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Trump Calls for Total Ban on Muslims in U.S.; More Details on San Bernardino Shooters; London Attackers Has 1st Day in Court; The ISIS Self-Funded War Machine; Highest Pollution Alert in Beijing; Oscar Pistorius In Court Today; Chicago Police Under Fire for Another Police Shooting. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired December 08, 2015 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:08] (HEADLINES)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church.
ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Errol Barnett. Our two-hour block starts right now. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
CHURCH: In an attention-getting move, U.S. presidential candidate, Donald Trump, is stirring more controversy by calling for a total ban on Muslims entering the United States.
BARNETT: Now, his proposal would affect immigrants as well as temporary visitors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: We're going to have to figure it out. We have to figure it out. We can't live like this. It's going to get worse and worse. You're going to have more world trade centers. It's going to get worse and worse, folks. We can be politically correct and we can be stupid but it's going to get worse and worse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Now, unlike previously controversial comments Donald Trump has made, his rivals have been quick to condemn this proposal. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ, (R), TEXAS & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, that is not my policy. I have introduced legislation in the Senate that would put in place a three-year moratorium on refugees coming from countries where ISIS or al Qaeda control a substantial amount of territory. And the reason is that is where the threat is coming from.
CARLY FIORINA, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER CEO, HEWLETT- PACKARD: Donald Trump always plays on everyone's worst instincts and fears, and saying we're not going to let a single Muslim into this country is a dangerous over-reaction.
CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R), NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (voice-over): This is the kind of thing people say when they have no experience and do not know what they're talking about. You do not need to be banning Muslims from this country. In my view, that is a ridiculous position and one that won't even be productive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Now, Jeb Bush called Trump "unhinged."
CHURCH: On the Democratic side, Martin O'Malley and Bernie Sanders both called Donald Trump a demagogue. Front runner, Hillary Clinton, posted a message on Twitter saying, "This is reprehensible, prejudice and divisive, @DonaldTrump, you don't get it, this makes us less safe."
The executive director of the Council on American and Islamic Relations called his remarks dangerous and un-American.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIHAD AWAD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN AND ISLAMIC RELATIONS: Donald Trump sounds more like the leader of a lynch mob than a great nation like ours. He and others are playing into the hands of ISIS. This is exactly what ISIS wants from Americans, to turn against each other.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Ben Ferguson is a CNN Republican commentator and joins us now from Dallas to talk about all of this.
Ben, we all know Muslims are a popular target for Donald Trump. That aside, the concept that the complete banning of one demographic entering the country is outrageous and inherently un-American and unconstitutional, yet we are talking about the Republican frontrunner here. How can this be explained?
BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think there are two things about this, one, you hear every other contender coming out and saying this is another example of Donald Trump going too far. But I also think he is filling avoid where many Americans don't think that President Obama has gone far enough to protect American, especially after his comments on primetime Sunday evening. So there is nothing really that has changed from this administration. So he says I'm going to go in with this very big bold idea. It's not very thought out. And I think that will get him in trouble. It is also an issue of can you have a test to come back in or get in this country that if you are a Muslim we're going to say no to you. There are a lot of questions I have about basic issues. What if you used to be in the military and you are in the Middle East as a contractor, are you going to have the right to come back to the country? I think legally you would have the right to come back.
BARNETT: And the concept itself is a slippery slope. You even have Ted Cruz, he's also running. He has frequently been described as least liked by Democrats and Republicans in Capitol Hill.
FERGUSON: Sure.
CHURCH: Even he says this is something he cannot support. But will there be any establishment voice louder than Donald Trump's that will denounce something like that?
(CROSSTALK)
CHURCH: Because, as you say, I think this is a small sliver of the Republican base.
[02:05:04] FERGUSON: I think you're going to see a big "us against Donald Trump" moment more than likely on the 15th when you have the next CNN debate. Because virtually every campaign I talked to tonight has said virtually the same thing, this is out of step with reality and out of step with the Republican Party. This is Donald Trump going off the reservation on his own. And others say this is what we all are warning you about. You may like Donald Trump because he says he is going to go after ISIS, and you may like Donald Trump because he says he is going to make America great again, but the devil is in the details here. For him to say this, when he has every other Republican that likely will disagree with him in a big way, I think to is going to be a bit harder for him to overcome than maybe some of the big gaffes that he has had in the past.
BARNETT: Now, five days after the massacre in California, investigators are taking a close look at the husband and wife behind the attack.
CHURCH: Their preparation was thorough, and investigators say they even practiced their shooting ahead of the massacre.
Kyung Lah reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Investigators now say they were a couple equally united by marriage and their desire to unleash terror. The wife, Pakistani native, Tashfeen Malik, and her American- born raised husband, Syed Rezwan Farook.
DAVID BOWDITCH, FBI ASSIST DIRECTOR, LOS ANGELES OFFICE: We have learned and believe that both subjects were radicalized and have been for quite sometime.
LAH: What we don't know is exactly how or when.
The FBI said the couple secretly planned jihad in their garage, finding 19 pipes that could have easily been converted to bombs, used in a larger attack. And just days before the massacre, the couple testing their guns with target practice at a gun range in the area.
Seeking answers about 29-year-old Tashfeen Malik, Pakistani intelligence officials raided her childhood home. She spent her early years in Pakistan, was raised in Saudi Arabia, then returned to Pakistan for college. It's an area was rife with poverty and religious extremism.
We spoke to journalist, Syed Discori (ph), who grew up near Malik and has been speaking with her family.
SYED DISCORI (ph), JOURNALIST (voice-over): They are convinced that there is activism in this area, very, very important. Her university life were very, very important, 2007 to '12, a key point. Here you witness the change.
LAH: A change, he says, to more conservative views of Islam.
Her teachers tell CNN they did not see it. One teacher only vaguely remembered her as a good pharmacy student.
UNIDENTIFIED FORMER PROFESSOR OF MALIK: She always remained busy in study. And I don't think so -- she was more religious or like that. Majority of our students, they are with the veil and wearing a burka.
LAH: 28-year-old Farook, say friends, was always devout, coming to pray at the mosque more than once a day. He never talked politics, had a good job and a family. He shared pictures of his newborn daughter and the mosque.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even after he had his baby, he was very excited and very happy, and he told us he would learn from these masters. So that's why it's very, very surprising.
LAH: A double life, say those who prayed with him, encouraged, they believe, by on-line radicals.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't go and look at a person's I.D. address and his e-mailings and see what he is doing and who he is talking to.
LAH (on camera): Here is what is concerning to his acquaintances at the mosque. They thought they knew what the profile was, someone who may be a young man, who didn't have a job, who spoke loudly about politics. But here is a man who they prayed with, who came regularly and had a new wife and a stable, good-paying job. This was not exactly the sort of person they thought would ever do anything like this.
Kyung Lah, CNN, San Bernardino, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And we turn now to London where a man who police say was accused of stabbing two people in a subway station may have been inspired by ISIS.
BARNETT: The suspect made his first court appearance on Monday.
CNN's Anderson Cooper has more on how the attack unfolded.
We have to warn you, this includes disturbing video.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) (SHOUTING)
[02:09:49] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, A.C. 360 (voice-over): The man you see is wielding a knife. He has just slashed somebody in the neck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop it.
COOPER: The crackling sound is police fire a taser at him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop it, you fool.
COOPER: It doesn't appear to work and he storms toward authorities and terrified civilians.
Another video from the scene shows the carnage he has already caused.
Witnesses say he attacked a 56-year-old man, punching him and stabbing him from the ground before holding his head and sawing at his neck with the knife. It appears to be an attempted beheading.
He lunges with his knife at another potential victim.
(SHOUTING)
COOPER: It is not clear if he is successful in that attempt but we do know he stabbed a second person at the scene. Bystanders reportedly rushed to help the victims and vend off the attacker until the police arrived.
(SHOUTING)
COOPER: It is chaos inside the subway station as police continue to try to subdue the attacker. Then they fire the taser again.
(SHOUTING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stupid idiot.
(SHOUTING)
COOPER: Now on the ground, police kick away the attacker's knife, roll him over and end the standoff.
(SHOUTING)
COOPER: Today, the suspect, London resident, Muhaydin Mire, was in court, charged with attempted murder. Incredibly, the man he slashed in the throat lived and he's in stable condition.
Authorities are investigating this as a terrorist incident. Authorities say the attacker yelled, "This is for Syria, my Muslim Brothers."
One man in the tube station had a defiant response, one which has since gone viral. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ain't no Muslim, bruv.
COOPER: Anderson Cooper, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Anderson Cooper reporting there.
The words, "You ain't no Muslim, Bruv," -- we talked about this a little yesterday. But they now have such an impact, even British Prime Minister David Cameron commented on it. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Some of us have dedicated speeches and media appearances and sound bites and everything to this subject. But "you ain't no Muslim, bruv," said it much better than I ever could. And thank you because that will be applauded around the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And the response also spawned the #youain'tnoMuslim,bruv on social media. We talked about that 24 hours ago.
BARNETT: Now, ISIS has two funded terrorist operations. Coming up next, how they get their hands on the money and what makes their war machine work.
CHURCH: Plus, Beijing is under its highest pollution alert as severe smog cloaks the city. We'll have the latest in a live report. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(SPORTS)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(HEADLINES)
[02:17:20] BARNETT: Now CNN set out to investigate how ISIS runs its financial operations and we found that the terror group makes billions of dollars from its oil fields and even taxes.
CHURCH: It uses that money to buy explosives and to pay its fighters.
Our John Defterios takes a closer look now at the self-funded ISIS war machine.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's described as the best-funded terrorist organization on record. And now we are finding out in greater detail just how ISIS funds its reign of terror. The ISIS machine is fueled by oil fields, farming, mining and extortion and is acting more and more like a government every day.
A "CNN Money" investigation found that ISIS racked in about $2 billion in 2014 alone. Here are some of the key revenue generators. $360 million comes in taxes. Everything is taxed for the eight million civilians living in ISIS territory. Income taxes, sales taxes, corporate taxes and even taxes bank withdrawals are all part of the mix today. ISIS collects monthly school fees, anywhere from $22 to $65 for state schools. Extortion is also a big money generator. For example, it takes as much as a thousand dollars to bribe ISIS guards to travel into Iraqi territory and a similar departure tax to leave. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, ISIS now controls a third of Iraq's wheat and barley trade.
But its industrial products are the biggest money spenders. ISIS took over phosphate mines and chemical plants, and together they generate about $1.3 billion a year. And then there is the high-profile but murky trade black-market oil. As of late 2014, the group was producing an estimated 50,000 barrels a day, selling crude oil at a highly discounted rate to a network of underground traders.
The U.S.-led coalition air strikes have hampered oil production, and most recently, Russia stepped up pressure on the illicit trade. This effort has slowed down the group, but with so much territory under its control, ISIS, Inc., if you will, has found other revenue streams to sustain their operations.
John Defterios, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Beijing has issued its highest-ever pollution alert. We'll have more on the restrictions put in place in a live report from the Chinese capital.
BARNETT: Plus, much more from the fallout from Donald Trump's statements on Muslims. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[02:22:53] BONO, LEAD SINGER, US: They were robbed of their stage three weeks ago and we would like to offer them ours tonight.
(CHEERING)
BONO: Would you welcome the Eagles of Death Metal!
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Listen to that. A rousing introduction from U2 front man, Bono. Rock band Eagles of Death Metal made its triumphant return to Paris after terror attacks killed 90 people at their last show in the French capital. BARNETT: Eagles of Death Metal also posted on their page, saying,
including the following, quote, "Thank you to everyone in the world who continues to prove that love, joy and music will always overcome terror and evil."
CHURCH: Powerful there.
All right, well, in Beijing the air quality is so bad the city is now under the highest alert for pollution.
BARNETT: Now, this is the first-ever red alert in the Chinese capital, and the government is making sure to enforce the restrictions in place.
CHURCH: CNN's Matt Rivers has this report from Beijing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (V0): This is what it looks like when you vacuum air pollution. And this is what it looks like when you use the tiny toxic particles you collect to help make a brick. The man behind it is an artist called Brother Nut.
BROTHER NUT, ARTIST (through translation): Some people think this is ridiculous to vacuum dust in the air.
RIVERS: But he is doing it to make a point about China's air quality. So he spent 100 days walking the streets of Beijing, towing his vacuum, sucking up the pollution Beijingers breathe in.
We saw him on a day with blue skies but most of his work comes from days like this. He collected over 100 grams of pollution, much of it made up of small particles, some 30 times smaller than a strand of human hair.
DR. TRISTAN EVELY, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL SOS: They can go right into our lungs, into the blood stream.
RIVERS: Doctor Tristan Evely is a medical director for International SOS. He says the long-term effects of breathing in air this polluted are deadly.
EVELY: Obstructed air ways, and things like heart attacks because the pollution can trigger that, as well.
RIVERS: Air pollution can be made from everything from soot to heavy metals, like arsenic and lead, likely now a part of Brother Nut's pollution brick.
Here is a picture of him pouring the dust into a brick mold.
[02:25:16] BROTHER NUT (through translation): Air pollution is a problem for everyone. And now we are being deprived of our right to breathe fresh air.
RIVERS: His art project went viral, perhaps not surprising in a city where 21 million people have to deal with pollution every day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Our Matt Rivers reporting there now.
Now, oil prices have plummeted to the lowest level in several years. Prices fell below $38 a barrel on Monday thanks to a world-wide surplus. As recently as June 2014, prices peaked at nearly $108 a barrel. OPEC was expected to address the supply issue last weekend, but announced Friday there would no cuts made to output. That announcement came despite protests from countries like Venezuela and Nigeria that both rely on high oil prices to sustain their economies.
CHURCH: We'll take a short break here. But still to come, there is no shortage of outrage over Donald Trump's latest statements on Muslims. But he still has supporters lining up. We'll hear from some of them. That's ahead.
Also, we'll be able to take you live to Pretoria, South Africa. We have our correspondents standing by as Olympic athlete, Oscar Pistorius, appears in court. We'll bring you details on the hearing under way and what we can all expect, after this short break. Stay with us here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:30:12] CHURCH: A warm welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.
BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. Let's update you on the stories we're tracking right now.
(HEADLINES)
CHURCH: Now we told you about Donald Trump's proposal to prevent Muslims from coming into the country. It has deepened the controversy over his stand. And it brought nearly universal condemnation from Republican and Democratic presidential rivals.
BARNETT: And one thing to keep in mind this comes on the heels of the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, and the president's plea for the country not to turn against each other.
The executive director on the Council for Islamic-American Relations said that Trump sounded more like the leader of a lynch mob than a presidential frontrunner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIHAD AWAD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN AND ISLAMIC RELATIONS: This is outrageous, coming from someone who wants to assume the highest position in the land. It is reckless and simply un-American. He and others are playing into the hands of ISIS. This is exactly what ISIS wants from Americans, to turn against each other.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: Now, while the political backlash was immediate, not everybody opposes Trump's proposal.
BARNETT: And as Randi Kaye is about to show us, there is approval among many of his supporters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As supporters waited in line to hear Donald Trump speak tonight in South Carolina, word started to spread about his latest idea, banning all Muslims from entering the U.S.
(on camera): Donald Trump is now saying Muslims should not be allowed to enter this country until the U.S. figures out what's going on. Do you agree with that?
UNIDENTIFIED TRUMP SUPPORTER: Yes, I do.
KAYE: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED TRUMP SUPPORTER: I don't want them here. Who knows what they're going to bring into this country, ISIS, bombs. They need to go.
KAYE (voice-over): He's not the only supporter backing Trump's call for a total shutdown of Muslims entering the U.S. In fact, no one here we spoke with had a problem with the plan.
UNIDENTIFIED TRUMP SUPPORTER: That's a very prudent idea and I think he's done due diligence when he makes that statement.
UNIDENTIFIED TRUMP SUPPORTER: We have to protect our American citizens first, and the vetting process and the whole program lacks integrity.
KAYE: That's not true. The vetting process run through multiple agencies is vigorous. Some folks saying not all Muslims are bad, when pressed, but they say don't want to take any chances, even if some are coming to terms with it slowly.
UNIDENTIFIED TRUMP SUPPORTER: I think they should go through screening, extensive screening. We just let a terrorist into this country that did the California shooting. I mean --
(CROSSTALK)
KAYE (on camera): He's saying no Muslims should be allowed to enter the country right now. Do you agree, yes or no? It's that simple.
UNIDENTIFIED TRUMP SUPPORTER: Yes.
KAYE (on camera): Trump's harsh words for ISIS have also energized his supporters. On FOX recently, Mr. Trump shared part of his plan for how he'd bring down is, including targeting terrorist families. DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION:
You have to wipe out their homes where they came from. You have to absolutely wipe them out. The only way you're going to stop terrorism.
KAYE (on camera): Are you in favor of bombing terrorist homes?
UNIDENTIFIED TRUMP SUPPORTER: Absolutely. Absolutely. People will continue to reproduce and they will raise children in their beliefs.
UNIDENTIFIED TRUMP SUPPORTER: Somebody just needs to go in there and take control of this. I just think it's going rampant. And I'm worried about America, worried about our safety. They're getting in. They need to be stopped.
KAYE (voice-over): At a November rally, Trump had some of his strongest words yet.
TRUMP: We got to go and knock the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out of these people.
(APPLAUSE)
KAYE (on camera): Why do you think he's the guy to take on ISIS?
UNIDENTIFIED TRUMP SUPPORTER: He's got the guts to take it on and he can build a coalition of other people to take them on as well.
KAYE (voice-over): Randi Kaye, CNN, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: And U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is urging Americans not to vilify Muslims and to fight extremism by having faith.
CHURCH: He spoke to the Muslim community at a civil liberties round table.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[02:35:12] JEH JOHNSON, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: One month before my grandfather died in 1956, and this was the era of Jim Crow, the segregated south, before the civil rights movements, he said something that I believed today. Quote, "Bitterness grows out of hopelessness, and there is no hopelessness in this situation. However uncomfortable and menacing it may be at times, faith in the ultimate strength of the democratic philosophy and code of this nation as a whole has always been stronger than the impulse to despair."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Johnson went on to say any discrimination towards Muslims would be un-American and counter to security efforts.
CHURCH: All right, now to another story we're watching. Right now, former Olympic athlete, Oscar Pistorius, is in a South African court.
BARNETT: Looking a live pictures from Pretoria. This bail hearing comes after his conviction was upgraded last week to murder in the death of his former girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. A new date for sentencing may also be set here.
Let's listen to Barry Roux, representing the defense.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARRY ROUX, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR OSCAR PISTORIUS: Generally served one sixth of his sentence and then the remaining part of his sentence in terms of conditions and their -- correctional supervision. The accused was released after 12 months and commenced the sentence in terms of the conditions of correctional supervision at the end of October, 2015 for the purposes of the present bail application and you will see this from the affidavit. The accused has offered to proceed with the house arrest but on stricter conditions, previously in terms of the correctional supervision conditions he was allowed to leave the house at 2:30 for Pretoria between the hours of 7:00 and 12:00. He has agreed with the state as well that he would abandon that right he had in terms of the previous sentence and previous conditions and that he would accept that he should remain at house arrest. At 2:30, should he for whatever reason need to leave the premises he would do so with the permission of either the investigating officer or (INAUDIBLE). That is also subject of course to your sanctioning, My Lord. He also agreed, subject to your sanctioning, that he would submit himself to electronic monitoring to be monitored in terms section 62F, after criminal procedure act by Mr. Stalls (ph), a probation officer in the Department of Correctional Services.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: This condition in terms of house arrest that he could leave between 7:00 a.m. and 12 mid-day. Why is it necessary to change it? What prompted --
(CROSSTALK)
ROUX: The state insisted on it. But in order to get an unopposed bail, that is for that reason.
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: OK, yes. You may proceed.
ROUX: It was solely for that reason. There was no other reason.
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: Thank you.
ROUX: Just to get some agreement.
It is also that the accused would subject -- no subject, of course to your direction, My Lord, that bail amount is fixed in the amount of $10,000 to be paid on Friday. And the reason was that it was not part of what the informal agreement was. It came up this morning. And therefore, we would request --
(CROSSTALK)
ROUX: It was one million --
(CROSSTALK)
It was a guarantee. He has not got that money. And the guarantee was then cancelled. It was not by way of cash amount.
And we would also ask the court to consider that amount be paid on the 11th of December, that's Friday, before 1600, that the court would order that he be released today notwithstanding the fact that the amount has not been paid.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Listening here to the lawyer for Oscar Pistorius, Barry Roux, discussing changes in Pistorius' house arrest conditions they would recommend.
Let's bring our CNN correspondent, Eleni Giokos, who is watching and listening outside the courthouse in Pretoria, South Africa.
Eleni, describe to us what we're hearing now and what we might also learn today as Pistorius faces this bail hearing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[02:34:57] ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what a dramatic turn of events. Just last week, the culpable homicide conviction had been overturned to murder. And here, making his case to ensure that bail is granted for Oscar Pistorius in order to get the judge to allow him to spend the next while at home under house arrest.
Remember, just to remind you, Oscar Pistorius had been serving house arrest. He said that perhaps he can sweeten the deal saying I'm not going to come out of my house, I will adhere to stricter rules and of course even agree to some kind of electronic monitoring as well. To see that the prosecutor does not see him as a flight risk but also to remind you over the next half hour we should hear more detail as to whether the sentencing is going to come through in the next year. Remember the court will go to recess on the 18th of this month and return on the 25th of next year. So this could still take quite sometime.
BARNETT: So a few details to hammer out today. And just bringing out the picture for us, Eleni, the case was watched closely as the man former known as the Blade Runner, really falling in dramatic fashion. The case was watched so intensely. How have people in South Africa watched the charges this week being changed to murder?
GIOKOS: Remember, this has been a very sensitive issue for South Africans, clearly because there is a lot of worry about violence and violent crime against women. And in fact, this murder conviction has now come through during the seven days of activism. So it has been welcomed specifically by women groups. More importantly we have also seen a lot of concern as to whether or not Oscar Pistorius will be able to stay at home or be sent back to prison. Remember, we're talking about a convicted murder. And a lot of people are asking how many convicted murderers are able to stay at home under house arrest? Also Errol, one of the things that could come to the front and could be mentioned today is whether the defense team will want to take this to the constitutional court. That is the highest court in South Africa. And that will mean that Oscar Pistorius might be thinking about appeal but whether it will even be heard in the constitutional court remains to be seen. He basically needs to prove that there was an unfair trial. And one of the big things surrounding this, Errol, and I think you have alluded to the fact that we have had a lot of national media, local scrutiny, spotlight on the judge. And the judge was even told she made fundamental mistakes and even had a problem with evidence on the culpable homicide, which has now been overturned.
BARNETT: Yes, this has been a fascinating case, and we got a glimpse of Oscar Pistorius as he showed no emotion as he faces this bail today.
Eleni Giokos there with us. Just past 9:43 in the morning there. We'll continue to watch this in the hours ahead. Eleni, thank you.
CHURCH: And we shift back to the United States, now. Chicago police are facing federal scrutiny as they release video of another police shooting death. Questions also are being raised about a possible cover-up in the shooting death of Laquan McDonald.
CNN's Ryan Young has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After two fatal officer- involved shootings, the Chicago Police Department is now the subject of a federal investigation to determine whether officers engaged in conduct that violated federal law.
LORETTA LYNCH, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: -- that the same systems that fail community members, also fail conscientious officers by creating mistrust between law enforcement and the citizens that we are sworn to serve and protect. When suspicion and hostility is allowed to fester, it can erupt into unrest.
YOUNG: The announcement comes after release of police reports from the night Laquan was shot. The report shows discrepancies from the night with the officers and what was seen on the dash cam video.
At 9:25, McDonald is seen walking in the middle of the street with a knife in his right hand after police say he punctured the police car. Officer Jason Van Dyke and his partner are on the left-hand side of the screen with weapons draw as McDonald moves away from the officers. According to Van Dyke, quote, "McDonald raised the knife across his chest and over his shoulder pointing the knife at Van Dyke and attempting to kill Van Dyke."
At 9:56, the teen is still walking away from officers. That is when Van Dyke starts firing. According to the police report, quote, "In defense of his life, Van Dyke back-pedaled and fired his handgun at McDonald to stop the attack." As McDonald falls, Van Dyke keeps firing, hitting McDonald 16 times.
[02:45:18] The police report says, quote, "McDonald appeared to be attempting to get up all the while and continued to point the knife at Van Dyke."
Van Dyke's partner wrote, McDonald, quote, "swung the knife towards the officers in an aggressive manner."
Two other officers say that McDonald was waving the knife at officers, with a third officer saying that McDonald, quote, "raised his right arm towards Officer Van Dyke as if attacking Van Dyke."
Even the sergeant who recovered the video and reviewed it found it, quote, "was consistent with the accounts of all the witnesses."
As Van Dyke remained out of bail on murder charges, his attorney maintains he acted in self defense.
Ryan Young, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: What is interesting the video of McDonald's death is calling attention to the case of Ronald Johnson, who was killed eight days before McDonald.
CHURCH: Newly released footage from last October appears to show Ronald Johnson running from police officers. Off camera, an officer shot Johnson twice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANITA ALVAREZ, COOK COUNTY STATES ATTORNEY: At the time of the shooting, Mr. Johnson was armed with a handgun. Mr. Johnson had run from an area where shots had recently been fired. Mr. Johnson resisted arrest and ran towards an occupied police vehicle that arrived on scene in that park. Based upon an objective review of the evidence and the law, we have determined that the prosecution could not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the actions of Officer Hernandez were not reasonable and permissible under the laws of the state of Illinois.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Ronald Johnson's mother, who pushed for the video to be released, has said it proves her son was murdered.
CNN NEWSROOM continues after this short break.
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[02:51:03] BARNETT: We want to take you back inside the courtroom of Pretoria, South Africa, where Oscar Pistorius -- you see him there -- is listening to the defense and prosecution discuss with the judge the possible new bail arrangements.
Let's listen in.
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: But I think it's quite educated --
(CROSSTALK)
ROUX: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: Yes, you may do so.
GERRIE NEL, PROSECUTOR: We found that we have an airport to we would not want to use -- so if that -- would fall outside the radius that would be so much better. I have just been informed that we would be able to monitor the radius if we had all the GPS coordinates of such a radius. So if the court makes a clear indication that the radius is five kilometers or 10 kilometers, in terms of the electronic monitoring we would be able to monitor that. If you would leave that particular radius that there will be an alert sounding at the control room.
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: Would you repeat the last submission that you made?
NEL: That if the court clearly indicates that the radius is five kilometers we will be able to do that electronically and to monitor that electronically if we have all the GPS coordinates which we will be able to get. If he would leave that radius and move beyond the radius there will be an alarm sounded at the control room. And we would know that that is a fact.
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: So you don't have any further submissions to make?
NEL: No.
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: Mr. Pistorius, can you stand up?
You confirm you freely and voluntarily made this affidavit that has been handed to court?
OSCAR PISTORIUS, ON TRIAL: I do, Your Honor.
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: You may sit.
The affidavit by the accused will be labeled exhibit A.
And the court will adjourn for about 15 minutes to consider the submissions made by both counsel. Court adjourns.
(CROSSTALK)
BARNETT: Court adjourns there in Pretoria, South Africa, after you heard Barry Roux, representing the defense, speaking with the judge, and Gerrie Nel, representing the prosecution, discussing new bail hearings. It all centers around the house arrest, the terms of the bail, and where he can go. The persecution mentioning a local airport.
They have adjourned for now. We'll reconnect with our correspondent there next hour when they join again. They may also set a new date for sentencing now that Pistorius faces a murder charge instead of culpable homicide. So we'll keep track of this story.
CHURCH: We certainly will.
Let's move on to the weather now. In the U.S., historic rainfall inundated parts of Portland, Oregon, Monday putting roads across parts of the city completely under water.
And our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now with all the details on that.
So, Pedram, tell us what it looks like going forward.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: What happened, on Monday, pretty impressive. We saw rainfall that is about 1400 percent of what is normal for this particular day, coming in 2.7, doesn't sound like a lot but for this region of course even though they get rainfall it is certainly not that amount on a typical day. Over that amount in 2015. Officials are saying that just about every single mode of transportation expect that to be delayed over the next couple of days. The amount expected to come down in this region with an onslaught, the third storm potentially by the middle of the week. Flood watches and warnings can easily pick out what we call the pineapple express, near the Hawaiian islands stretches about 3,000 miles so the storm door wide open for an incredible amount of moisture to stream on in, in this part of the United States. How about this? Rainfall impressive as they come, up to six inches in some sports. Northern California in the Olympic Rain Forest could see up to 20 inches of rainfall in the next several days. That is absolutely remarkable as you head into this region. And a lot of times people think the northwest is a gloomy place and it's gloomy for the sense that it's actually cloudy from Seattle to Portland. About 220 cloudy days per year. The rainy days are only 150 but accumulate about 36 to 37 inches in Portland. Mobile, Alabama, nearly twice the amount of rainy days in far less cloudy days. So it's kind of showing you what we're talking about with the amount of rain in this region. Also if you think it was gloomy in Seattle, it was the gloomiest day across 2000, really going back 15 years in time, really gloomiest day on record.
(CROSSTALK)
[02:56:14] CHURCH: Yeah.
And, Pedram, didn't I hear you say that Atlanta gets more rain than Seattle?
JAVAHERI: Absolutely.
(LAUGHTER) (CROSSTALK)
JAVAHERI: It is incredible, right, but it all happens very quickly.
CHURCH: Yeah. All right, thank you very much, Pedram. Thank you.
JAVAHERI: Thank you, guys.
CHURCH: And remember, you can always follow us on social media any time.
We'll have more from the CNN NEWSROOM after a quick break. The top stories from all around the world.
BARNETT: And we'll take you live to the Vatican where the pope will kick off the Holy Year of Mercy.
Stay with us here on CNN NEWSROOM.
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