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Russia's Syrian Offensive; MSF Demands War Crimes Probe over Hospital Attack; U.S. General Urges New Troop Plan in Afghanistan; The Ties that Bind Putin and Assad; Russian President Cultivates Aura of Strength; Drone Footage Shows Smoke Billowing from Fires; Dramatic Rescue from South Carolina Floods; Sweden Taking in Thousands of Asylum Seekers; Revisiting the World's Largest Refugee Camp; The Race for the White House. Aired 10- 11a ET

Aired October 07, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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


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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN HOST: Hi, you're watching the INTERNATIONAL DESK. I'm Robyn Curnow at the CNN Center.

We begin the show with an intense offensive in Western Syria reportedly involving Syrian troops on the ground backed by Russian air support. That

has marked a new level of coordination between Moscow and Damascus.

And the Russian defense ministry says it has launched naval attacks from the Caspian Sea using precise long-range missiles. Officials say 26

missiles hit 11 targets.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Defense Secretary is calling the Russian campaign in Syria a fundamental mistake.

To unpack all of that, let's bring in our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.

Hi, there, Barbara.

Naval strikes really add another dimension to all of this, don't they?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: They do indeed, Robyn. Asking around at the Pentagon this morning no one could recall the last time the

Russians were in combat from their warships. U.S. officials are saying that the Russians did, in fact, move four warships into the Caspian Sea and

began to launch those naval strikes.

Now Defense Secretary Ash Carter, traveling in Europe a short while ago, concluded a press conference in Rome. He was asked about all of the

Russian moves, the Russian campaign. Have a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASH CARTER, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We're not prepared to operate in a strategy which is, we've explained, is flawed, tragically flawed, on the

Russians' part. And that is why I said the United States is not cooperating with Russia in that regard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Not cooperating with Russia on the military campaign but, in fact, what the U.S. is very much wanting, to sit down with the Russians for a

second round of technical talks between them on how their aircraft can make sure that U.S. and Russian aircraft, that they stay out of each other's way

when they're flying in the skies above Syria.

You will recall the first round of talks, technical talks last week; they want to sit down and talk to them again.

But all of this coming as the Russians are also stepping up their own ground action in Western Syria. U.S. officials say Russian artillery,

Russian rocket launchers now firing on targets in Western Syria, backing up the Assad forces that are also on the ground and in the air -- Robyn.

CURNOW: So with all of this in mind, what is the thought in the Pentagon about a no-fly zone?

I know there's growing political support for that option.

Where does the Pentagon stand on this?

STARR: Right. Our own CNN Elise Labott reports that Secretary of State John Kerry has again quietly raised that issue, would a no-fly zone help

the keep civilians safe on the ground? I don't think anybody questions the need to see what can be done to keep civilians safe on the ground but the

U.S. military's had a lot of skepticism about a no-fly zone for a couple of reasons.

If you're going to have one, you have to be wiling to enforce it. And that could mean shooting down a Syrian aircraft, shooting down a Russian

aircraft.

Are you really going to enforce that?

And if you're going to keep civilians -- if the goal is to keep civilians safe on the ground, what's the mechanism on the ground to make sure it's

really civilians you're keeping safe and it isn't other militias, ISIS, Al Qaeda groups that move into this safe zone and hope to stay safe from being

inside of it -- Robyn.

CURNOW: Yes, clearly no easy answers here. Barbara Starr, as always, thanks so much for joining us from the Pentagon. Thanks.

We're also keeping a close eye on events in Afghanistan. Doctors without Borders is issuing a new demand for justice in the deadly U.S. bombing of a

hospital in Kunduz.

Now the group says Saturday's aerial raid and calls it an attack on the Geneva Conventions. It's urging an independent commission that's never

been used to open a war crimes investigation. The commander of American forces in Afghanistan says the hospital was struck by mistake and that the

U.S. would never have hit such a target on purpose.

Our Nic Robertson joins us now from Kabul.

Some very tough statements coming from Doctors without Borders. You know, they're saying this was not, as they say, a little bush hospital but this

was a high-tech medicine taking place there, that couldn't miss it was a hospital.

How is this going to play out now?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a place that had six -- rather, eight intensive care units, 13 surgeons and -

-

[10:05:00]

ROBERTSON: -- associated people and surgeries. So this is not a place, as they point out. They're equating the strike -- Doctors without Borders are

equating a strike on this hospital as a strike against the Geneva Conventions and they're turning to the Geneva Conventions, to the

international humanitarian fact-finding commission to be the commission, the body, the place that should do the independent investigation.

And the reasons are quite simple and they laid the out in the press conference. They say that when they go into a situation, a war situation,

they know and they took them two years to set up this particular hospital and it's the same in other places, they know what the rules of engagement

are by the different parties -- the American forces, the Afghan forces, Taliban.

And they, as Doctors without Borders, abide by those. And there's a common understanding between all parties what the rules of engagement are.

They say let's have this investigation. Let's put everything on the table. And if someone's interpretation about how the rules of engagement have

changed, then we as Doctors without Borders are going to have make a fresh assessment about how and where we can operate.

Right now they say all their hospitals here, they feel that they're under threat. And there's -- you get a sense of that's the direction that

General Campbell, in charge of U.S. forces here, that his investigation is going because he has said that all U.S. forces in Afghanistan should review

and look at their operations and rules of engagement. This perhaps is where the investigation is beginning to focus on -- Robyn.

CURNOW: It's not just about establishing criminal liability here, it's about clarifying, as you said, the rules of war and also wondering whether,

if there is a shift, whether it give a blank check to other countries that are in conflict zones to perhaps target or involve medical staff -- and

journalists, for example.

So I think is a debate that we're going to watch very, very closely, Nic.

I also want to talk about something that's really been emerging out of Afghanistan, that top U.S. general calling for a significant U.S. troop

presence in Afghanistan to remain, making the longest war in U.S. history even longer.

How do you think that's playing out on the ground?

ROBERTSON: Sure. Certainly the people that we have talked to -- and we have talked to people, residents of Kunduz, who were forced out of their

homes by this Taliban fighting and I talked to the MP from Kunduz as well, also forced out of her home.

They talked about how they could not understand how the Afghan army hadn't been able to stand up to the Taliban -- they'd fled the post in some cases

-- that the Afghan police hadn't been able to stand up to the Taliban.

So I asked them the question, well, do you need the help of U.S. forces to remain here?

And they absolutely we do. Our army is not ready yet to take them on. But they said please make sure you don't hit hospitals. Make sure you don't

hit civilians. If that happens, we don't want your forces here. So the drawdown from 9,800 U.S. forces currently to what would be 1,000 at the end

of next year, that, of course, now, is a much bigger question -- Robyn.

CURNOW: Indeed. But President Obama coming to office in a way, saying that he was really going to pull back from Afghanistan and there are

questions now whether or not that's possible.

Thanks so much, Nic Robertson in Kabul. Thank you.

Well Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled a trip to Germany as violence surges in Jerusalem's Old City and the West Bank.

We're tracking two stabbings this hour at the INTERNATIONAL DESK. Police say an 18-year-old Palestinian woman stabbed a Israeli man at the Lions'

Gate entry to Jerusalem's Old City. The man drew a gun on the woman and shot her, seriously injuring her.

In a separate incident, a Palestinian stabbed an Israeli soldier and grabbed his weapon south of Tel Aviv.

And in the West Bank, Palestinian protestors are again facing off with Israeli forces. Two Palestinians are also being treated for serious

injuries after an attack by Jewish settlers in a town east of Bethlehem.

You're watching the INTERNATIONAL DESK. Still to come, what's driving Russian President Vladimir Putin?

What is his end game?

We will get some answers.

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CURNOW: More now on our top story, Russia's military operation in Syria. The Russians and Syria leader are allies. But analysts say it's more about

political expediency than any deep personal bond.

So why has Moscow made its move now?

CNN's Brian Todd has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a letter, a personal overture from Bashar al-Assad to Vladimir Putin, which opened the door to

Russian forces entering Syria. That's according to Syrian and Russian officials, a request from an embattled dictator to his ally, which now

threatens America's already shaky strategy against ISIS.

MATTHEW ROJANSKY, THE WOODROW WILSON CENTER: The dangerous factor in the Assad-Putin alliance and the Russian intervention in Syria, more broadly,

is that it's putting a lot more fuel on an already raging fire.

If Assad comes on strong now with a new offensive backed by Russian materiel, Russian troops, Russian pilots, Russian planes, a lot more people

are going to die.

TODD (voice-over): It's an alliance dating back to the Cold War, when the Soviets gave arms and support to Syrian dictator Hafez al-Assad, a man

every bit as brutal as his son. But analysts say the personal relationship between Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin is far from friendly.

ANDREW TABLER, WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY: Actually President Putin was very angry with President Assad after the most recent

peace talks between Syrians in Moscow in April. During those peace talks Assad and his delegation were extremely rigid and actually went against the

express wishes of Putin. So he was angry about that.

TODD (voice-over): Why is Putin so invested in Assad now? Analysts say Putin needs warm weather ports and bases on the Mediterranean and wants to

counter America's moves in the region. But this is also about Putin projecting his relevance and strength, admitting to CBS' "60 Minutes" it's

something he takes pride in.

CHARLIE ROSE, CBS HOST: They see these images of you, bare-chested on a horse and they say, there is a man who carefully cultivates his image of

strength.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): You know, I'm convinced that a person in my position must provide a positive example to

people. In those areas where he can do this, he must do this.

TODD (voice-over): But how could betting on Bashar go south for Vladimir Putin?

BEN JUDAH, AUTHOR: If I was Vladimir Putin, which, frankly, I'm not, I would be very worried about footage coming from Syria of Russian pilots

potentially being kidnapped or burned, such as happened to a Jordanian pilot not that long ago.

TODD: If something like that happens, don't look for whatever personal connection there is to hold. A U.S. intelligence official tells us Putin's

involvement in Syria is his chance to be at the --

[10:15:00]

TODD: -- center of the world stage. And if Assad's failures threaten to trip him up, this official says Vladimir Putin may be inclined to push

Assad out and support someone else as Syria's leader -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Well, let's delve a bit deeper into Vladimir Putin's true motivations. We know he's got a carefully constructed image as a man of

action and that he spent his formative years in the KGB.

But the many more complexity here in a deeper mission. Steven Lee Myers joins us from our Washington bureau to discuss this. He is a "New York

Times" correspondent and the author of "The New Czar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin."

Thanks so much for being with us.

So you argue that the prism through which Vladimir Putin looks at things is czarist, in a way, goes way beyond Soviet times?

STEVEN LEE MYERS, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": I think what you're seeing now with the military action in Syria is a manifestation of years of

frustration that Russia has felt after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

But it was a weaker state. It was no longer the superpower that it had been. And if you look at what's happening now, especially in the news

today with the cruise missile strikes, you see the effects of a modernization of the military that really began when he first came to

office but accelerated after the war in Georgia in 2008, which, despite being a victory for the Russian forces, was kind of a disaster in the way

that it was conducted.

And so you've seen a lot of resources poured into modernizing aviation, the missile fleet and so forth. And I think now Putin is showing the world

that Russian has returned. I mean this has been a constant theme of his since the day he came to the office, that Russia was no longer going to be

beaten down. It was no longer going to be on its knees, as they often say in Russia.

And I think also there was a frustration that the United States was able to use its military force in Iraq and Afghanistan and Libya to topple

governments. And in this case, he drew a line and said, no, Russia isn't going support the leader, its ally, in Syria.

CURNOW: But Peter the Great, for example, had this besiege mentality and, like Peter the Great, he also saw the need for expansionism to demonstrate

or project strength.

Where is he coming from?

Where is he getting his inspiration from?

MYERS: I think it really goes to the question of not expansionism as much as restoration. And he is looking at Peter the Great. He's looking at

some of the Soviet leaders. He is looking at the period when the Soviet Union collapsed and Russia's borders shank to the Federation itself. Its

allies, the former republics have split off; some have joined NATO. Others have grown closer much closer to NATO, as you saw happening with Georgia

and Ukraine.

And I think that he is looking again to find a way to reassert Russia as a central player, a central superpower once again.

CURNOW: And let's talk about the role of the Russian Orthodox Church here. Putin grew up in a secular environment but he has embraced the church.

There is one line of thinking, saying that, in a way, this intervention, part of his reasons is this desire to perhaps save or defend Christianity

in the Middle East.

MYERS: He was baptized when he was a baby during the Soviet Union not long after Stalin's death and that was, at the time, not something that was

openly done. His mother baptized him in secret.

His father was a committed Communist. He served in the KGB where, of course, believers were not welcome. And yet people, from that period, talk

about him as being a believer. Some people have questioned the depth of those religious feelings.

But there's no question that when he came to power in 2000, he very much embraced his own religious beliefs and the central role of the church,

which goes back to what we were talking about a minute ago, about the sense of the Russian Empire, the greatness of the state and the Russian Orthodox

Church is obviously central to that and has been for centuries.

There are ties, very close ties with the Orthodox Church and the Christians in the Middle East and, as you have heard in many countries, there's a

great deal of concern about the fate of the Christians in the Middle East because of the expansion of radical Islam.

CURNOW: Lots to talk about and you really have had some great articles, unpacking a lot of these motivations, the man behind Putin, what does he

want, in some of your "New York Times" articles. I found them fascinating. So thanks for joining us here at the IDESK.

MYERS: Thank you.

CURNOW: Well, the next catastrophic floods inundate the U.S. state of South Carolina, trapping an 85-year-old man and his dog in a car. We'll

show you what happened when a --

[10:20:00]

CURNOW: -- local resident risked his own life to save him.

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CURNOW: Welcome back.

Greenpeace has published damaging new video shot by a drone over Indonesia. Check this out. You can see smoke billowing from forest fires burning on

Indonesia's Sumatra Island and Borneo.

Greenpeace says, quote, "Companies destroying forests and draining peat land have made Indonesia's landscape into a huge carbon bomb and that the

draft has given it a thousand fuses."

The fires have created a dangerous layer of smog over Singapore and Malaysia.

Now to the catastrophic floods that hit South Carolina over the weekend. A dive team is searching for two people who disappeared after their vehicle

was inundated by water. Our Gary Tuchman has a story of one, though, incredible rescue.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN HOST: Eighty-six-year-old George Osterhues has been a widower for many years. He and his dog, Tila, were driving 1,500 miles

from his home in Ottawa, Ontario, to his condo on the Florida West Coast.

He happened to be in Columbia, South Carolina, during the worst of the torrential rain and flooding. He pulled off the highway because the

driving was so dangerous. But floodwaters overtook his car. He was trapped.

TOM HALL, RESCUER: Yes, I got emotional.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): But he was about to meet an extraordinary family. Tom and Julie Hall were out in the floodwaters, trying to make sure

neighbors were safe and saw a car stuck against a fence. As Tom slowly made his way closer to see if anyone was inside, his son, Brice, shot this

video as his father made his way to the car.

BRICE HALL, VIDEOGRAPHER: My dad cannot tell, as you can hear, if there is someone in the car now.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): But minutes later.

TOM HALL: I got to a point where I could see --

[10:25:00]

TOM HALL: -- a little bit better and I am waving like this. And I see this little hand come out of the window and I am like, oh, my God.

That's not what you want to see.

So he is waving. That means you got to go get him.

GEORGE OSTERHUES, RESCUED FROM RIVER: I could not stand up. The current was too strong. It would have swept me away.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Tom called a very busy 9-1-1 but couldn't wait for help to arrive. He started to walk and paddle his arms to the car,

battling the current and deep water. We went to the exact site, now a drive.

TOM HALL: The only thing I had for safety was all these tree branches. And I basically would grab a tree branch and I'd walk it over and grab

another tree branch and I would walk it over.

And I was just using these tree branches to make sure my feet didn't get swept out from under me.

TUCHMAN: And the car was right over there by that fence, correct?

That's the distance you had had to go in water, that it got up to 5 feet deep, right?

TOM HALL: Yes.

OSTERHUES: And he said, "Leave the dog behind."

And I said, "No way."

TOM HALL: He is hypothermic and he's losing it a little bit and I am getting more tired. I have no idea when 9-1-1 is going to come. I just

didn't think they were going to get there in time.

OSTERHUES: Tom hardly could stand on his own feet. No, he had to drag me, too.

TUCHMAN: You didn't think that you were going to survive?

TOM HALL: I didn't think that I wasn't going to survive but you don't have any options. You've made a commitment and we're in it together. And you

know, he said to me in the car, I am not afraid to die. And I told him I was and we weren't going to die.

TUCHMAN: Tom hugged George from the back. George hugged his Yorkie, Tila. They had 150 yards to go to navigate to safety. At one point, George

started to float away. Tom grabbed him but couldn't make the last 50 years.

It was then his wife, Julie and son, Brice, came in the water and to the rescue, bringing George, Tom and, yes, Tila to safety.

TUCHMAN: Basically you ensured your husband's and George's survival by coming out.

JULIE HILL, RESCUER: Well, I hadn't thought about it like that. (INAUDIBLE).

TOM HALL: We were out of energy. We couldn't go any further. We were done.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Tom and Julie hall and their three sons are taking care of George for now and have quickly grown very close to him.

George feels the same way and says he will be forever grateful to Tom.

OSTERHUES: What can you say when somebody left -- saved your life, you know, really and not only mine, my dog's, too, like you know, of course you

know. This man is unbelievable.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Gary Tuchman, CNN, Columbia, South Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: What a story, what a story! Thanks to Gary for that.

You're watching the INTERNATIONAL DESK. Ahead we look at the refugee crisis on two continents and visit the world's largest refugee camp in

Kenya. Stay with us for that.

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CURNOW: Hi, everyone. Welcome to the INTERNATIONAL DESK. I'm Robyn Curnow. Here is a check of the headlines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW (voice-over): Russia is ramping up its military operation in Syria. The Russian defense ministry says it launched naval attacks from the

Caspian Sea using precise long-range missiles. Officials say 26 missiles hit 11 targets. Sources say Syrian troops also began a major ground

offensive backed by Russian air support.

Doctors without Borders is calling for a independent war crimes investigation into the U.S. bombing of a hospital in Afghanistan. The

group says Saturday's attack deliberately targeted the building. A top U.S. general says it was hit by accident. At least 22 people were killed.

We're tracking several violent incidents in the Middle East. Police say an 18-year-old Palestinian woman stabbed an Israeli man at the Lions' Gate

entry to Jerusalem's Old City. The man drew a gun and shot her. She was seriously injured.

Separately a Palestinian stabbed an Israeli soldier and grabbed his weapon, south of Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Now the European Union is taking action to end those risky migrant journeys across the Mediterranean. E.U. naval vessels can now stop and

divert boats suspected of smuggling migrants.

The searchers are focused on an area north of Libya, where so many migrants have set off for Europe. While many may have made it to shore, thousands

of others have died this year when their boats capsized. The E.U. is calling its effort Operation Sophia after a baby born on an E.U. ship that

rescued the girls' mother.

Well, Sweden has one of the most generous refugee policies in Europe. The country takes in more asylum seekers per capita than any other E.U. nation

and is taking steps to help them after they arrive.

On Friday, hundreds of Eritreans will head to Sweden as part of an E.U. relocation issue. I recently talked to Sweden's Queen Silvia about the

crisis and especially its harrowing impact on children.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SILVIA RENATE SOMMERLATH, QUEEN OF SWEDEN: I mean the crisis is enormous and it's not over. That's the worst part of it. And if you think all

these terrible numbers of refugees coming, half are children. Half are children who are -- who come without parents. They're alone and there are

danger to these, huge. It's enormous, that they have to pay with their bodies, that they have to pay, working or slaves.

And so this is something we also should be really aware of it. One doesn't think about it, that they're -- that the situation is so bad.

CURNOW: This is a very tough debate. It's a tough time for Europeans, even Scandinavians, because there's this sense that will this change

Europe?

Will this change the demographics of Europe?

Will this impact on social welfare systems?

There's a great fear of what the implications are of this massive scale of crisis.

Do you understand those fears as well?

QUEEN SILVIA: Yes, I do. Of course I do.

But I think to have a family coming under those terrible, difficult circumstances and they are just there. You know, they are here. They're

here. So we have to help them.

CURNOW: What is the plan for the royal family?

Are you game to get very involved in this?

Is this something --

[10:35:00]

CURNOW: -- that you are going to let the Swedish government work on?

Or is this something personal for you?

QUEEN SILVIA: I think that personally everybody has to help, has to do something, so in Childhood we have been working with refugees since 2007.

We have different projects. Even today we have 10 projects.

In Germany, Childhood Germany, they embrace this problem as well and they got an agreement with 12 companies that they will receive those young

children and give them a new education and also a job later.

So there's something which also companies can do and help. Personally, His Majesty and I, we also have been helping them financially, the refugees.

And of course, everybody has to do something.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Well, that was Sweden's Queen Silvia. I spoke to her at the U.N. when I was in New York last week. And you heard her mention there the

World Childhood Foundation, which she founded. And you can learn more about it online at childhood.org.

Well, the migrant crisis in Europe has grabbed world headlines for months now. But let's not forget there are millions of refugees around the globe.

Four years after a famine struck East Africa and with increasing stability in the region, David McKenzie revisits the world's largest refugee camp,

which is in Kenya.

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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even in the best of times, Dadaab Refugee Camp is unforgiving. And we've come back four years after

the devastating famine of 2011.

MCKENZIE: So we think it's here in K-1 section. He looks very familiar.

Shalom Aleichem (ph).

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Looking for a man whose story deeply moved us. We met Aden Niud Ibrahim (ph) as he carried Sarah, his dead child. Ibrahim

fled war and starvation but he couldn't afford the one dollar it took to take Sarah to hospital, so she died of hunger.

Today in the maze of tents we find Ibrahim's family. They're still struggling to survive.

Adeh Aden (ph) says her husband left the camp in desperation.

"He felt so ashamed," she says, "that he couldn't provide for our remaining children. He went to Somalia try and find some work. The agencies have

abandoned us."

Like everyone here, their food rations have been cut by 30 percent.

MCKENZIE: Dadaab was set up more than 20 years ago as a temporary refuge for Somalis fleeing the civil war. Now there are more than 300,000 people

living here; it's the biggest refugee camp in the world.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Dadaab has become one of Kenya's largest cities but remains a maze of temporary structures, built by a population that needs

permission to leave. Two-thirds of refugees globally, more than 14 million people live in protracted situations like this.

DR. JOHN KIOGORA, INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: Has the world forgotten about Dadaab? (INAUDIBLE) and they are going to other (INAUDIBLE) like

Syria.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): So doctors like John Kiogora continue to treat babies like 1-day-old Nira (ph).

KIOGORA: So the baby is fine.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): He says recent aid cuts could cause malnutrition to spike.

MCKENZIE: Why aren't things changing?

KIOGORA: There is no long do have the solutions for the population here.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): When they fled Somalia, Adeh Aden says they never know how long they would stay.

"We were running fur our lives," she tells us.

She lost her child and now her husband.

"I am heartbroken," she says.

Years later, the refuge she hoped to find has only brought her struggle -- David McKenzie, CNN, Dadaab, Kenya.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Thanks to David and his team for that report. We will have more news after this break. Stay with us.

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[10:40:00]

CURNOW: We have two new polls to share with you in the race for the White House. A newly released Quinnipiac University survey shows Republican

Donald Trump is leading his party in the key swing states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton also leads in

those states.

Meanwhile, her husband, former U.S. president, Bill Clinton, is weighing in on both front-runners. Here he is on "The Late Show" with Stephen Colbert.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It may have a short half-life, this campaign. I can't tell yet. But he is a master brander

and there is a macho appeal to saying, "I'm just sick of nothing happening. I make things happen, vote for me."

CURNOW (voice-over): Clinton also lauded his wife's appearance on "Saturday Night Live," when she played a singing bartender named Val. He

said it made him want to take a drink with her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: That does it for us here at the INTERNATIONAL DESK. I'm Robyn Curnow. WORLD SPORT with Amanda Davies is up next.

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