the fence, hoping Hungary will soften its stance. More are on the way.
This 50-year-old and his family traveled for two months from Afghanistan. Sleeping in the rough has become routine.
(on camera): Bathroom? Toilet?
UNIDENTIFIED MIGRANT: No toilet.
WEDEMAN: Nothing. Just out here?
UNIDENTIFIED MIGRANT: Yes.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Border police have temporarily stopped their progress but their despite their exhaustion, their determination to move ahead is diminished.
Aid officials seem flabbergasted at the scale of the crisis.
UNIDENTIFIED AID OFFICIAL: I never thought I would see something like that in Europe. If Europe has a common European asylum system, and you look at this mess here, then where is it?
WEDEMAN: Not here.
The children may be too young to understand while the parents, their fate yet again in the hands of the powerful, can only hope for a solution.
(on camera): At the moment, Hungary seems unwilling to open its gates but for some of these people who have come from as far away as Afghanistan, turning around and going home is not an option.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, on the Serbian Hungarian border.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: U.S. President Barack Obama is weighing in on the migrant crisis. During a meeting on Tuesday, Mr. Obama said the crisis has gotten worse and that the source of the problem needs to be dealt with.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We agreed that this is going to require cooperation with all the European countries, and the United States and the international community in order to ensure that people are safe, that they are treated with shared humanity, and that we ultimately have to deal with the source of the problem, which is the ongoing crisis in Syria.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: And now, to some other stories we're following. Australia says its air force carried out the first successful aircrafts in eastern Syria this week. The defense minister says an armored vehicle was destroyed. They agreed to expand air strikes in Syria after a request from Washington.
Meantime, at least 38 people are dead, including 14 children, after rebels fired rockets in a residential neighborhood of Aleppo. This is in Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 150 were injured and the death toll will likely rise. The group says the attack resulted in one of the heaviest death tolls from the regime- held part of the city. CNN's Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, has more on Russia's
latest activities in the war-torn region, and why the U.S. is so concerned.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russian President Vladimir Putin now openly defiant in sending Russian weapons and troops into Syria to prop up President Bashar al Assad.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): We have provided and will provide technical support.
OBAMA: We are going to be engaging Russia to let them know that you can't continue to double down on a strategy that's doomed to failure.
STARR: The U.S. looking for way to stop a Soviet-style intervention by Putin.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We would prefer to see from the Russians is a more constructive engagement with the 60-member coalition that's led by the United States that's focused on degrading and ultimately destroying ISIL.
[02:25:17] STARR: But more than a dozen flights have flown from southern Russia across Iran and Iraq into Syria, carrying half a dozen tanks, large artillery pieces and some three dozen armors personnel carriers as well as some equipment for up to 1500 troops. It's all going to a coastal airfield where commercial satellite imagery has shown improvements.
The Pentagon believes all of this will become a Russian operating base.
Secretary of State John Kerry talking again today to Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, no indication the Russians are changing their minds.
(EXPLOSION)
STARR: A new grim assessment from the head of U.S. military intelligence suggesting both Iraq and Syria may be gone as countries the world once knew.
LT. GEN. VINCENT STEWARD, U.S. MILITARY INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR: I could see a time in the future when Syria is fractured into probably two or three parts. Again, not the ideal, because that comes with some unknowns. That's going to be a tough one to put back together in my view, long term.
STARR (voice-over): All of this may explode into the political arena in the United States. A top general is scheduled to testify Wednesday before Congress about the progress in the war, and the Russian involvement. One U.S. military official telling me, expect to see fireworks.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Now, the Republican presidential candidates are talking, and Iranians are listening. Specifically to what's being said about the nuclear deal. Next, the concerns in Tehran.
Plus, young women once held captive by ISIS have found an outlet to empower them and help them heal.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:30:49] BARNETT: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Thanks for staying with me. I'm Errol Barnett. Here are updates on our big stories.
Hundreds of refugees and migrants are in limbo at this stranded between the border of Serbia and Hungary. You're looking at live pictures. Serbia is asking for the border to be reopened so all these people can cross through and move onto Western Europe. Hungary closed the boarder on Tuesday and is cracking down hard on anyone trying to jump the fence.
Surging waters and debris roared down a canyon sweeping away cars. At least 16 people are confirmed dead. Most of the victims are women and children.
A "New York Times"/CBS News poll shows Ben Carson gaining ground on Donald Trump. Trump leads the survey with 27 percent. Carson has 23 percent. Up just 6 percent last month -- up from, I should say, 6 percent last month. All the Republican presidential hopefuls will meet tonight in a debate that you'll see on CNN.
The U.S. is urging North Korea to refrain from irresponsible provocations. This warning comes after the North said it's building up its nuclear arsenal and it's ready to act if its enemies act mischievously.
CNN's Brian Todd has more on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kim Jong-Un rattles his nuclear saber at America. The head of his atomic energy program declaring, the regime is ready to use nuclear weapons if the U.S. and others pursue their, quote, "reckless, hostile policy towards North Korea."
Kim is also declaring his nuclear program is a full speed. The regime says the main nuclear complex at Yongbyon (ph, which produces material for nuclear weapons, is operating normally.
A U.S. official tells CNN they have no reason to doubt the claim and analysts take the threat seriously.
UNIDENTIFIED U.S. OFFICIAL: If you look here, the snow melt in this area, snow melt again on the reactors. This would indicate that the reactor is functioning and giving you have heat causing that snow melt. Here in august, you can see tracks leading into the reactor area. That, again, shows that there's significant activity going on at these sites.
TODD: Kim is said to be obsessed with developing nuclear weapons as his father and grandfather were.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE; Remember, his grandfather, Kim Il-Song, the founder of the country, saw the United States bring Imperial Japan to its knees with a nuclear weapon. They've been interested in it for decades.
TODD: Kim is not stopping there. His regime announcing it's preparing to launch a satellite into orbit for scientific purposes.
The United Nations has warned North Korea to call off a rocket launch.
UNIDENTIFIED U.S. OFFICIAL: A satellite launch vehicle similar to this could be used by North Korea to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile that's capable of reaching the United States and delivering a nuclear warhead.
TODD: The North Koreans aren't there yet. Weapons experts say they haven't tested reentry and they could break apart.
Still, the moves bring a warning from Washington. Demanding that Kim stop his provocations. U.S. Officials taking no chances. Making sure Kim knows what kind of missile defenses America has at the ready.
MARK LIPPERT, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SOUTH KOREA: Ground-based interceptors to Alaska, surface combatants to the western Pacific, a FAD battery on Guam and another radar in Japan in order to be ready and vigilant for anything they may or may not do.
TODD: Why is Kim doing all this now? Experts say he's under a great deal of pressure at the moment.
(on camera): Kim has to show strengths for the upcoming anniversary of the North Korea dictatorship and, analysts say, he's trying to keep the military leaders happy and purging so many of them, and letting them flex their nuclear muscle could be a way of keeping them at bay for the moment.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Let's talk about this now with Kathy Novak. She joins us from Seoul to discuss this issue.
Kathy, it was roughly this time yesterday when you were reporting these initial reports coming out of North Korea about it improving the nuclear capability. It's always troubling, because Pyongyang is so unpredictable, but it's predictably unpredictable. Constantly saber rattling. What's the level of concern of what we're hearing from the North?
[02:35:] KATHY NOVAK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think that's a fair assessment, Errol. And if North Korea was seeking to grab the headlines that's what it did. It's been getting a lot of media play between that and the announcement and that it's in the announcement of launching a new satellite. It's grabbing attention and response here. We saw the South Korean president having a prescheduled meeting, and they released a joint statement condemning the nuclear development in North Korea, and calling on it to immediately cease any related activities, and, of course, this comes just a few weeks after a very tense time here on the peninsula where we saw that exchange of fire across the border, and it comes before a major anniversary in North Korea where it's planning to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the worker's party on October 10th. There had already been intense speculation that Kim Jung-Un may be planning something. We had known North Korea was planning to restart operations at Yongbyon (ph), and this seems to confirm that. Of course, there are always questions about what we can believe that's coming out of North Korea. There's no way to verify that. But when North Korea makes this kind of threat, even though it may not have all the capacity it says it does, it is a threat that is taken seriously here in the region, and by the United States.
BARNETT: We know you'll continue to watch those developments closely. Kathy Novak live for us from Seoul, North Korea. Kathy, thanks.
Keeping our focus in the region, the president of China's largest brokerage is now a target in a probe of insider trading. Security say Cheng Boming is being investigated for insider trading and leaking insider information.
Andrew Stevens is following this story for us from Hong Kong and joins us now.
Andrew, this makes Beijing appear serious about stamping out corruption and any possible market manipulation, but what are they basing this case on besides the market fluctuations that we all witnessed in the past few weeks?
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: Yes, I think it's safe to say that this is a continuation of a very serious move by Beijing to crack down on people they think have been manipulating the stock market. As you say, Cheng Boming has now been detained. He is a very senior player in the industry in China. Police have been investigating him, clearly, all the market participants, the key market participants, since the market started to crash back in June, and they would have been acting on the information after going through the books after talking to other people, sort of standard practices for looking for foul play.
It is a big deal, this one, in particular, though, Errol, because he is the head of securities. If you imagine, Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs rolled into one, that's what it is. It's the biggest broking house in China. It's got a lot of individual accounts for people who want to play the stock market, but it's not just that. This is part of the Citic Group, a state-owned investment house. It's the first investment arm set up by China when it was declared China open for business. It gives you an idea of how big it is. So going after someone like him says no one is safe.
The authorities are going to crack down and continue to crack down hard on anything they describe as market manipulation, anything where people have been profiting from this plunging stock market and in, effect, sort of facilitating the falling market.
BARNETT: Certainly a surprising development, but that's probably what Beijing wants, to send a message with this investigation.
Andrew Stevens, live for us in Hong Kong.
[02:49:32] Hewlett-Packard is announcing another dramatic down sizing. HP says it will cut another 25 to 30,000 jobs. This is part of the computer firm's breakup into two separate publicly traded companies. CEO Meg Whitman says the latest round of cuts will give the company a more competitive cost structure. Since she was hired four years ago, she has eliminated about 55,000 jobs.
Still to come, the story we think you social media junkies will like a lot. Facebook will be introducing a type of dislike buttons. Details on that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARNETT: Donald Trump's promised foreign policy speech in L.A. was short on specifics but he did take aim at the nuclear deal. He pointed out Hillary Clinton's support for it and slammed Secretary of State John Kerry's negotiating skills.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: It is one of the weakest contracts I have seen of any kind. I've been saying Hillary Clinton is the worst secretary of state in the history of this country. Right? The world blew up around her. It blew up, the whole world. It's like a different place. It's possible that because of this deal made by Secretary Kerry who has absolutely no clue how to negotiate, it may be that he's going to super creed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Trump isn't alone. Among the Republican candidates opposing the nuclear deal. The agreement is expected to feature prominently in the Republican debate.
As Fred Pleitgen reports, Iranians are listening closely to what the candidates have to say.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Republican presidential candidates have been talking tough on Iran, some even threatening to cancel the nuclear agreement if they win.
Words that have some Iranians worried, says an analyst, Ahmad Optianast (ph).
AHMAD OPTIANAST (ph), ANALYST: If you live in Iran, you should be afraid, what's going to happen? Is there a plan to attack Iran? Are they planning to attack Iran? What will happen to us?
[02:45:00] PLEITGEN (on camera): On Tehran's streets, as you'd expect, the majority don't even know the names of the candidates. The vast majority are following the campaign, but there are some who are frustrated with the way many Republican candidates have been criticizing their country.
(voice-over): But those we spoke to also believe the rhetoric coming from the candidates is just that, campaign talk.
"When they speak about the nuclear deal, they don't think about the benefit for the American people," this man says. "They just think about their own benefit, so I think the Republicans have shown that for their benefit, and they couldn't do anything, so they can't do anything."
"As far as I know, this is the party of George Bush and Ronald Reagan," this man adds. "These guys can't do anything."
Contempt from Iran's hard liners.
This local newspaper is the voice of the country's conservatives. The boss is an official representative of Iran's supreme leader. He picked on the last Republican president's brother.
"Jeb Bush talk is bigger than his mouth," he said. "He should consider if he really wants to continue the failed policies of his brother. We don't care what the Republicans say. It's a big step from talking to taking action."
While many Iranians dismiss the tough talk, as the election grows closer, many will be eager to see what a new president will mean for U.S. Iranian relations.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.
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BARNETT: Remember, our live coverage of the Republican presidential debate begins at 6:00 p.m. eastern, 11:00, Wednesday night in London. That's midnight in Berlin. If you're too busy and can't see it live, watch the replay here on CNN International. That will be at 8:00 p.m. Thursday night London time on Sunday.
Back to the refugee crisis sweeping Europe and the Middle East, it's produced so many heart-breaking stories, but there have been occasional moments of hope.
Atika Shubert met some brave women of the Yazidi religious minority who escaped ISIS and are now rebuilding their lives through photography.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, my name is Dena. I am a photojournalist.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Ruth. I am a photojournalist.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am a photojournalist.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are just a small group of girls who escaped from Sinjar last August when is brutally encroached upon their homes, killing and capturing many. They now heal through photography at a camp for displaced Yazidis. This project, run by UNICEF, helps empower girls to tell their own stories through photos.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am 19 years old. This picture is my favorite picture. I took it. It is my favorite picture, because this woman was working as a tailor.
SHUBERT: Some of these girls were captured and abused by ISIS, and now have found a way to rebuild their lives.
Many hundreds didn't have the same chance. This video circulating online shows ISIS fighters selling captured women.
(SHOUTING)
SHUBERT: But for those who escaped, it is a chance to rebuild and to heal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (through translation): This place is called Laleche. There are sacred Yazidi graves here that people visit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (through translation): I took this photo of an old woman living in the camp. I took it because it shows her sad facial expressions.
SHUBERT (on camera): We've heard stories of sadness, but there are also stories of incredible resilience and empowerment. And these young women are telling their stories through their own pictures and their own words.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (through translation): The photo is my favorite. There is fatigue in her face. Her face expressed tiredness. I chose to take this photo because she was wearing traditional clothes, and so I decided to take a photo of her.
SHUBERT: In a camp where nearly half of the residents are children, cases like these are replete with stories of loss. The U.N. estimates that hundreds of girls and women are still missing, held by ISIS as six slaves. The exact number is hard to determine.
But for now, life through the lens captures tales of tragedy and hope.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Rafi. I am a photojournalist.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, I am a photojournalist. SHUBERT: Atika Shubert, CNN, Kurdistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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[02:51:28] JAVAHERI: Just a few days left here for the official start of autumn across parts of North America.
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BARNETT: Welcome back. A disputed phone call between Russia's president and Elton John is causing a bit of confusion. On Tuesday, the rock star announced that Vladimir Putin telephoned him to discuss equality of sexual minorities in Russia, but a Russian spokesman says the phone call never happened. The spokesman says Mr. Putin would be open to discussing human issues. Moscow has enacted laws that critics say discriminate against gays. CNN has reached out to Elton John. We're waiting to hear back.
Facebook says it's finally working on a dislike button feature that many people have been requesting for years. CEO Mark Zuckerberg says they're going to test something like a dislike button soon, but the feature isn't as simple to build as it sounds.
Listen as he talked about it Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO, FACEBOOK: People aren't looking for an ability to down vote other people's post. What they want is to be able to express empathy, and if -- not every moment is a good moment, and if you are sharing something that is sad, you know, whether it's something in current events, like the refugee crisis that touches you, or if a family member passed away, then it may not feel comfortable to like that post, but your friends and people want to be able to express that they understand and that they relate to you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[02:55:30] BARNETT: It sounds pretty interesting. You don't want to like someone's bad news. Folks chimed in on Twitter with suggestions for some other new buttons, many of which were not about empathy. Take a look at this. "Facebook should add a why you lying button?" People want to add things that aren't true. Maggie says, "I'd rather be dead option for Facebook invites." You get inundated with those. And another one says, "Facebook should be a vomit button for people sharing unnecessary details." This is real. I don't want to see pictures of your medical surgeries. Facebook, we'll see what this new dislike button looks like when they roll it out.
You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Errol Barnett. We have more live reports to bring from around the world the next hour. Stay with me.
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