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Pope Francis Lands in America, China's President VISITS AMERICA; E.U. Leaders Proposed Quota System to Tackle Migrant Crisis; Number of Migrants Crossing Sea into Europe Continues to Climb; Pharmaceutical Company Rescinds Price Hike on AIDS Drug; Pope Francis to Spend Today in Washington. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired September 23, 2015 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:09]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: A rousing welcome. Pope Francis lands in America for an historic visit amid some of the tightest security ever seen.
China's president begins his first state visit to the U.S. for the pledge to cooperate on cybercrime.
And backing down. A brash young executive reverses course on the price of a prescription medication after a national outcry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: I want to welcome our viewers here in the U.S. and those tuned in from around the world. Thanks for joining me I'm Errol Barnett, and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BARNETT: Our top story this hour, Pope Francis is in the United States for a six-day historic visit.
The people's Pope landed outside Washington on Tuesday and this is the Pontiff's first trip ever to the U.S. He was welcomed by hundreds of cheering fans. Take a look.
Now Pope Francis was driven away from the tarmac in an Italian made Fiat. Some are calling this a humble choice of transportation for the leader of the world's Catholics.
Now Francis is the fourth Pope to visit the U.S. During his trip he'll stop in Washington, New York, and Philadelphia. CNN's Jim Acosta previews his busy agenda.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was one of the biggest symbolic moments of the Obama presidency. With the President and first family plus the nations first Catholic Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden altogether greeting Pope Francis, it made for an unprecedented welcome to the U.E.
VALERIE JARRETT, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISOR: It is a big deal and I think it's because since it is the Pope's first time in the United States, what better way to welcome him than greet him as soon as he touches the ground here in the United States.
ACOSTA: Day two of the Pope's visit will be a sight to behold. For starters, 15,000 visitors are expected to cram on to the White House's south lawn to witness the Pope's official arrival. After the President greets the Pope, the two leaders will speak to the world then hold a one on one meeting with only translators in the room. All before Pope Francis addresses congress Thursday with Biden in attendance.
Even though the President and the Pope are allies on issues ranging from climate change to income and inequality to Cuba, even the Iran nuclear deal, the White House refuses to reveal what the two men will discuss.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The President will not arrive at that meeting with a political agenda.
ACOSTA: Perhaps that's because this Pope can be full of surprises. After their last meeting we asked the President whether any hot button social issues were raised.
Did he register any objections with you about the contraception coverage mandates in the Affordable Care Act, or your efforts to advance the rights of gays and lesbians in the United States that worry so many Catholics?
Mr. Obama responded the Pope unexpectedly brought up immigration reform.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think he was very mindful of the plight of so many immigrants who are wonderful people working hard, making contributions and many of their children are U.S. Citizens and yet they still live in the shadows.
ACOSTA: White House senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett told CNN these two leaders they have more business to tackle in the President's final months in office.
JARRETT: The work is never done. But with two men of this caliber who share ideals and who share values about human decency, respect for differences I think that it's going to be a really, really positive visit.
ACOSTA: Besides the thorny issues, the President and the Pope may tackle from abortion to the Syrian migrant crisis in Europe. There will be plenty ceremony in their encounters. As is customary the President will present the Pope with a gift, but again, no word from the White House as to what that might be.
Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House. (END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Now the Pope's U.S. visit presents an extraordinary security challenge. How do you protect the man who likes to mingle with the masses? CNN's Brian Todd has the answers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Unplanned moments like this one two years ago in Rio De Janeiro are trademark Pope Francis, telling his drivers not to avoid crowds. At one point, after a wrong turn, his silver Fiat hatch back becomes caught in a swirl of well- wishers. Trademark Francis and a nightmare for those who protect him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's got to be nerve racking?
ANDREAS WIDMER, SWISS GUARDS: You use your body a lot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In what way?
WIDMER: You get in -- you basically get in between and you use your body to protect the Pope.
TODD: Andres (Whitmore) was a member of the elite Swiss guards, the man who protected the Holy Father for more than five centuries. He has lived the fear those around Pope Francis are feeling today.
Whitmore says Pope John Paul the second, who he guarded in the 80s was a lot like Pope Francis, often wanting to make unplanned forays into large crowds. Security around John Paul tightened after a gunman tried to assassinate him in 1981, shooting him at least twice.
[01:05:10]
TODD: Secret service and police officials say they've done their homework on this Pope's patterns and observed how the Swiss guards have protected him.
WIDMER: We have watched very closely all of his appearances around the world, how he interacts with the crowds.
TODD: Widmer and former secret service agents tell us there'll be layers of security in the crowds, agents blending in watching for strange body language and facial gestures.
The Pope mobile they say is armored, although much of it is open air, leaving him exposed.
So does the Pope wear a bullet-proof vest?
DAVE WILKINSON, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: A high level protectee would not wear armor or any type of ballistic vest in an interior site, but they would most likely wear it at an outside venue.
TODD: We asked Widmer as a guard can you tell a Pope who likes to go off script to hold back? WIDMER: No, you don't. You try to work with the Pope and see what he
wants to do and then adapt and provide the best security that there is. The security is not what leads the Pope. It's the Pope that leads the security.
Again the Pope is doing his ministry and that needs to be optimized and that's what a Pope is all about. The security can be optimized around his activities.
TODD: So you don't ever tell the Pope -- say sir, you cannot go do that?
WIDMER: No.
TODD: What's the most danger threat to a Pope? Andreas Widmer says it's usually someone who's mentally ill approaching the Pope wanting to act out some notion in their mind.
He says the real challenge there is to be measured and you have to protect the Pope, you have to protect others nearby from the assailant and you have to protect the assailant from himself.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: And there's another high profile visit to the U.S. Taking place this week. China's President confronted a brought range of issues on Tuesday that have strained relations between the two countries.
In a speech to business leaders, Xi Jinping said China's stock market has recovered from the recent crash. He also pledged to work with Washington to battle cybercrime and the importance of U.S.-China relations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
XI JINPING, PRESIDENT OF CHINA: Cooperation is the only right choice to bring about benefits. But cooperation requires mutual accommodation of each others interest and concerns and the quest of the great common ground of interest. But China and the U.S. cooperates well they can become a bedrock of global stability and a booster of world peace. Should they enter conflict or confrontation, it would lead to disaster for both countries and the world at large.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Now China's President has a busy schedule ahead on Wednesday.
He'll take part in a business round table, visit the Boing factory near Seattle and meet with top internet executives on the Microsoft campus.
Thursday, Mr. Xi heads for Washington where he'll have a working dinner with President Obama. He'll meet with congressional leaders the following day and Friday evening Mr. Xi attends a White House state dinner, then he heads to New York for events at the United Nations. He will speak at the UN's 70th anniversary session on Monday.
Let's have a chat now about President Xi's visit. Our Asia-Pacific editor, Andrew Stevens, and CNN "NEWS STREAM" anchor, Kristie Lu Stout both join us from Hong Kong to talk about all of this. Welcome to you both.
Kristie let's start with you. President Xi made a pledge to work with the U.S. on cybercrimes. That's giving people hope that maybe a framework agreement could come out of this visit which would be very encouraging.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR, "NEWS STREAM": Yes very encouraging sign, the issue of cyber security, a major glitch in the U.S. -China relationship.
I mean remember it was just only a couple of months ago when that massive data breech took place in the Office of Personnel Management in the United States, breaking into the accounts of some 22 million Americans.
I mean absolutely devastating in massive (inaudible) scale. U.S. officials behind the scenes have said that China they believe is behind the attack. China denied that.
China has also been accused of massive and widespread corporate cyber theft stealing everything from business plans to marketing plans to corporate blueprints. Again China calls these accusations groundless and baseless and says that it too is a victim of cyber thefts.
But today, a defining moment in Seattle. When we heard that speech from the Chinese President Xi Jingping who said that china wants to safeguard cyber security and plans to act against corporate cyber theft. Let's listen to what the Chinese President had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
XI (via translation): China is a staunch defender of the cyber security. It is also a victim of a hacking. The Chinese government will not give whatever the form be engaged in commercial thefts or we encourage or support such attempts by anyone.
Both commercial cyber thefts and the hacking against the government networks are crimes that must be punished in accordance with the law or relevant in the national treaties.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:10:03]
LU STOUT: Well Xi Jingping in that speech in Seattle, also said that China's prepared to introduce a joint level dialogue and high level dialogue with the United States on the issue of cyber security. And meanwhile the White House is taking a pretty tough line on the issue. We heard from a statement on the record briefing from the White House earlier today saying that sanctions against Chinese cyber thieves remain on the table and also the White House downplaying any sort of breakthrough on the issue of cyber security. Back to you Errol.
BARNETT: And that gives you the sense that potentially, possibly something still may come out of it. Let's bring in Andrew Stevens now also in Hong Kong because Andrew President Xi made a pledge to stabilize the Chinese economy without weakening the currency as many had feared and claimed. But since he said that, there's been a bit of bad economic news out of the country. What's happening?
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes that drum beat of bad economic news it just continues. This is the manufacturing number which was worse than expected. You'll remember when it came out last month that sparked a big sell off around the world really on the state of the Chinese economy. We're also seeing another selloff across Asia at the moment because of these weak continuing weak numbers Errol.
But it's interesting 'cause one of Mr. Xi's messages really in his American trip is to try to restore confidence.
Soothe ruffled feathers about the state of China's economy and show that China is still in control.
Now, the cyber security is grabbing the headlines, but he was very, very clear on three key issues I think.
One was economic reforms. He says yes, the economy is slowing but economic reforms will carry on. As he says, the bow has already been -- the arrow has been loose from the bow and it cannot be recalled. That is what he says the reform process is doing at the moment.
He did mention the stock market crash over the summer. And he said interesting that he thought the recovery was now under way in the Shanghai market. Which inn the same breath he's talking about market reforms. Now he's sort of -- he's making calls on where the market may go.
I thought that was quite interesting. But the third point is the currency. That's also caused a huge amount of concern worldwide. There was a devaluation of the Chinese Yuan after the authorities let it be more focused on market forces. The Yuan has fallen. He is now saying that it is at a fair value, about 3% lower than it was, that's also key.
Now whether it stays that way remains to be seen. He's talking about market forces, reforms.
Whether China will let the market forces decide on where the Yuan goes, where the stock markets go from will be interesting. It'll be deeds and not words which he'll be judged by.
BARNETT: Yes, and the Yuan being at a fair value of course itself as a statement is a matter of opinion. We shall see.
Kristie I want to jump back to you here because I'm curious about what the social media reaction has been to this visit so far. I mean even when President Xi spoke I noticed that he made a joke referencing the T.V. show House of Cards which was a bit of a surprise. What are people saying?
LU STOUT: The Chinese President in a major address making a pop culture reference, making a joke about the movie House of Cards. Just a little background on that, he was addressing his war and corruption saying that his motives have nothing to do with the power struggle. That it was no House of Cards. And that was met with a round of applause there inside the room in Seattle.
And also on Chinese social media. The reaction to the speech has been this. A number of Chinese (inaudible) and Chinese people, they're surprised at just how natural and unstilted their leader was.
I mean this is the Chinese President, usually they're given to a certain style of oratory and yet during this speech that we listened to in Seattle we had a President who yes was walking through you know very significant issues going through issues like cyber to the slowdown of the economy, military buildup etc. But relating with his audience with these jokes he made reference to the movie Sleepless in Seattle you know saying that was the reason why many Chinese people are familiar with Seattle. And also made reference to Ernest Hemingway being a favorite author and how he enjoyed a mojito while in Cuba so he could channel the famous author.
This is some reaction that we got on (inaudible) from someone named (Inaudible). He said I got up early this morning tuned into (Xi da da's) Seattle speech. (Xi dada) is a pet name on social media for Xi Jingping. So brilliant, so touching he even mentioned drinking rum in a Cuban pub. And Hemingway's the old man to see.
So that Errol just gives you a sense of the sense of delight that was expressed among Chinese citizens as they too were listening in on this speech.
BARNETT: As you give your speech more color, people tune into it, they retweet it, they share it, and in essence they listen closer to what the important points were that you had to say.
Great to speak with you both. Our Asia Pacific editor, Andrew Stevens and CNN's Kristie Lu Stout. Thanks very much.
You can all find more coverage of President's Xi's U.S. visit why it matters and all the issues that will be discussed at our website. Surely you know the address by now. Cnn.com.
[01:15:03] Now Donald Trump on the hot seat. The Republican Presidential front-runner faces questions over comments made about President Obama's faith and whether he thinks Mr. Obama is a U.S. Citizen. What do you think he said? We'll reveal after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: (inaudible) Equinox, Pedram Javaheri, it's the day of the year where for most of the world the daylight and the night time about the same, 12 hours across the board. And here we go. The temperatures in Chicago (inaudible) about 26 degrees will go with mostly sunny skies.
Atlanta makes it up to the upper 20s a couple notches warmer down in Miami. While a beautiful day across San Francisco. We have the June gloom and also the July foggy conditions that are typically set up in place but this time of year we have pretty nice weather setting up over that region as we remain dry but notice the southwest still getting in on remnants on a tropical depression that brought in some heavy rainfall towards areas of Southern Arizona.
To the East we do have a storm system parked off the eastern seaboard. Plenty of rainfall from Wilmington, especially in and around Charleston South Carolina, that's where I want you to notice, right there around Southern Florida, that's where some of the heaviest rainfall is expected as the storm continues to surge moisture into the region.
And take a look at this, the models bringing upwards of perhaps 100 to 150 millimeters around the Florida Keys point northward, precisely where you want to see some rainfall where the moderate to severe drought has been in place in recent days.
And the warm weather, the unusual warm weather continues across the mid-western the Northern tier of the U.S. there for this time of year and we continue with the temperature into the 20s there.
Work your way to the south, Belize City should be around 31, Guatemala City a pair of twos.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARNETT: Donald Trump is facing more questions over why he didn't correct a man at a rally who called U.S. President Barack Obama a Muslim.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: In an interview on "60 Minutes", the Republican presidential candidate pointed to the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. Here's a piece of that interview with Scott Pelley of CBS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT PELLEY, CBS HOST: We were with you in New Hampshire when that man stood up and said we have a problem in this country and it's Muslims. You let that pass and I wonder what that tells us about you.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, he said much more than that, that was part of the state, he then went on to say other things.
PELLEY: But the bigotry part.
[01:20:00]
TRUMP: Look, he said mostly about Obama. That whole question is about ... I don't have to defend President Obama, he's not going to defend me. So whether you agree with the man or don't agree and there were people in that audience as you probably noticed that did agree.
PELLEY: It was a testing moment for a man running for President.
TRUMP: I don't think so.
PELLEY: You never know when they're coming.
TRUMP: I don't think so.
PELLEY: But here you had a bigot.
TRUMP: That wasn't attested. You don't know that.
PELLEY: You could have slapped down.
TRUMP: You don't that, I mean he asked a question, you don't know that he was a bigot but look.
PELLEY: A problem in this country is Muslims.
TRUMP: Well, let me ask you this. So you said there's a problem in this country and it's Muslims, all right. I love the Muslims, I have many, many friends people living in this building, Muslims, they're phenomenal people. But like everything else you have people where there are problems. Now we can say there are no problems with the Muslims, there is no problem, there's no terrorism, there's no crimes, there's no anything, they didn't knock down the World Trade Center.
To the best of my knowledge the people that knocked down the World Trade Center you know where they -- they didn't fly back to Sweden.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: All right, there it is. Now Trump just appeared on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert". That conversation was pretty lively.
The President front-runner was one of the most prominent opponents of the birther theory you may remember. He repeatedly challenged President Barack Obama to release his birth certificate. Colbert asked Trump about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, THE LATE SHOW: This is the last time you ever have to address this question if you hit the ball. OK. (Inaudible) like sauce all over my hands, these meatballs are so big, OK.
TRUMP: Go ahead I want to hear this.
COLBERT: Barack Obama born in the United States.
TRUMP: Let me just.
COLBERT: Was he? Take a meatball. TRUMP: I know.
COLBERT: It's hanging out there. Right there. Come on.
TRUMP: I, as many people, and you want to know. I don't talk about it anymore.
COLBERT: You don't talk about it?
TRUMP: I talk about jobs. I talk about our veterans being horribly treated. I just don't discuss it.
COLBERT: You know that meatball is now being dragged down the steps of the subway by a rat right now.
TRUMP: But I don't -- you're right.
COLBERT: You missed the meatball.
TRUMP: I saw that rat, that was not pretty.
COLBERT: You missed the meatball.
TRUMP: No Steve, I talk about jobs, I'm talking the vets who are t treated like third class citizen they're treated worse than the illegals. The vets in this country are so mistreated terribly. I'm talking about the building. Those are the things I'm talking about, I'm not talking about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: And that's what you call a pivot ladies and gentlemen. Now Trump has also been vocal about his opposition toward undocumented immigrants in the U.S. He has said he plans to build a wall at the border. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have to have a wall. We have to have a border. And in that wall we're going to have a beautiful, big, fat door where people can come -- they come into the country.
COLBERT: But can they come in ...
TRUMP: Now listen to this.
COLBERT: Okay.
TRUMP: A beautiful door where people can come into the country, but they have to come in legally. We can have a great and beautiful wall. It will be up, it'll stop, we'll have our border and guess what. Nobody comes in unless they have their papers and they come in legally. And we stop crime and we stop problems and we stop the drug trade which is massive.
You know we have so much drug trade, the cartels are pouring through just like there's nothing. Pouring through. Chicago, New York, Los Angeles. The money goes out, the drugs come in. We're going to stop it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: All right. There it is. Now Trump's comments come as another leading Republican candidate is changing his tone on Muslims in the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: On Tuesday Ben Carson said he would expect a President to put the U.S. Constitution over his or her faith. Now that in and of itself is a bit change from Sunday when the retired neurosurgeon said he didn't think Muslims should be in the White House at all.
BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't care what a person's religious beliefs are or what their religious heritage is. If they embrace American culture. If they embrace our constitution and are willing to place that above their religious beliefs. I have no problem with them.
I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Bruce Haynes is a Republican consultant and he joins us now via webcam from Washington to talk about all of this. Bruce, thanks very much for your time.
Both Donald Trump and Ben Carson were talking about the top and third place Republican candidates respectively.
As we've just seen there, they've spent the week defending the remarks the critics have called islamophobics. So no matter what their excuses have been, this is a problem for men hoping to win over most Americans. How damaging has this been in your view?
BRUCE HAYNES, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: Well it's damaging when you're trying to run a campaign and you're talk about the things that you really want to talk about. The message that you want to deliver to the American people.
You saw in that exchange on the Colbert problem, Trump bridging, pivoting as you said to wanting to talk about jobs and veterans and the problem with not answering the question and saying I don't want to talk about it, you're condemning yourself to talk about it forevermore. Because the question is going to begin to occur over and over again. You know a one-word answer Errol would solve that problem for him. Yes, the president is an American. And then he would could move on to talk about the jobs or to talk about veteran, the things he really wants to be speaking to the American people about.
[01:25:22]
HAYNES: It's an unforced error in politics that kind of comes from not being a veteran campaigner.
BARNETT: And we should mention that the same is true on the Democratic side. Many critics believe that if Hillary Clinton would have been more transparent and more forth coming with her e-mail situation, it would not have dragged on as such a controversy.
Do you think that attempts for these candidates to appeal to one aspect of the Republican base, remember they're all jockeying to be the nominee at the moment.
You know they're appealing to those who are fearful of Muslims for whatever reason, could that cost them the support of the millions of Americans who are in the middle, the group that ultimately every election cycle decide who should occupy the White House. Is that trade off worth it?
HAYNES: It's not worth it and again the key is it's not so much whether you're angling to try to get this part of the elector or that part of the elector, You're losing control of the campaign and your message. You know Republicans should want to talk about flat wages and how the cost of living in this country are growing and wages aren't keeping up with it. They should want to talk about the problems in the Middle East that make things less secure for Americans.
Instead they're caught up in this silliness on questions that should be simple to answer.
And this is why you see a lot of Republicans beginning to turn to candidates like Carly Fiorina or Marco Rubio who don't seem to have problems dealing with these questions. And you see Trump and Carson beginning to fall in the polls because these aren't the things that Americans want to spend their time talking about; they want to talk about jobs, they want to talk about national security.
BARNETT: And I'm wondering how accurate, how relevant these polls really are then. I mean once the caucuses begin early next year Republicans will start to win down the field. Donald Trump tonight on Stephen Colbert, still being humorous but playing the straight guy to the comedian. Do you think that to move beyond this we will need to see more of that from Trump? Or might his numbers fall when it gets closer to when it's important early next year?
HAYNES: Well I, you know they're already to slide a little bit and I think you really caught something important there Errol in Trump's demeanor tonight.
He's moving from a candidate who - from someone who's trying to become a candidate to someone who's trying to grow campaign. He was more than happy to play the straight man tonight and show a serious side of Trump and not be the guy that blows up and sounds angry.
Colbert still got his laughs, I think they both got what they wanted from that exchange.
BARNETT: You know we've seen two experienced governors dropout of the race. Scott Walker, Rick Perry who's your favorite in the field right now. You're a Republican strategist. Who is the most appealing to you?
HAYNES: You know I think a lot of republicans look at a candidate like Marco Rubio and they find a lot to like. You know and I'm not aligned on Marco Rubio, but he is young, he's full of energy, he's really sharp as you saw in the debate on foreign policy, he's got a strong (inaudible -- technical difficulties.)
BARNETT: All right, I'll just jump in here to thank Bruce Haynes, the Republican consultant because we're just losing a bit of your audio but certainly this has given us some insight in what needs to happen on the Republican side and we'll see if Donald Trump straightens up in the weeks and months ahead.
Now U.S. Democrat Presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton is taking a long awaited position on a controversial oil pipeline.
BARNETT: Speaking in Iowa on Tuesday Clinton said she opposes the Keystone XL pipeline taking sides with progressives who are fighting over the project for environmental reasons. She said she waited until now to announce her position because she didn't want to interfere with the review by the U.S. State department.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it is imperative that we look at the Keystone pipeline as what I believe it is, a distraction from the important work we have to do to combat climate change. And unfortunately from my perspective, one that interferes with our ability to move forward to deal with all the other issues. Therefore I oppose it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Clinton's Democratic rivals have long been opposed to Keystone and have criticized her for taking so long to announce her position.
Now migrants and refugees are flocking to Europe but many are being met with combat troops and assault rifles.
We're going to take you to the Croatian/Hungarian border after this short break, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:33:17] BARNETT: A warm welcome back to those of you watching here in the states and all around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Errol Barnett. Here are the top headlines.
Pope Francis is in the United States for a six-day, three-city visit. President Obama and his family greeted him when he arrived. Mr. Obama will official welcome the pope at a White House ceremony later today. He'll then parade through Washington in his pope-mobile.
Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed hundreds of business leaders on the first day of his week-long U.S. visit. He talked about a number of issues, including the Chinese economy and cooperation with the U.S. on cyber crimes and improvement on human rights.
The drug company that drastically hiked the price of treatment for AIDS and cancer patients is switching gears. Turing had raised the price from $13.50 to $750 a pill. That caused outrage. But now, the company's CEO has said the drug has been lowered to a, quote, "more affordable price." He didn't say what it would be. We will have much more on that story coming up.
E.U. leaders will gather to finalize a proposed quota system to tackle the humanitarian crisis in central Europe. Interior ministers voted Tuesday to approve the plan to resettle more than 100,000 refugees and migrants. However, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic voted against the quotas. The E.U. officials say this proposal paves the way for other important actions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANS TIMMERMANS, EUROPEAN COMMISSIONS VICE PRESIDENT: In and by itself, the decision we took is not going to solve the crisis. Without this decision, I think we would not have been in the possibility to now take the next steps to make sure that we do better at protecting our external borders, that we do better at registering people immediately when they arrived, we'd do better at making sure those with a right to asylum stay but those who don't have a right to asylum are returned swiftly to where they came from.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:35:16] BARNETT: The number of migrants and refugees crossing the sea into Europe continues to climb. The International Organization of Migration said more than 481,000 have crossed this year alone. That is more than double the number that made the journey last year. Croatia officials say more than 2000 migrants entered their country in 12 hours on Tuesday. That is just a fraction of the number who entered the country headed for Austria. But many have to pass through Hungary first.
CNN's Ben Wedeman reports from the Croatian/Hungarian border.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(CROSSTALK)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The fences are going up in what was not long ago a borderless Euro --
(CROSSTALK)
WEDEMAN: -- fast becoming fortress Europe.
On the Hungary/Croatian border, Hungarian combat troops with assault rifles watch as refugees and migrants file across the border.
For Alad (ph), an architecture student from Baghdad University, twice kidnapped, Europe is everything Iraq isn't.
"Why did he leave his homeland and why," he responds, "here there is no suffering. You have rights and everything is provided for."
"In Iraq, we don't just have terrorism," says Mohammad from Baghdad, who hopes to go to Finland. "The economy is bad. Young people have no opportunities and no jobs. You don't know if you have a future in Iraq."
At the border, everyone, including little children, is frisked, bags searched. They will most likely be put on a train and sent straight to the Austrian border. Hungary is allowing them to transit the country, but is not welcoming them to stay.
(on camera): Hungary continues to take a hard line in this crisis, granting, for example, the army the right to use nonlethal force against refugees and migrants if necessary. Nonetheless, the gates to Hungary remain open and the migrants and refugees continue to pass through.
(voice-over): And while European officials grapple with the crisis, thousands more are on the way.
Alad (ph), a deserter from the Syrian Army, doesn't want to show his face to protect his family back in Damascus. He's been in Turkey for the last two years.
"No one is left in Turkey," he tells me. "Everyone has left," I asked? "Everyone who wants a better life is leaving."
Leaving for a deeply divided Europe so many believe is their salvation.
(CROSSTALK)
Ben Wedeman, CNN, on the Croatian/Hungarian border.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Let's discuss this in detail now with the migrants and refugees flooding into Europe. Leonard Doyle joins me from New York. He's the spokesman for the International Organization for Migration.
Leonard, thank you for your time.
Some half million migrants entered into Europe this year and is an unprecedented crisis. Do you think the current quote plan being developed is adequate?
LEONARD DOYLE, SPOKESMAN, INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION: It's a big improvement that we have agreement that came with pushing and overruling the minority. But at least you have an agreement now. And the heads of governments will be meeting today to endorse that and looking at long-term solutions in which they cooperate better with countries of origin.
BARNETT: But do we really have an agreement? Can this work with Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary all voting against it? You had one prime minister even saying he will not respect the agreement.
DOYLE: There's a lot of rhetoric in this game but, at the end of the day, the European Union, as they are showing one more time, there are very important legal channels and political channels. I think the rhetoric of politicians comes and goes, but at the end of the day, this agreement that has come, at the end of the day, it's an agreement of 28 countries, even if several dissented. There is a qualified process and that's it. They have to take if they want to be part of the union.
BARNETT: But the rhetoric does represent something from each of these nations, and that's popular support back home. I mean, the Czech Republic might take this issue to the European Court of Justice. Can you compel any nation to take in people that it just doesn't want to?
[01:40:09] DOYLE: If I can rephrase what you said, I think what we are seeing is populism rather than popular opinion. We seeing politicians suck up opinions. There is a lack of maturity. The European Union was born out of World War II and has spent considerable efforts toning down the rhetoric that brought such bloody conflict twice in the last century. These are new members and they are still spilling their stuff. But at the end of the day, the union is there for a good reason. It goes in fits and starts. But this is an impressive result. What we have to see is how does it impact the rest of the world, how does impact, and what can the union do to help countries where there are really huge issues of this, such as Sudan, Iraq, Syria. We need to see the focus go away from Europe's domestic concerns, if you will, and look at the more global picture.
BARNETT: I want to let the viewers know, at the right of the screen, you are looking at live pictures from the Croatian/Serbian border. Many migrants crowded there.
It's good to hear, Leonard, that you are encouraged by this agreement and you think it may create some momentum. I wonder if this may encourage European nations to take a more aggressive stance in Middle Eastern and North African crises. After all, this migration won't end until the conflict all these people are running from does.
DOYLE: That's exactly right. What we are seeing is they are recognizing that they can't put their head in the sand ostrich style and pretend it's someone else's problem, Germany's problem, Greece's problem. They have to come together as a union because they recognize that if they don't hang together, they will hang individually, as they say. It's a big move and it will be difficult. Now we have to see how they implement it and how they actually register the migrants coming through. At the moment, they are flooding through unregistered in many cases. There is a lot of work to be done. And the International Organization of Migration works really closely with the European Union and we hope they will do this as it progresses.
BARNETT: Leonard, it's good to hear you are liking what you are hearing at this point.
The spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, thanks for the insight from New York. DOYLE: Thank you.
BARNETT: And for our viewers, our coverage of this issue doesn't end on television. You can help if you feel compelled by heading to Impact Your World. There you will find information on charities and you can get involved if you wish. It's at CNN.com/impact.
Now, a pharmaceutical CEO is defending himself against backlash after he drastically raised the price of a drug for AIDS and cancer patients. We'll bring you more on that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:46:07] BARNETT: A U.S. drug company that caused outrage by raising the cost of a treatment for AIDS and cancer patients is now rolling back the price. Previously, the treatment was less than $14 before Turing raised it to $750 a pill.
CNN's Jason Carroll has more on the CEO behind all the changes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He is brash, a multimillionaire, and taking a lot of heat for that decision to raise the price of a drug to treat cancer and AIDS patients more than 5,000 percent. Now Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO founder, Martin Shkreli, is backing down.
MARTIN SHKRELI, CEO & FOUNDER, TURING PHARMACEUTICALS: We agreed to lower the price of Daraprim to a point that is more affordable and is able to allow the company to make a profit, but a very small profit, and we think these changes will be welcome.
CARROLL: The drug in question is called Daraprim. It is used to treat a potentially deadly parasitic infection which can affect people with a compromised immune system. It used to cost $13.50 per pill. Turing changed the cost to a whopping $750 per pill.
Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, blasted the rate hike this afternoon.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: That's price gauging, pure and simple.
CARROLL: The Infectious Diseases Society of American and the HIV Medicine Association sent a joint letter to Shkreli calling the increase "unjustifiable for the medically vulnerable patient population."
In a previous interview with CBS News, Shkreli called the increase an altruistic move that helped fund research.
SHKRELI: With these new profits, we can spend all of that upside on these patients who sorely need a new drug like Daraprim.
CARROLL: The 32-year-old, not new to controversy. In 2013, while serving as CEO of the biopharmaceutical company, Retrophin, he allegedly harassed an employee, writing in a letter, shown in this court document, "I hope to see you and your four children homeless and will do whatever I can to assure this." Last month, Retrophin sued him for $65 million saying Shkreli used his control over Retrophin to enrich himself. Shkreli called the allegations baseless, then went to Twitter quoting a hip-hop group, posting, "I am not the one to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) with."
NOAH BOOKBINDER, SPOKESMAN, CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS: It's hard to believe that someone could be so driven by greed.
CARROLL: The spokesman for an organization called the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has been critical of Shkreli for years.
BOOKBINDER: I'm not surprised by it. He is somebody who seems to be willing to play fast and loose with the rules, take advantage of the system, and is really driven by his own profit over everything else.
CARROLL (on camera): So while the controversial CEO made it clear he heard the public outcry, what he did not make clear is how much he would end up reducing the cost, and he also did not say when the public would see the reduction in cost.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Our thanks to Jason Carroll.
And you heard U.S. presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, blasted the rate hike. Both she and fellow Democrat Bernie Sanders plan to make drug prices a major issue during their White House campaigns.
Now to a bizarre story we're following. Kosovo's prime minister was hit with eggs during an address to parliament on live television. Opposition lawmakers were upset over a deal that gives a small Serbian minority more rights over municipal spending and education. You see the eggs fly there. The speech was halted and body guards rushed to shield the prime minister with an umbrella.
Now Pope Francis surely will not need an umbrella on his first ever visit to the U.S. Coming up next, we will hear from the people who know him best and find out how he became the person he is today.
Stay with CNN.
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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[01:51:16] KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: I'm Kate Riley, with your CNN "World Sport" headlines.
Robert Lavandoski has made history by scoring five goals in nine minutes after coming on as a substitute in the 5-1 league victory. Trailing 1-0 when the Polish International came on at the start of the second half. Lavandoski became the only sub to score five goals in a match in the league's history. And it's also the quickest five goals in league history.
Speaking of strikers, it has been a less memorable day for Diego Costa, who will miss Chelsea's next three games after an F.A. charge of violent conduct was upheld. The charge, which Costa denied, was in relation to an incident last Saturday. The incident was not seen by match officials, but it was caught on video and proved it had to happen after an independent commission hearing.
In further Chelsea news, the Blues have reportedly parted company with their team doctor. The club has refused to comment on what it deemed an internal staffing matter. The team doctor infuriated Marino when she rushed on to the field to treat someone in a key point to the game against Swansea. It is believed that she will now be taking legal advice.
And that's a look at all your sports headlines. I'm Kate Riley.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARNETT: It's all very exciting. Pope Francis will visit the White House today on his first full day in the United States. He is scheduled to ride through Washington on his famous pope-mobile. Pope Francis is the leader, of course, of the world's one billion Catholics.
Here is a closer look at his life from the people who know him best.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a lower middle class kid of mostly Italian immigrants. That's where he grew up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was a typical child. He would go and play with friends in the street. He would play football.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a pretty ordinary kid. He was a lanky teenager. His childhood friends remember him as always having his head in a book.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was special, but also normal. He would be a teenager and go and participate in parties.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): I have known this man since I was 13 years old. We have known each other for 65 years through every stage of our lives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People were struck by his concern for others. That was there from the very, very beginning.
(MUSIC)
[01:55:10] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just before his 17th birthday when had had the experience in the confessional, something he said made him go in, and he said confession to a priest he didn't know. He always said what went on in that confession left him convinced he would be a priest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): He said I'm going to tell you something that I haven't told anyone else. I have decided to dedicate myself to the priesthood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it was through that experience he see the beginnings of very tender and loving man that I think he subsequently became as a bishop.
(CHEERING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): His passion for the poor is real. And I believe if he could, there will not be a single poor person in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here stresses in a very special way the key in order to reach peace. This relationship with the other churches, he tries to build up a reality of so many divisions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The way he is living now as pope is not so different from how he used to live as a bishop in Buenos Aires. He is above all of that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He devoted all his life for a cause of the church.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is not playing a role. He is himself. He is authentic.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Does he still know how to tango?
I'm Errol Barnett. Rosie is next. I'll see you in an hour.
