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The Pope in America; Demographics of Catholicism in U.S.; Blatter Subject of New FIFA Investigation; World Football Leadership and Its State of Play; Secretary Clinton's Ongoing Email Saga; The Pope's Philadelphia Itinerary; The Pope Effect; Missing Mexican Students' Families Still Seeking Answers; New Bond Theme Draws Mixed Reviews. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired September 26, 2015 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The pope in America: tens of thousands gather to catch a glimpse of Pope Francis on this historic trip. But the foremost reason for his visit will be happening today. We'll have that information.
Plus: FIFA's chief under investigation. The corruption probe at football's world governing body has now gone all the way to the top. We will talk to an expert about what these new developments mean.
And with thousands of Muslim pilgrims in Saudi Arabia for the hajj. We are getting new information about what may have caused that deadly stampede that killed more than 700 people.
From CNN world headquarters here in Atlanta, I'm George Howell. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
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HOWELL: A good day to you and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world.
We begin this hour with Pope Francis in the United States. He will soon mark the final stop of his six-day visit as he heads to the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia.
For now, though, the pope is in New York. And what a busy visit it has been since he was here on a Friday. Some of his stops included the 9/11 Memorial and there were big crowds. He celebrated mass with nearly 20,000 people at Madison Square Garden.
Then at the United Nations, the pope also addressed world leaders. During his many stops, he is promoting world peace and urging people to put an end to widespread poverty and to stop environmental destruction across the globe.
His message has been well received, as people pack in, hoping to simply catch a glimpse of the pontiff on his tour route. Here's a closer look now at some of the sights and sounds, the highlights of this historic visit.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His Holiness, Pope Francis, will now enter the internal assembly hall.
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POPE FRANCIS (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE).
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POPE FRANCIS (through translator): Of the cross of Jesus Christ, please accept us with our appreciation from all of us here.
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POPE FRANCIS: Go in peace. Find the Lord by your life. And please, I ask you, don't forget to pray for me.
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HOWELL: One of the most touching moments of the pope's visit --
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HOWELL: -- to New York happened at a school in East Harlem.
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HOWELL (voice-over): This happened just before his ride through Central Park. The pope met with about 2 dozen youngsters at a school that serves some 300 students, most of them Latino and African American students. The executive director of the Catholic Charities called it the most important stop.
The pope also got a hands-on demonstration of touchscreen technology used as a learning tool, though, in the moment, it seemed just a bit out of his comfort zone.
When it comes to younger Americans, they tend to be less inclined to identify with any specific religion, including Catholicism.
A study by the Pew Research Center found about a quarter of older Americans identify as Catholic, but the number then declines with younger people. And among those born, since 1981, just 16 percent say that they are Catholic.
At the same time, enrollment in Catholic schools has been sliding, over the past 10 years, especially at the grade school level. Father Thomas Reese told CNN it is time for a new style of the
church.
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THOMAS REESE, "NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER": What's happened to the Catholic schools is tragic, but it's really all about money, I'm afraid. We used to be able to run these schools with thousands and thousands of sisters.
But there aren't those sisters anymore. And we need government funding if we're going to keep these schools going.
But the real question about the impact of Pope Francis is going to be on people who have left the church and now are thinking, well, I really like Pope Francis; maybe I ought to give the church another chance.
The problem is, although the pope is really important in the Catholic Church, he's not the whole thing. Catholics live their faith at the local level in parishes. And when they come back, they're going to want to meet somebody like Pope Francis.
And if they don't, if the clergymen that they run into is cranky and judgmental and it's the same old same old, they are going to turn around and go out the door again and never come back. So we have to adopt the pastoral style of Pope Francis: more welcoming, compassionate, less judgmental and then people might come back and stay.
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HOWELL: This week, many Americans are seeing firsthand how Pope Francis is different from his predecessors. One sign: that small Fiat. It speaks volumes about his values each time he climbs in and out of it.
And there are the fancy meals that he has rejected. Instead of meeting with members of Congress, he chose instead to meet with children and meet with the homeless, not to mention the simple gesture of carrying his own bags up the plane steps.
The pope's lack of pretense has made quite an impression in this age of the selfie. A little later this hour, CNN's Randi Kaye will show us how the pope's no-frills humility has been his way of life long before he arrived to Rome.
And again, the next stop, Pope Francis heads to Philadelphia hours from now for the final leg of his U.S. trip. You can find live coverage of all the pope's events right here on CNN.
Now to the investigation into FIFA and new allegations against its leader, Sepp Blatter. Prosecutors in Switzerland have opened criminal proceedings into the FIFA president. He is accused of criminal mismanagement and what's being called "disloyal payments" to the head of the Union of European Football Associations. Investigators questioned Blatter on Friday and seized data from
his office in Zurich. Blatter has denied any wrongdoing and his attorney says that he is cooperating with the investigation. This latest development, though, comes just months before Mr. Blatter is due to step down as the FIFA chief. CNN's Don Riddell has this story.
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DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's been football's most powerful man for more than 17 years. As the head of FIFA, the sport's world governing body, Sepp Blatter lived an opulent, jet-set lifestyle, often treated as if he were a head of state.
But all that is in the distant past now after the Swiss attorney general revealed that Blatter has been interrogated on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation.
American law enforcement officials who are assisting the Swiss police in their investigation of Blatter have been probing FIFA for a variety of white-collar crimes dating back two decades.
And this year Swiss prosecutors launched their own investigation into the bidding procedures for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments.
FIFA's critics felt that Mr. Blatter had cultivated a culture of corruption from his headquarters in Zurich. But even though his organization was humiliated by the arrests of more than a dozen key operatives in May, he was still triumphantly elected for a fifth term as president.
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SEPP BLATTER, FIFA PRESIDENT: I will be in command of this boat called FIFA.
RIDDELL (voice-over): Just days later, though, Blatter announced that he was standing down, prompting a new election next February.
This month, investigators on both sides of the Atlantic said that they were expanding their operation and just last week Blatter's right-hand man, secretary general Jerome Valcke, was relieved of his duties and suspended.
In recent days, Blatter has been hinting that he may serve as president beyond February. But now the future is very uncertain, not just for him but for the governance of world football. The UEFA president, Michel Platini, was tipped to succeed Blatter next year. But he was also implicated in the latest developments.
Much could change in the next few days and weeks and FIFA's presidential election is still five months away -- Don Riddell, CNN.
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HOWELL: For some context and analysis here, let's bring in Keir Radnedge, the executive editor of "World Soccer" magazine, now joining us live from London.
Keir, it's good to have you with us. Let's talk first of all about the organization itself. We already know that Mr. Blatter was set to step down, but now it looks like it may happen sooner than planned.
Where does this leave the FIFA leadership and where does it leave the state of world soccer?
KEIR RADNEDGE, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "WORLD SOCCER": Well, it leaves the FIFA leadership in a state of confusion, frankly. Blatter has ridden out so many scandals and accusations and allegations in the past. He's always insisted that he is Mr. Clean and that he is the right man to try and lead the ship of FIFA back into safe waters.
But this is the first time, really, that a direct accusation has come and landed right on the presidential desk. This would shake even the confidence, maybe, of Blatter himself.
HOWELL: I remember when the first allegations came out, this investigation from the U.S. side of things. Mr. Blatter made the point that, you know, although he is at the top, he is not entirely responsible. He cannot, you know, monitor everything that happens under him.
But now, as you mentioned, he has been named in an investigation. For Sepp Blatter himself, though, he's had a long career at FIFA. Be fair to say this could be a very important turning point in his legacy.
RADNEDGE: This is absolutely the most crucial moment of his presidency. Sepp Blatter has been in FIFA for 40 years, as a paid official and as president since 1998. But he has never been under fire in this way like this before.
I mean, it's been put to him many times in the past that the official at the top should take responsibility for what happens on his watch. He's always refuted that, but now what's happening on his watch actually affects him directly.
HOWELL: Keir Radnedge, joining us live in London, Keir, thank you so much for the insight.
The United States and China, they are pledging positive relations moving forward. U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife at the White House on Friday night for an official state dinner.
CEOs from Silicon Valley tech companies were also invited to that dinner. Earlier in the day, two leaders, these two leaders reached a, quote, "common understanding" on curbing economic cyber espionage and that was hailed as perhaps the biggest breakthrough of the visit.
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XI JINPING, PRESIDENT OF CHINA (through translator): China and the U.S. are two major cyber countries and we should strengthen dialogue and cooperation. Confrontation and friction are not the right choice for both sides.
During my visit, the competent authorities of both countries have reached an important consensus on the joint fight against cyber crimes.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've agreed that neither the U.S. or the Chinese government will conduct or knowingly support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, including trade secrets or other confidential business information for commercial advantage.
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HOWELL: The Chinese leader announced a cap-and-trade deal to cut down on air pollution. Today he heads next to New York and is set to speak at the United Nations General Assembly on Monday.
Hyundai is recalling nearly 500,000 cars because of concerns over engine failure. A U.S. safety group says the recall involves every 2011 and 2012 Sonata model, manufactured at a plant in the state of Alabama.
Officials estimate that only 2 percent to 3 percent of the cars may actually have this defect, though. So far, there have been no reports of injuries.
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HOWELL: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Still to come this hour, the top Republican in the U.S. government, he is stepping down. Just ahead, what John Boehner's meeting with Pope Francis had to do with his decision to resign.
Plus, this:
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FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: There will be a president in 2017, January. You're, some would say, the most sharp, skilled student of American politics.
Why do you think Hillary Clinton is having a tougher time than many imagined? The lead in the national polls has narrowed; Iowa and New Hampshire seem tough.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I think you know why. I think you know why.
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HOWELL: Former U.S. President Bill Clinton answers that question and more in a wide-ranging interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria. And later this hour, Iranians chant, "Death to the Saudi
dynasty." They are angry about the kingdom's handling of the hajj tragedy. A live report from London as CNN NEWSROOM continues.
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HOWELL: Today, there was a big surprise from one of America's leading --
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HOWELL: -- lawmakers. U.S. Republican House Speaker John Boehner says that he plans to step down and leave Congress next month. His tenure has been marked by clashes within his own party, especially over fiscal policy.
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HOWELL (voice-over): Mr. Boehner says his encounters with Pope Francis helped him to make this decision. You see him right here, getting choked up during the pope's visit to Washington, D.C., on Thursday. He told reporters he woke up on Friday morning and he knew this was the right time to do it.
JOHN BOEHNER, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The members -- I'm glad I made this announcement at the conference with all of my Republican colleagues because it was a very good moment to help kind of rebuild the team.
Listen, I feel good about what I've done. I know that every day I've tried to do the right thing for the right reasons and tried to do the right thing for the country.
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HOWELL: And the reaction is coming in. Republican presidential candidate John Kasich served in the House with Speaker Boehner and Kasich says he is disappointed, but he still considers Boehner a patriot and a good friend.
Here are what some other Republicans had to say.
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DONALD TRUMP, ENTREPRENEUR: Well, I think it's time. It's really time for him. He's -- a lot of problems. We've got to get the country going and I think it really is time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you think it's a good thing for the party?
TRUMP: I think right now it is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every leader has a season. And I appreciate Mr. Boehner's leadership and I think he is doing the right thing, stepping aside now, and I look forward to a conservative leader for the House.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Boehner going is an example of the people being frustrated that Republicans aren't standing up and doing their job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sad because I have a great respect and affection for Speaker Boehner. But I respect his decision. It's a personal decision, obviously.
But I hope that the lesson to all of us is now that let's stop fighting with each other and let's sit down together and work out our differences with a common agenda to elect the next President of the United States, keep our majorities in the House and Senate.
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HOWELL: A mixed reaction from his fellow Republicans, but here is some background on the House Speaker.
Mr. Boehner is a Republican from the state of Ohio and his party's central figure in Washington, D.C. He's served in Congress since 1990 and became Speaker of the House in January of 2011, this after Republicans won a majority in the 2010 midterm elections.
Boehner holds the third highest elected office in the United States. It is a position that is second in line to the presidency behind the vice president.
He is 65 years old, married with two daughters, and comes from a large Catholic family. He is one of 12 children himself and his father was a bar owner.
Mr. Boehner worked his way through college as a janitor. He is known for becoming emotional, given to occasionally tearing up during speeches on the House floor. He's been described as perpetually tanned and an avid golfer, even playing a round with President Obama.
Newly discovered e-mails are raising questions about exactly what Hillary Clinton considered personal. The exchanges are from 2009 between Ms. Clinton and then-commander of the U.S. CENTCOM, General David Petraeus.
State Department officials called the e-mails "getting acquainted." They say the exchanges do not appear to include classified information.
Clinton claims that she has turned over all work related e-mails and her personal server to investigators. Clinton's husband is defending her in a new interview with CNN's
Fareed Zakaria. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton says critics have made more out of the e-mail issue than there really is. Listen.
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CLINTON: I think she -- you know, she went out and did her interviews, she said she was sorry that using her personal e-mail caused all this confusion and she would like to give the election back to the American people. And I trust the people. I think it will be all right.
But it's obvious what happened. You know, at the beginning of the year, she was the most admired person in public life and she earned it.
Why?
Because she was being covered by people who reported on what she was doing: the New START treaty, the Iran sanctions, tripling the number of people on AIDS getting medicine for no more tax money. America was, when she left office, our approval rating was more than 20 points higher than it had previously been.
What happened?
The presidential campaign happened. And the nature of the coverage shifted --
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CLINTON: -- from issue-based to political. And it happened.
You can't complain. This is not -- this is a contact sport. They're not giving the job away. And people who want a race wanted her to drop some. And the people in the other party desperately wanted it because she's already put out more positions on more issues and said how she would pay for them, I think, than all the others combined, based on the two -- the Republicans, based on the two debates I saw.
ZAKARIA: But you think it's a Republican plot, really?
CLINTON: No. I'm not going there because that's what the -- it's not a plot; makes it sound like it's a secret.
No, I think that there are lots of people who wanted there to be a race for different reasons. And they thought the only way they could make it a race was a full-scale frontal assault on her. And so this e-mail thing became the biggest story in the world.
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HOWELL: Bill Clinton there, speaking with CNN's Fareed Zakaria. Next hour, the former U.S. president talks about Republican candidate Donald Trump and you can see the full interview Sunday night at 8:00 in London, 9:00 in Berlin and 11:00 in Abu Dhabi, right here on CNN.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
And still to come, Muslim pilgrims are back in Mina, Saudi Arabia, where more than 700 people were killed in Wednesday's hajj stampede. We go live to London to see who Saudi officials say is to blame.
Plus, today marks one year since 43 students went missing from teaching college in Mexico. The parents still demanding answers about what really happened to them. The story as this broadcast continues around the world this hour on CNN International and CNN USA.
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HOWELL: A warm welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Very good to have you with us. I'm George Howell.
The headlines we're following this hour, Pope Francis is resting in New York City, where his busy schedule included an address to the United Nations General Assembly.
On Friday, he told world leaders at the U.N. that greed for power and wealth is destroying the Earth's resources and further isolating the poor and disadvantaged.
Just hours from now, Pope Francis will arrive in the city of Philadelphia for the third and final leg of his six-day visit to the United States.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter is now the focus of a criminal investigation in Switzerland. It is the latest dark cloud to come over the corruption scandal, plaguing football's world governing body. The Swiss attorney general says Blatter's office in Zurich has been searched and data has been seized.
Volkswagen has named Matthias Muller its new chief executive after the fallout spreads from the company's manipulation of emissions tests. Muller has spent most of his career at Volkswagen, most recently as the head of Porsche. Volkswagen has suspended a number of employees while it investigates this crisis.
Muslim pilgrims are converging on Mina, Saudi Arabia, for the hajj ritual known as the stoning of the devil. On Thursday, more than 700 people were killed in a big, massive stampede there. The Saudi government suggests that pilgrims ignored security guidelines and they were blamed for the tragedy.
Iran is calling for international action against Saudi Arabia. It says more than 130 of its citizens were killed in that stampede.
The Saudi government is promising a speedy investigation into this disaster. Senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is following developments live from London for us.
Nick, good to have you with us. This is a tragedy in all regards, but now we're seeing the aftermath and we're seeing the finger-pointing. Saudi Arabia blaming pilgrims and even a spat between that country and its regional rival, Iran.
Explain what's going on here.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Well, George, in many ways, as you say, a tragedy now passing the incriminations upon us and this is symptomatic of what's really happening in the Middle East.
There's some sense of proxy war between the Saudi Arabian government and Iran. You see that play out in the clashes in Yemen; to some degree in Syria or even Iraq as well.
But here, this awful incident at the holiest time of the year for the Muslim faith, now the subject of recrimination, as you mentioned.
The Saudis say that perhaps the pilgrims on these routes were not following the correct instructions and that's how it seems two flows of them on Roads 204 and 206 came to conflict and in the awful oppressive temperatures of 43 degrees centigrade, the heat there, simply losing your balance means that a crowd can, in fact, make it hard for you to get up again.
People are simply expiring because of the pressure and the heat. Yet the Iranian officials at this stage are saying -- and they have 131 deaths here of Iranians and 365 people still missing. It's unclear if they're in the 900 injured still receiving perhaps treatment or within potentially part of the 717, who have been claimed dead.
So a huge toll for Iran, but Iranian officials are quite clear that they blame this catastrophe, which they call grave, upon the negligence of Saudi officials. Now they're not specific as to how this came around. There have been media reports which have claimed, to the denial of Saudi officials, that in fact a Saudi motorcade carrying a VIP from the Saudi royal family may have passed through, causing these roads to be blocked off.
That media report was prevent enough that Saudi officials had to issue a denial from their Washington embassy, saying, no, that was not the case.
But the Iranians clearly pointing the finger here. In fact, Hassan Nasrallah, not Iranian, Lebanese, but in Beirut and backed by Iran, he, in fact, the head of Hezbollah, has said -- and they think perhaps a broad international Muslim committee should be put in charge of the hajj pilgrimage. Remember, it is in Saudi Arabia and the Saudi royal family are
the guardians of those two holy sites there. But this level of international recrimination now, finger-pointing happening. It's symptomatic, as I say, of the broader regional rivalry between the Saudi Arabians and Iran. But that now seems so clearly in the aftermath of these tragic events -- George.
HOWELL: Tragic event, indeed. But, again, we are seeing the finger-pointing, unfortunately. But the hope, as this moves forward, is that, in the future, this sort of tragedy can be prevented with so many people in this space for such an --
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HOWELL: -- important event.
Nick Paton Walsh joining us live in London, thank you so much for your reporting.
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HOWELL: In the coming hours, Pope Francis will be on his way to Philadelphia for the final leg of his six-day visit to the United States. CNN's Samuel Burke reports on what to expect next on this historic trip.
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SAMUEL BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After a jam-packed 36 hours in New York City, Pope Francis heads to Philadelphia today for the World Meeting of Families.
The Vatican says the meeting, which is expected to draw some 40,000 people from around the world, is the main reason for the pope's week-long visit to the United States. Pope Francis says the family is really the heart of society. If we don't get that right, he says, everything else from politics to the economy will fall apart.
Pope Francis starts his trip by celebrating mass at Philadelphia's cathedral. He will then visit Independence Hall, where he's expected to give a speech on immigration and religious freedom. The archbishop of Philadelphia said he personally asked the pope to make this speech.
And it will be interesting to see whether the pope mentions the U.S. Catholic bishops' public battles recently over same-sex marriage and gay rights.
He'll spend Saturday evening on stage at the Festival of Families, where comedian Jim Gaffigan will roll up the crowd and Mark Wahlberg will emcee the evening's festivities. The World Meeting of Families continues on Sunday, the pope's last day in the U.S. before he heads back to Rome tomorrow night.
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HOWELL: In New York, when the cheers in Central Park went up, like a big roar for Pope Francis, even veteran reporters, like our own Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper, were wowed.
From school kids to world leaders, non-Catholics to devout believers, this man has captured the hearts and minds of so many people across the world. CNN's Randi Kaye shows us why.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even before he was elected, the man who would be pope introduced the world to his humble ways.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When he was flying over to the conclave that elected him to be pope, he booked his own ticket. You know, he --
KAYE: Flew coach?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- flew coach.
KAYE (voice-over): And there's more. While the conclave was voting, the soon-to-be pope was staying at a guest house nearby.
After he got word he had been chosen as the new pope, he did something very unusual.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has them drive by, to drive him by the guest house the next morning to pay his bill on his own and settle his account, you know?
He could have sent somebody over there, you know?
But he didn't.
KAYE (voice-over): His humbleness, just part of the appeal. He is the first Jesuit pope ever. And Jesuits take a vow of poverty, one of the biggest statements he's made was choosing to live in the nearly monastic Santa Marta guesthouse instead of the Vatican's luxurious papal apartments.
And he eats in the cafeteria, even buses his own tray. Sometimes he eats with the bishops, other times the custodial staff.
His no-frills lifestyle began before becoming pope. As archbishop of Buenos Aires, he lived in a small bedroom, reportedly with a portable heater he turned on when the building's heating system shut down. He also cooked for himself and often rode the subway or bus.
Jesuits are also known for their independence. And this pope does not disappoint. He picks up his own eyeglasses, makes his own phone calls to those who have written to him in despair. And when he writes letters, he simply signs them, "Francis." This pope even canceled his own newspaper.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After he was elected pope, when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, he had a habit of going to this newsstand outside of his little apartment there every day and buying a newspaper.
After he was elected pope, he picked up the phone and called the guy who ran that little newsstand and said, hey, it's Father Jorge -- oh, I mean, Pope Francis, and I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be needing the paper anymore.
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KAYE: That's great.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "I'm pope now."
KAYE (voice-over): At mass, days before Easter in 2013, the pope washed the feet of a dozen prisoners and kissed them. Foot washing is part of the Christian tradition that mirrors Jesus' washing of his disciples' feet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was just an incredibly powerful symbol. There he was, washing the feet of Muslims and women. I mean, it really was very moving.
KAYE (voice-over): A humble pope with a huge heart who may help open the hearts of others -- Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: The Dalai Lama is canceling his U.S. --
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HOWELL: -- appearances next month on his doctor's advice. The Tibetan spiritual leader is in the United States right now for a routine checkup.
His office didn't elaborate on why the doctors ordered rest. The cancellations are likely welcome news, though, for China, which has long objected to the U.S. meeting with the Dalai Lama.
Still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, the families of 43 missing students from Mexico still don't know what happened to their children. What they know -- what they want now, I should say, from that country's government as this broadcast continues.
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HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM.
It has been one year since 43 students went missing from a rural teaching college in Mexico. And families say they are still looking for answers. The Mexican
government says the students were attacked by local corrupt police in the city of Iguala and their remains were burned. But only one victim has been identified. CNN Rafael Romo has this report.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SR. LATIN AFFAIRS EDITOR (voice-over): Emiliano Navarrete (ph) chokes up almost every time he talks about his son.
"Believe me," he says, "I will bring him back. He will come back one day."
Jose Angel Navarrete is one of 43 students from a Mexican rural teachers' college who went missing last September.
According to Mexican authorities, the students were on their way to a protest when they were attacked by corrupt police officers linked to a drug gang. They were then executed, investigators say, the bodies burnt in a landfill and the remains tossed into a nearby river.
But the Mexican government's version was discredited earlier this month by a independent group of forensic experts hired by the Inter- American Human Rights Commission who say the students could not have been burned in a landfill. For the parents, the news reopened the wounds --
[04:45:00]
ROMO (voice-over): -- all over again.
Last year, Emiliano Navarrete told us, his son called him on his cellphone as they were being attacked. He still has nightmares.
"It still hurts in my heart," Navarrete says.
The parents haven't stop looking for their children and haven't stopped protesting across Mexico, either, most recently at Mexico City's main square.
The parents of the missing say they will continue to protest here in Mexico City and elsewhere until one of two things happen: the students are found alive or it's scientifically proven that they were murdered.
Epifanio Alvarez told us last year he felt in his heart his son, Jorge, was still alive.
He still talks about Jorge in present tense, telling us he turned 20 years old on Wednesday.
But he also says that he feels like he's dead inside after so many tears and heartache, waiting in vain for his son's return -- Rafael Romo, CNN, Mexico City. (END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Very important story and, of course, we will continue to follow the developments here and bring you the very latest as we get more information here on CNN.
A powerful typhoon is lining up to hit Taiwan and other islands. Our meteorologist, Derek Van Dam, is with us.
So, Derek, what's the status?
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Typhoon Dujuan, over the Western Pacific, we have roughly about 36 to 48 hours before this makes landfall at least its first landfall in the Southern Ryukyu Islands.
Then we look towards Taiwan, specifically the Taipei region, for the potential of great impacts from this storm.
If you recall, only last month they had Typhoon Soudelor move through that region and drop excessive rain. This time, we have the potential for excessive rain and also strong winds over 200 kilometers per hour.
Take a look at this, George, and everyone at home. Thank you for tuning in, by the way. This is a close-up visible satellite image of Typhoon Dujuan over the Western Pacific. Let's put this into geographical perspective for you.
Here is the Pacific Ocean, here is Okinawa, mainland of Japan to the north. This is the Ryukyu Islands. There is Taiwan and Taipei and Southeast China, that Fujian province. This storm is traveling in a northwesterly direction and it will likely impact these regions going forward over the next two to three, even four to five days out, depending on where you live.
Here is the latest from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, 165 kph sustained winds, a very well-defined eye, circulation pattern with this particular typhoon, good indicator to meteorologists that this storm continues to strengthen, it continues to deepen.
We have got favorable weather conditions, very little shear in the upper levels of the atmosphere and very warm ocean waters. So this thing is just primed to continue to get stronger and stronger as we go forward over the next day.
In fact, this cone of uncertainty and the projected path shows clearly just that. Winds will easily exceed 195 kilometers per hour. And a potential, it moves over the Taipei, we could see this storm easily bring wind gusts over 200 kilometers per hour to that nation's capital.
Here is the storm system moving across the region and the wind and the rain is not the only concern. It's also the possibility of large waves, especially across the Taiwan Straits. George, that is a very popular shipping lane. That was only opened up in 2008 to help connect the East China Sea to the South China Sea. They have several thousand shipping containers that move through that particular water every year.
HOWELL: We'll stay in touch with you as it continues to move forward. Derek, thank you so much.
VAN DAM: Thanks, George.
HOWELL: Still watching CNN NEWSROOM and still to come this hour, some say that Sam Smith had a hard act to follow, coming up with a new James Bond theme song. But did he succeed? Up next, how the Internet has chimed in on that new tune.
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HOWELL: 007, James Bond has been a movie staple since the 1960s and we're now just more than a month away from the newest Bond film, "Spectre." Its theme song is already making waves online. Sam Smith's "Writings on the Wall" is getting mixed reviews from critics, fans and even a former Bond. Clare Sebastian has this story.
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CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a dangerous mission for any artist, capturing 007 in musical form. And this is the latest attempt, "Writings on the Wall," by British artist Sam Smith.
The long-awaited track is the theme for upcoming Bond movie, "Spectre," and it didn't take wrong for the writing to appear on Twitter.
"The name's Bland, James Bland," a blunt assessment from British actor and comedian David Schneider.
Another Twitter user said it, quote, "sounds like someone repeatedly stamping on a clinically depressed stoat with a headache."
There were also many comparisons to this, Michael Jackson's "Earth Song."
It wasn't all bad; many fans loved the song and there was even an endorsement from a former Bond.
Sir Roger Moore called it, quote, "very haunting and wonderfully orchestrated theme song."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that there is a history of the James Bond themes by men being these blustery anthems and the ones by women being sensitive, anguished ballads. What Sam Smith did was present a very beautiful, powerful song that fits well within the history but complicates the gender. (MUSIC PLAYING)
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): When it comes to anguished ballads, Smith had a hard act to follow. Adele's theme for --
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SEBASTIAN (voice-over): -- "Skyfall" won her a Grammy, a Golden Globe and an Oscar. Yet scoring a bull's eye with a Bond theme is not just about the awards or sales.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger" kind of set a standard for what these songs are supposed to accomplish. There's a tremendous emotionality, tremendous power.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): From "Goldfinger" to Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die," to Duran Duran's "View to a Kill," like Bond himself, the ultimate measure of success for a theme song is surviving the test of time -- Clare Sebastian, CNN.
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HOWELL: When it comes to the new music, we will have to wait and see.
The first ladies for the United States and China reveal the name for the Smithsonian's newest baby panda on Friday and that name is Bei Bei. Take a look.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow, isn't that wonderful?
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HOWELL: A precious treasure, indeed. And that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. We thank you for joining. I'm George Howell at the CNN Center in Atlanta. Another hour of news is straight ahead after the break. You're watching CNN, the world's news leader.
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