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Russia Unleashes Airstrikes in Syria; Palestinian Leader Refuses to be Bound by Oslo Accord; Afghan Forces Retake Kunduz; Soldier Flees Afghanistan to Escape Taliban and ISIS; New Allegations Against Bill Cosby; Rio de Janeiro Bans Uber; Uber Officials Appear in French Criminal Court; Hurricane Joaquin Strengthens; Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis Met with Pope Francis; NBA Season Starting Later This Month. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired October 01, 2015 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:10] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, Russia claims ISIS was the target of its first air strikes inside Syria, but the U.S. isn't so sure.

VAUSE: As a Palestinian flag is raised outside the U.N., inside the Palestinian leader said his people would no longer honor a peace accord with Israel.

SESAY: And three more women come forward to accuse Bill Cosby of sexual misconduct. My interview with one of them is straight ahead.

VAUSE: Hello, everybody. Thank you for joining us. I'm John Vause.

SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

Hello, everyone, it is 7:00 a.m. in Homs, Syria, where part of the city lay in ruins after Russian fighter jets unleashed a series of air strikes.

VAUSE: A human rights group says 28 people were killed, including a number of children. The Syrian National Coalition puts that number at 36, all of them civilians.

SESAY: Russia claims the targets were ISIS positions, but U.S. says that's doubtful, says ISIS is not known to operate in Homs, Hama and other areas bombed by the Russian Air Force.

Senior international correspondent Matthew Chance has more now from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the aftermath of Russia's first airstrike in Syria and its violent announcement of involvement in this brutal war. The Kremlin says it's targeting ISIS forces, but these chaotic images

are from the province of Homs, where other rebel groups hold sway. Moscow draws little distinction, it seems, between the enemies of its Syrian government ally.

It took Russia's parliament less than half an hour to rubber stamp the use of military force, albeit temporary and limited to air power. But Russian officials justify it as legal under international law and like the airstrikes, they say, carried out by the United States and its allies.

SERGEI IVANOV, RUSSIAN PRESIDENTIAL CHIEF OF STAFF (Through Translator): I want to inform you the president of the Syrian-Arab Republic addressed the leadership of our country with a request for military assistance, so we can state that it is necessary to fight terrorism. International efforts should be united, but complying with the norms of international law is preferable.

CHANCE: But few expected to see Russian military action so soon, despite emerging evidence over the past month of a Russian military build-up.

(On camera): Moscow has good reason to support its Syrian ally, including military and economic interests in Syria and a genuine concern about the spread of radical Islamic groups like ISIS. But the Kremlin also seems driven by a desire to reassert its power and to show that Russia remains a global force to be reckoned with.

(Voice-over): It was a message delivered by Vladimir Putin so forcefully at the U.N. General Assembly earlier this week. Western policy on Syria and elsewhere, he said, had failed, leaving chaos in its wake.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (Through Translator): I'm urged to ask those who created the situation, do you at least realize now what you've done? But I'm afraid that this question will remain unanswered because they have never abandoned their policy, which is based on arrogance, exceptionalism, and impunity.

CHANCE: But now it seems Russia is offering its own answers. These are the first official images from the Russian Defense Ministry of its airstrikes. Military equipment, communication centers, and motor vehicles were among the targets attacked, it says. And this is just day one of what could be Russia's open-ended Syrian war.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: While the U.S. and Russia disagree on exactly what was targeted, they do agree their militaries need to talk to avoid unintended incidents.

SESAY: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke at the U.N. Wednesday about deconfliction in Syria. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: We all want Syria democratic, united, secular, Syria which is a home for all ethnic and confessional groups whose rights are guaranteed. But we have some differences as for the details on how to get there. But we agreed on some steps, which we will undertake very soon.

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: We also agreed that it is imperative to find a solution to this conflict and to avoid escalating it in any way or seeing it intensified by forces beyond anybody's control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The U.S.-led coalition continues to fly missions over Syria, despite a request from Russia to stay out of Syrian airspace.

[00:05:01] SESAY: Well, we spoke with CNN military analyst, Lt. Col. Rick Francona about the dangers all those fighter jets pose.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: This is going to get very dangerous. Right now you've got the aircraft in the Syrian Air Force, the Russian Air Force and the U.S.-led coalition operating in a very confined area. These are high performance aircraft. Lots of weapons, lots of, you know, people on edge when they're flying these missions. Any misjudgment could result in an incident that will lead to fatalities on somebody's side.

The deconfliction has to be worked out. But there is going to be a confrontation between the United States and Russia over who controls that airspace. And right now we're seeing the gauntlet laid down. And I think we're going to see what each side is made of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, Secretary of State John Kerry says the U.S. and Russian military should meet as soon as possible.

VAUSE: We head to New York now where the Palestinian flag is flying outside U.N. headquarters. Now typically only the flags of member states are on display, and the Palestinian authority has observer status.

SESAY: Palestinians see the move as a symbolic step towards cementing their place in the international community.

VAUSE: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says Israel is not honoring the landmark peace agreement signed more than 20 years ago known as the Oslo Accords, and he told the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday his people will no longer be bound by that agreement either.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAHMOUD ABBAS, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRESIDENT (Through Translator): As long as Israel is not committed to the signed agreements and undermine agreements, we for our part are not committed to those agreements. And Israel must bear full responsibility. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, reaction from Israel, as you might expect, was not positive. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued a statement saying the speech by Mr. Abbas was deceitful and encourages incitement and lawlessness in the Middle East.

VAUSE: Let's get live to Jerusalem now. CNN's Oren Liebermann standing by this hour.

So, Oren, Mahmoud Abbas grabbed a lot of headlines with that speech. But when we take a closer look at it, was it less bombshell, maybe more stun grenade when you look at the details?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's one way to look at it. It's also being reported here that instead of dropping a bombshell, he put a bomb on the table. What he said about the Oslo accords is viewed as a threat. If you wanted to cancel them, he could have come out and said right at the top of his speech, I'm cancelling the Oslo accords, I'm ending security coordination, I'm cancelling all of the agreements with Israel.

He didn't say that. You heard what he said. He said if Israel were to abide by the agreements, the Palestinians won't either. So why is this so important? Oslo has been the bedrock, the basis of coordination and cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians for the last 22 years. It was signed in '93 and expanded in '95. It created the interim government, the Palestinian Authority, which Abbas is the president of. And it acknowledged Israel's right to exist from the Palestinian side and the Palestinians' right to self-governance from the Israeli side.

The problem was it was viewed as an interim deal from the very beginning. It was supposed to last five years. And that's where the frustration comes in. The question now, John, is what happens on the ground. Did Abbas really call off security coordination? If so, it could be ugly, very ugly in the West Bank and in east Jerusalem. And it depends where everything happens and how soon it happens. If he did call off Oslo and these coordination, these agreements we should know very quickly here.

VAUSE: Yes, it is classic Abbas speak in many ways. And later on Thursday, Israel's prime minister will address the United Nations General Assembly. In the past, he has really focused on Iran. But some are saying maybe not this year.

LIEBERMANN: Well, he does say -- he said before boarding the plane to New York that he still would talk about Iran. And even right after the agreement was finalized, he said he will still lobby against this deal. What that will change at this point, it looks like nothing but Netanyahu very much sees it as his mission to keep lobbying against this deal. Given what Abbas just said that Israel is not abiding by these

agreements, we would very much expect to see some sort of response, further or more than a response that Netanyahu gave right after the speech. And then Netanyahu probably will talk about Syria. We know that Russia informed Israel of airstrikes right before conducting those airstrikes. And there is some mechanism of coordination between Israel and Russia, because Israel has its own security concerns there.

So there will be a few talking points for Netanyahu. Again, it will be an interesting speech. The question, what will come of that speech which is the same thing we asked after Abbas spoke.

VAUSE: OK. Just after 7:00 in the morning there in Jerusalem. Oren, thank you for being live with us.

SESAY: Now after a fierce battle, Afghanistan's Interior Ministry and the Kunduz police say government forces have retaken the city of Kunduz. The Taliban easily seized the key northern city on Monday. NATO forces eventually reached Kunduz to support Afghan soldiers on the ground.

VAUSE: According to a police spokesman, U.S. airstrikes killed more than 100 militant, including a senior Taliban commander. The Taliban have denied that the commander was killed.

[00:10:10] Kunduz was the first major city to fall to the Taliban since the militants were forced from power in 2001.

SESAY: Well, tonight Engel Rasmussen, a reporter with the UK's "Guardian" newspaper is in Kabul and joins us now live.

Sune, we're hearing that Kunduz has been retaken. We're getting that from Afghan officials What are you hearing about the situation on the ground right now?

SUNE ENGEL RASMUSSEN, REPORTER, THE GUARDIAN: Well, it seems the city of Kunduz has been pretty quiet since this morning. The operations carried out from 9:00 p.m. last night and finished around 3:30 in the morning. And it seems that things are relatively peaceful now. They're still clearing operations going on in some of the suburbs and the districts surrounding Kunduz are still largely under Taliban control.

What is interesting is that it seems the Taliban largely fled without a fight, there is a couple hundred casualties with the Taliban on the insurgent side, according to officials here. But a lot of people say that the Taliban seem to either have fled to the surrounding districts to the suburbs or they're simply hiding in civilian houses. So this poses another challenge. How long will this clearing operation take. And how will the officials be able to -- how will the security force be able to secure Kunduz properly. That's going to be a long operation from now on. That's the next challenge facing them.

SESAY: Sune Engle Rasmussen, joining us there from Kabul, Afghanistan with the very latest on the situation in Kunduz. We appreciate it. Thanks so much. VAUSE: Now the persistence of the Taliban and fears that ISIS may get

a foothold have driven some Afghans to leave their own country.

SESAY: Well, one former soldier made the risky journey through three countries before pausing in Germany. He told his story to our own Nick Paton Walsh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You can't imagine the fears racing through Wahid's head unless we take you back to where he was two months ago.

This was once America's longest war. Now and here, it is Wahid's. His Afghan army unit battling a resurgent Taliban in the worst clashes this summer outside Kunduz. But now America is leaving, they are losing, sometimes he told us they didn't have ammunition food or even fuel to drive their wounded to the hospital.

"Once the Taliban surrounded us in a base for 12 days," he says. "Our dead bodies began to stink. Our wounded were bleeding." But still, he says, money were spent on perks to commanders like grilled chicken. After three quarters of his men fled, he did, too. And now must leave Afghanistan. The Taliban and even ISIS know where he lives. Staying puts his family at risk.

The nightmare journey through Iran, Turkey, Greece to Germany was he felt the safer option.

"I know the risks but I have to," he told us in Kabul. "They're better than being killed by the Taliban or having them behead me in front of my family or kidnap of my children."

First came a simple legal flight to Tehran. But then at the Iranian border, smugglers led them to a cave where they had little food and water apart from what they bought at inflated prices. One night, they were taken on a four-hour march, 50 of them, to the steep mountainous border. The climb was easy for an Afghan soldier and he led the way. The Iranian border guards soon saw them.

"The police started shooting," he says. "But I knew bullets were fired in the air so I told people to keep running. The bullets got closer and closer so we hid behind rocks. I got 15 people out and across. We walked for 18 hours."

In the next pictures, we see Wahid is smiling and clean shaven to blend in easier in Greece. It's inside now and the double price of 1800 euros he paid for a seat on this safe boat. Relief, he's not going to drown in high winds like dozens did that same week. Standing on the island of course he was thinking, I'm here and I'm alive. Yet the greatest trauma was still ahead of him.

This is the border between Hungary and Serbia. Migrants, refugees, call them what you will. The Hungarian police won't let them cross.

UNIDENTIFIED MIGRANT: Open. Open the door. Open the door. WALSH: Anger builds. Around him, young men lash out and they're soon

hit with tear gas and water cannons.

"I didn't see one, but tens of women and children just in that tents," he tells us. "Who were crushed by protesters escaping tear gas and water cannons. I cannot film the scene, though, as I was crying, not because of the gas but because of what happened to these poor people."

[00:15:11] Tire fires are lit. The police and their fence hold. Wahid once fought the Taliban with NATO and Europe but now they have their own frontline to keep him out. In Munich, where he arrived through Croatia and Austria, his worries aren't over.

'The Taliban think I've gone back to the army," he says. "They've taken the phones when I tried to call my wife. They can force me to go to them. I love all my children the same, two sons and a daughter, but I miss her the most. She's always in my mind."

Separated from his family by a journey he barely survived but they would likely not. A new life, left haunted and incomplete by the old.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Munich.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: It's incredible how that entire journey documented like that.

SESAY: Yes.

VAUSE: We haven't really seen that perspective up until now.

SESAY: No, we haven't. And it just brings home just what people are prepared to endure to get away from the destruction.

VAUSE: Yes.

SESAY: There are new accusations of sexually inappropriate behavior against comedian Bill Cosby. You'll hear from one of the women who's just come forward. That's just ahead. Do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

[00:20:22] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Three more women have come forward accusing actor Bill Cosby of sexually inappropriate behavior. They held a news conference with their lawyer Gloria Allred on Wednesday.

SESAY: But one of the accusers Lisa Christie alleges Cosby tried to pressure her into sex in a hotel room in exchange for help with her career. Cosby has steadfastly denied the allegations against him, and he has not been charged with any crime. I sat down with Christie and Allred for an interview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SESAY: You told part of the story in your book. In your first book, " America: The Windstorm," but you didn't name him. You didn't name Bill Cosby then. Many people again will ask the question, well, why now?

LISA CHRISTIE, COSBY ACCUSER: I didn't think I could come forward. I was so afraid that no one would believe me. This man was so powerful. Who would believe my story? I thought they wouldn't need me because there is enough people that came forward because I wasn't one of the ones that was molested in a sense, you know, was drugged and taken advantage of. But now that so many other women came forward and I can have a voice now and support those other victims, that's why I'm coming forward.

SESAY: How many women have publicly come forward to make these allegations against Bill Cosby, and how many have directly reached out to you?

GLORIA ALLRED, VICTIMS RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Only one in a lawsuit, but 26. However, more than that number have contacted me. Some do not wish to go public. And some said that they would be available to be subpoenaed if, as and when they would be subpoenaed to testify in the lawsuit that we have on behalf of Judy Hough.

If there is one, that is one too many. Two, three, way too many. And the numbers are now are so high that most people don't have an accurate count.

SESAY: And you mentioned Judy Hough. There will be a deposition of Bill Cosby in relation to the civil suit against him on October 9th.

ALLRED: That's correct.

SESAY: You have said, you expect him to turn up.

ALLRED: We do expect him to turn up because it's a court order. That his deposition is going to take place on October 9th. And our client's deposition will take place on October 15th. And his attorney has represented that his client will be there.

SESAY: As you make the point so many women have come forward. Such is the number well over three dozen that it has some people out there in the public saying, are you all telling the truth? What do you say to those people?

CHRISTIE: I didn't hear all those stories in detail. But now on Thursday I started to watch a couple of the videos of the testimony, and I was like they're so similar. This was the man who was firm on education. I thought he was the father figure, the mentor to help me in the industry. And this man ended up, turning out to take power and position and try to use that against women, myself. So I can only take my situation. But someone needs to speak.

And that's what Gloria is doing. And that's why I wanted to help. I said I want to do whatever it takes, how long it takes to help support these victims because thank God that I didn't have anything else happen to me in those situations.

SESAY: If Bill Cosby was to walk into this room right now, giving you an opportunity to speak to him, what would you say?

CHRISTIE: I had told him that last time I had seen him that I would never talk to him again. I don't think that I need to at this point in my life. I forgive him. I'm just -- I don't need to have a lunch or a conversation with him. So I wouldn't say anything. I probably would just walk out of the room.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Well, in a book published last year, Christie wrote about an incident with a man she didn't name who propositioned her. She wrote that a week later this man's son died. But at the news conference, she said it happened in the late 1980s. Cosby's son died in 1997. Gloria Allred said had made a mistake and she blames it on clumsy editing which will be corrected.

CNN also reached out to Cosby's team about these most recent allegations and they declined to comment.

VAUSE: A short break here on CNN NEWSROOM. When we come back, Hurricane Joaquin could make landfall in the U.S. in the coming days. We'll have the very latest from Pedram Javaheri at the CNN Weather Center.

SESAY: Plus from office rage, executives on trial. Trouble is brewing in Europe for Uber. A closer look at what might be the company's best defense.

[00:25:05]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: Thanks for being with us. I'm John Vause. We'll check the headlines this hour.

Russia says its first round of airstrikes in Syria hit eight ISIS targets and destroyed a command post. But the U.S. Defense secretary says it appears Russia struck areas held by Western-backed rebels. He says Russia's actions will inflame the Syrian war.

SESAY: Afghan officials say government forces have retaken Kunduz from the Taliban. The militants easily seized the key northern city on Monday. It was the first time the Taliban took over a provincial capital since 2001. NATO forces assisted the Afghan Security Forces on the ground and the U.S. conducted airstrikes.

VAUSE: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says his organization will no longer honor the Oslo peace accords with Israel. The agreement signed in the early '90s were meant to determine the Palestinians' right to self-determination. Israel has condemned the move.

SESAY: Now Twitter's co-founder is expected to be named its newest CEO on Thursday. According to the technology news site, Re/code, Jack Dorsey will also continue his job as the head of the digital payment company Square.

VAUSE: Dorsey has been Twitter's interim CEO since July. He was CEO back in 2008. But got fired. Twitter did not want to comment on the Re/code report.

SESAY: Well, the ride sharing service Uber is a truly global phenomenon. The company says it's operating in cities across the 60 countries as you see here on your screens. But it hasn't been an easy ride everywhere.

VAUSE: Uber has faced legal challenges, even banned in the areas in orange. That's about a third of the country where it currently operates.

SESAY: And on Wednesday, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil became the first city

[00:00:30] to outlaw Uber. Only licensed taxis can operate there.

VAUSE: Uber is also having an especially tough time in Europe, as well as India. New Delhi's Bureau Chief, Robbie Agrawal reports on new competitors there. Jim Bitterman, in Paris, has details on a criminal court case. But, first, to Samuel Burke reporting on Uber's plan to fight new proposed regulations in London which would require an English language test for drivers and a mandatory five-minute wait before passengers could begin their journey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMUEL BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Uber thinks these proposals will have its riders incensed, and in an e-mail to its users encouraging them to sign a petition against the proposed changes, Uber says, "If adopted, they will mean an end to the Uber you know and love today. they will be a mandatory five-minute wait time even if a car is available just around the corner." After successfully fighting proposed rules here in New York City with a public campaign, Uber hopes leveraging its more than one million London users will help it defeat these proposals.

JIM BITTERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In France, the Uber's National and Western European Directors were hauled into criminal court on Wednesday, charged with, among other things, deceptive trade practices and complicity to starting an illegal taxi service. If found guilty, the pair could face up to five years in prison and 300,000 Euros in fine, and the company could be fined another 1.5 million Euros. This comes on the heels of a raid by police on Uber's headquarters back in March in which computer hard drives and cell phones were seized; and on the heels of a violent strike by taxi drivers against Uber in June, a strike that has brought to worldwide attention by the dramatic tweets by Courtney Love, the rock singer, who was caught up in the middle of it. ROBBIE AGRAWAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Robbie Agrawal in New Delhi.

Now Smartphone apps are disrupting transport around the world, and India is no different. Some of these old school taxis with meters are losing business, but on the other hand the ones that are signing up, which also include three wheelers like this one, are flourishing. One attraction is that Uber actually gives drivers a Smartphone for free. But I should add it's not all just Uber. A number of local Indian startups, like Ola, actually have a much bigger share of the market. Perhaps that's why Uber is investing a billion dollars in India this year, to catch up.

(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)

VAUSE: We're joined now by Garrett Reim, a reporter with the Los Angeles Business Journal. Garrett, thank you for being with us. Okay, we have a lot of legal problems for Uber. Legal problems and Uber go together like peanut butter and jelly, but there does seem to be a lot at the moment. Is this some kind of waterloo for the company that they're now hitting these headwinds? It's really a testing time?

GARRETT REIM, REPORTER, LOS ANGELES BUSINESS JOURNAL: It might be, yes. They've faced hurdles before and they've been able to overcome them; but now governments are taking a lot harder tacks. They're arresting drivers and executives and compounding cars.

VAUSE: Why? what is behind all of this though? Why now suddenly?

REIM: They, in the past, have tried fining Uber drivers and Uber has just paid for those fines and kept on going. So they've had to develop tougher tactics to stop Uber. I think the taxi services around the world are observing what's happened in the United States and they don't want to it happen in their own countries. So they're really fighting hard.

SESAY: So Uber executives say that they have brought innovation to a sector where basically the laws haven't kept up, and basically they say they're being penalized for bringing innovation to this space. How do you see it?

REIM: I think there is some truth to that. The taxi industry has essentially been set up as government run monopoly for a while and it hasn't had the apps that Uber has had, the on demand apps really. They now have them. They're trying to deploy those, but, you know, they both -- the two services operate on different -- under different regulations, and the taxi apps feel like they've been unfairly burdened as well.

VAUSE: And that's the point though because, you know, the argument is here is that there is a need at the end of the day for some of regulation. You get into a taxi, you know the driver has been through a background check, at least in London. He's been screened for drugs. You know there's liability insurance, if you're involved in an accident. I don't think a lot of people realize that if you're in an Uber X and you're in an accident, you've got to sue the driver to get anything out of them, not Uber. So, you know, there is a counter- argument here that there does need to be some regulation and Uber is kind of flouting those laws in a way.

REIM: Yeah, they're very good at pushing forward when they're pushed back against, and I don't think many people understand the differences between different types of background checks and different regulations. To Uber's -- to their point, there are some instances where they have done a good job of doing background checks but, you know, they may, perhaps, need more regulations in other areas.

SESAY: But the space has been permanently changed. The Transportation Sector has been changed by the likes of Uber and Lyft and all the other ride sharing apps. The bottom line is, at least as I see it, the regulators are going to have to find some way to co-exist with these people, correct?

[00:35]

REIM: Yeah, I think they will or they're going to have citizens that are going to be upset with them. People travel. They see what Uber does in other

countries and they're going to ask why can't we have that in our city.

VAUSE: Final question here, what is really interesting is the way Uber is fighting back. Publicity campaigns, but especially getting the customers, who love Uber, --

SESAY: Yes.

VAUSE: -- getting them on board to lobby local lawmakers. We saw that in New York and we're seeing it now in London. For the most part that's incredibly effective, isn't it?

REIM: Yes, in a lot of ways their customers are their best weapon. In New York they were able to push back against de Blasio, the mayor, and ultimately able to stay. Now, in London, they have a petition going, similar to what

they had in New York. Last I checked, it had over 100,000 signatures. So it remains to be seen if that is going to work. People are pretty nostalgic for their black cabs.

VAUSE: Well, it is London after all. They do like paying lots of money for things in London, don't they? I don't know if they like it, but they do.

SESAY: It's just a way of life.

VAUSE: It is. Garrett Reim, thanks for coming in. We appreciate the chat.

SESAY: Yes, thank you. We appreciate the insight. Thank you. Now, Hurricane Joaquin is getting stronger and moving slowly toward the U.S. We'll look at when and where a landfall might be possible.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Good to have you with us, everyone. It appears that the American County Clerk jailed for a while for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples met privately with Pope Francis. Kim Davis' lawyers say the meeting happened last week while the Pope was in Washington. The Vatican says it is not denying the meeting took place.

VAUSE: An attorney for Davis, who would not say who initiated the meeting, which was a surprise to many, Davis told ABC News what she and the Pope discussed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM DAVIS, CLERK, GRAYSON KENTUCKY: I put my hand out, and he reached and he grabbed it, and I hugged him, and he hugged me. He said thank you for your courage. He told me before he left, he said stay strong.

[00:40]

That was a great encouragement, just knowing that the Pope is on track, you know, with what we're doing and agreeing, you know, kind of validates everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, the meeting at the Vatican Embassy lasted ten minutes. It was just between the Pope, Kim Davis, and her husband.

Hurricane Joaquin is now a Category 3 storm as it sideswipes the Bahamas. Joaquin is moving closely right now, but the days ahead it could bring more flooding to the northeastern U.S., which is already dealing with very heavy rain.

Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us with more on this. Pedram this was upgraded to a Category 3, I think, a lot quicker than most people expected, and I guess the question now how long before it gets to a Category 4.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It looks like that can happen very quickly as well. That's a great question, John. Good seeing you, Isha, as well. This is something we've seen develop very quickly over the past 24 hours. Already in places, like the state of Virginia, across the eastern United States, we've had the governor issue a state of emergency that has nothing to do with this particular storm that we're watching. Again, a Category 3 Hurricane Joaquin sitting in place. We do have warnings across the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas.

The concern, of course, is you take a look, the rainfall that has come down in recent days. The bottom of the screen, the rainfall over the last five days across the Eastern United States, in excess of 4 to 6 inches, some areas more than 10 inches of rainfall in the past five days. Top of your screen, additional rainfall, potentially with an incoming hurricane, which would add another 10 inches. So we're talking roughly half a meter of rainfall over some of these areas. So certainly a large, large story developing when it comes to the flooding potential and one of the more complex storm systems I've seen in a very long time, when it comes to what it has the potential to do. So from the Bahamas towards the Turks And Caicos, the watches and warnings are in place.

I want to show you what we have as far as the forecast complexities because what we call a negatively tilted trough, and especially pointing to the northwest here, when you have this in place and a tropical feature just sitting offshore, what it typically wants to do is draw itself towards that tropical feature. So you typically see this move towards the United States. We have an area of high pressure just to the East. So some models saying hey, this has no chance. It will be pulling it towards open waters. Not a major impact to anyone. Other models saying we've already had tremendous rainfall over this region. So if this pulls back towards that trough, then we're talk about an additional half a meter in the forecast. So you take a look, the vast majority of models do want to take to it the Carolinas, the Northeastern United States. Then we have outliers, and believe it or not, one of the outliers is the European Model, which statistically is one of the most accurate models. It was the model that had Hurricane Sandy spot-on, as far as location and landfall. At this point that European Model is one of

the only ones that wants to take it away from the United States. Just about everyone else is bringing the storm system towards the coastline.

So guy, the National Hurricane Center has the track going up to a Category 4 by this time tomorrow, and then the rainfall, at some point by this weekend, will interact with the flooding potential there across the Northeastern U.S. as well. Guys?

SESAY: Appreciate it, Pedram. You're watching "CNN Newsroom" live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause. World Sport is next.

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[00:45]

PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, thanks for joining us. I'm Patrick Snell with a CNN World Sport update.

We want the get started in the Champions League with the two big matches (inaudible) have gone someway, at least, to restoring England's battered pride in Europe's premier club competition. United found it tough, I can tell you. The Red Devils falling behind very early on in this one (inaudible) but we're hit back against (inaudible). You've got Juan Mata, the Spaniard, leveling from the penalty spot; and there was more to come from the host in the second half. United would grab the win. A rarity of a goal to an amazing assist from Mata. Chris Smalling sticking out the long leg. That's four assists and four

goals for Mata this season. A hugely important three points (inaudible) for United.

Elsewhere, we can tell you in Group B, Percy Eindhoven who beat United, you'll recall, in the first match of this group, on Match Day One, the Dutch team though, this time around losing a five-goal thriller in Moscow against CSK. Every team in that group now with three points.

Siti meantime desperate to make finally a name, they hope, for themselves in this tournament, despite spending huge sums in recent years. (Inaudible) have never gone beyond the last 16. They started their campaign with a home defeat (inaudible) . Match Day Two though seeing them travel to German to see face Bericio Monchengladbach, and, like United, Sici fall behind in this one, but they do get the all important leveler and it comes from Nick Automenvi (ps) with the deflected strike into the back of the net. He levels for one on. Very late on, the game winner from 12 yards out. It's the Argentine Sergio Guerra, making no mistakes in the penalty. 2-1 Siti win it, three points. Manuel Pellegrini very happy indeed.

Last season's losing finalists Juventus making it back to back wins in Group D, after beating Siti on Match Day 1, the Italian champions taking care of business against Sevilla. Albero Morato and Simioni Zaza on target there for the (Inaudible) Canary.

Well, no bail. No James Rodriguez, the Real Madrid, against Malmo, no problem when you have someone called Cristiano Ronaldo on your books. What a special moment in the already magnificent career of the Portuguese. His 500th career goal, and it would come on Swedish soil. The 30-year-old scoring twice in this one. So, in fact, you can make it 501. He has now scored ten goals in his last six (inaudible) equaled the legendary Raul Madrid scoring record which stands at 323 strikes in the 721 games it took Raul to get there. (Inaudible) is about roughly half that tally.

Also, in Group A, Perry (Inaudible) made it back-to-back wins with a victory, really impressive stuff from the Parisians. Laurent Blanc's team winning against Shakhtar, on Ukranian soil. A comfortable victory which featured a goal from Flatron Ibrahimovich, his 109 for PSG. The Swede, by the way, now equaling the club's all-time scoring record.

In Group C, Astana up and running, only their very first point in the Champions League. The Kazakhstani champion showing great resolve and determination, not just once, twice they came from behind to draw two apiece with Galick Taseroi (ps), of Turkey, on Wednesday. Elsewhere, a rare victory for Benfica against Spanish opponents. 2-1 winners at Athletico Madrid. Their first win against Spanish opponents since 1982 in fact.

An update to a story we've been following very closely indeed here at CNN World Sport. Joseph Mourinho and his controversial fallout with now former Chelsea (inaudible) to Eva Carneiro. We can now tell you the English FA has cleared the Portuguese manager of making allegedly discriminatory comments towards her during the season opening home match with Swansea that ended two each. Mourinho very publicly criticizing Carneiro and another member of the medical team, this while going on to the field of play to treat the Belgian special, Adrianne Azar. It was very late on in that game. It temporarily reduced the team to nine men. That really got Bayern's goat. At the time of her departure, she was said to be considering legal action against the West (Inaudible) Club. We'll certainly keep you posted on any key developments to that story.

All right, it's thirsty work, but somebody has got to do it. We're headed to Munich and Oktoberfest next. (Inaudible) Robert Lewandoski certainly earning his break. We'll show you how an all conquering Bayern do, indeed, relax on an all too rare off day.

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[00:50]

SNELL: Welcome back to CNN World Sport. Time now to look ahead to Thursday's action at the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England where, after their recent heroics against the host, I'm quite sure Wales can't wait the take to field of play again. The Millennium Stadium, in the capitol city, Cardiff, will stage the meeting with Fiji. That one is in Pool A. Meantime in Pool D, France, the 2011 finalist facing North American opponents in the shape of Canada. The Welsh will have a real spring in their step after their thrilling come-from-behind win over England. What a moment, too, for young fullback Matthew Morgan. The 23-year-old will make his international bow for his country against the Fracians who themselves are desperate to record their first win of the tournament. Victory, by the way, for the welsh means a real chance now of them reaching the quarters.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you look at the consistency of the makeup of the squad, the players involved, the experiences that they've gone through, you know, you don't need to look further back than last week, really, to see the resolve and the resilience that is in the team. Slowly but surely, the momentum is still building and that belief is building with it.

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SNELL: Meantime I can tell you, South Africans Sean de Villiers has undergone successful surgery back in his homeland. The 34-year-old he broke his

jaw, just to remind you, this past weekend while playing against Samoa, an injury that forced him to hang up his international test boots this week. De Villiers who has 109 test caps to his name returning home a hero's welcome in Cape Town, saying he will continue his career when fit again.

All right, the new NBA season starts here is in the states on October 27th. Once again, the injury woes of Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose have struck again. The 2011 MVP has also undergone surgery, this after taking a blow to the face during preseason. The operation to repair a left orbital fracture was

carried out on Wednesday, not knowing exactly how long he'll be out of action. Injuries are not exactly rare for rose. The bulls star missing 27 games, this due to groin, back and ankle and toe ailments, that was back in 2011-'12. Now it was at the end of that campaign in which he tore the ACL in his left knee, forcing him to miss the entire 2012-'13 season. Rose did return for the start of the next season, but only managed to play in ten games before tearing the meniscus in his right

knee. This very past season, Rose missing 31 games in total, mostly due to reinjuring that very same meniscus.

Radio host Laurence Holmes, of Chicago 670, "The Score", sharing his current thoughts on all things Derrick Rose and those Bulls fans.

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LAURENCE HOLMES, RADIO HOST, CHICAGO: They're very frustrated. This has been an issue with Derrick Rose. You chronicled it in the lead- in, on how many games he has missed. To put it in perspective how many games he's missed, Derrick Rose has miss more games in the last three years than Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs has missed in his entire career. That's what we're talking about. We're talking about an MVP level player that hasn't been able to be on the floor. Chicago fans have been extremely frustrated with Rose, beyond the fact that he is not on the floor he also seems to be looking more towards the end of his career and what his life is going to be like after his career is done instead of being on the floor and trying to win championships with his teammates.

When derrick rose is healthy, the Bulls still operate pretty well. They're the odds-on, the second odds-on favor in the Eastern Conference behind Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the Eastern Conference. So this is

a really good team. We saw the emergence of Jimmy Butler last year with the Bulls, and they added Pau Gasol to the mix as well. But Derrick Rose is kind of the thing that makes it all go. The problem is when you don't have him there, it's hard to formulate a plan that's going to work because at some point he's going

to be reasserted.

[00:55]

They need him back in the lineup, and they need him to be there for at least, you know, 65 to 70 games a season so they can get the cohesiveness going. This was a problem for them in the play-offs last year, that he wasn't available for them and they couldn't quite get a rhythm. So him to leave a legacy in Chicago, one that's positive with fans, it has to start with him being on the floor.

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SNELL: Now, if you're watching news us in the German city of Munich right now, there is a fair chance you may well have dropped by to sample the

traditional Oktoberfest celebrations over there this week. On Wednesday, (Inaudible) and his Beinstars certainly did. Robert Lewandowski has earned his fun after ten goals in three matches. Not smiling, though, is he? Less than 24 hours after that five (inaudible) drubbing, (inaudible) the champion take the team, all dressed up in Bavarian attire, or lederhosen, if you prefer, most had a beer or two, maybe, just a sip or two. Hopefully they didn't overindulge.

(Inaudible) Dortmund this coming weekend in a belt over a game in the Bundesliga. We'll be across that one on weekend edition of World Sport. As for this one, we are done. We are out of time. Thanks for joining us. You're bang up to day. Stay with CNN.

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