Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Video Released of el Chapo Capture; U.N. Aid Packages Delivered to Madaya, Syria; Rising Anti-Immigrant Sentiment in Germany; ISIS Making New Threats to Bomb the U.S.; David Bowie's Hometown Reacts to His Death; Joe Biden Talks About Son, Beau Biden; North Korea Detainee Asks U.S. to Rescue Him. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired January 12, 2016 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(HEADLINES)
[02:00:59] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Rosemary Church.
ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Errol Barnett. We're covering the world for you over the next two hours. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
We start this hour with video from Mexico showing the violent raid to recapture drug leader, Joaquin "el Chapo" Guzman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(GUNFIRE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: A very dramatic scene and situation. Five of el Chapo's men were killed in this shootout. After a chase, Guzman was captured alive.
CHURCH: Now he is back in the same prison he escaped from this past July.
Mexico's president praised the capture in a national address.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ENRIQUE PENA NIETO, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translation): The arrest of the most-wanted criminal in the world proves the coordination of our security institutions and our rule of law. With this action, 98 of the 122 most-dangerous criminals are no longer a threat to society. And we will find them all. Of course, and I must say, we still have challenges, but we are dealing with them with vision and determination.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Look around. This was the scene after the raid. You can see clearly bullet marks on the walls.
CNN's Brian Todd has more on the raid and the dangers Mexican forces faced as they confronted el Chapo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(EXPLOSION)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A concussive blast --
(EXPLOSION)
TODD: -- then a Marine fires through a door.
(SHOUTING)
TODD: Riveting footage from the Mexican navy of the raid on a safe house which led to the capture of the world's most-wanted drug lord, Joaquin "el Chapo" Guzman. From the helmet cam of a Mexican officer, Marines are seen firing up a staircase.
(SHOUTING)
(GUNFIRE)
TODD: Our analyst, Art Roderick, believes that may have been the most-dangerous moment in the raid.
ART RODERICK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: You are in a fatal funnel. So anybody can pop around that corner and you have three, four people stacked up. You can easily take out three or four people with one person.
(EXPLOSIONS)
TODD: Marines throw grenades into the House. Engage in suppressive fire.
(GUNFIRE)
(SHOUTER)
TODD: A commander yells to move faster. It's utter confusion, smoke, gunfire everywhere.
(on camera): How chaotic? How hard to tell friend from foe?
RODERICK: They are doing the right thing because they are kind of moving together on line. Obviously, anybody in front of them is a bad guy.
TODD (voice-over): A Marine is seen on the floor seemingly wounded. During this raid on Friday in Mexico, authorities say el Chapo escaped through a sewer drain and stole a car. But he was later tracked down and finally captured. A key question now, was actor Sean Penn's interview with el Chapo for
"Rolling Stone" a key lead in locating the drug lord? A senior Mexican law enforcement official tells CNN authorities there want to question Penn and Kate Del Castillo, who according to "Rolling Stone," helped arrange Penn's interview.
In the interview, El Chapo brags about his empire. Quote, "I supply more heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana than anyone else in the world. I have a fleet of submarines, air planes, trucks and boats"
Why would el Chapo take the risk of a high-profile interview with a celebrity?
MICHAEL VIRGIL, FORMER U.S. DEA CHIEF OF OPERATIONS: El Chapo Guzman is a narcissistic individual and he wants to leave a legacy behind. He wants to have something, a movie, done of him and his escapades as a major drug lord.
TODD: These pictures printed by Mexican newspaper "El Universal" are claimed to be pictures of Sean Penn and Del Castillo going to their meeting with el Chapo.
(on camera): Mexican officials say authorities there knew of the interview before it was printed on Saturday and that it was among the crucial leads they had in locating el Chapo. The attorney general calling it essential.
As for the possibility of being questioned by Mexican officials, Sean Penn tells the Associated Press he's got nothing to hide.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:05:22] CHURCH: To another big story we're following now, the head of the U.N.'s relief efforts says about 400 starving people must be evacuated immediately from the Syrian city of Madaya or they could die.
BARNETT: The besieged city received its first aid shipment in months on Monday along with two towns in the north. We have them highlighted for you there. The convoy brought desperately needed food and other supplies. The U.N. source says the delivery brought starving residents to tears.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED U.N. OFFICIAL: All the evidence we've seen and which we can place reliability, there has been very severe malnourishment, severe shortages of food, and we have reports of people who are either starving or indeed have starved and died. I can tell you we have had confirmation of extreme malnourishment of a number of people across all ages.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: But the Syrian ambassador to the U.N. denies reports that anyone is starving in Madaya and he says the government has not stopped any aid convoys.
BARNETT: Nevertheless, the delivery wasn't an easy process.
Nick Paton Walsh has details on that's.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly some respite for the town Madaya which is held by rebels and besieged by government and its allies, and also two towns in the north which are besieged by the rebels and loyal to the government.
The complexity of today quite clear in the facts these two deliveries of aid to the north had to happen simultaneously in a negotiation with the assistance of the United Nations.
We're hearing from a U.N. source in that convoy that an initial probe of a few cars went in through government check points to be sure the convoy could continue through. About four trucks initially went in carrying food. And as night came, the rest of the convoy was supposed to head into that town.
Of course, there are 40,000 people there. Many say extremely bad cases of malnutrition. That number is in the hundreds. And 30 of whom have died since early December, according to activists in there. The pressure mounting on the Syrian government to let that aid in because of an intense campaign on social media highlighting the malnutrition inside that city.
But the U.N. source saying as they passed through the checkpoints, they saw women, children, elderly weeping to see the sight of that aid coming in. Locals offering them food inside their homes, even though all they had to offer them was water and spices.
This, a population that's reports say have struggled to find any kind of food at all. They have to pay $150 for a kilogram of rice. And they have resulted, according to reports, to eating household pets, even boiling and eating grass. There are deep levels of malnutrition that effect the young and elderly is paramount.
At the same time, aid finally reaching the 20,000 people in the north who have not had much assistance at all since March of this year. Madaya, in the south, not having seen aid since October.
A parallel process occurring here, one that shines a brief moment of positive life upon this but after so many days of intense starvation and level of depth, a low of humanity broadcast across social media with pictures of emaciated people reportedly from inside Madaya. But food being used as a weapon of war in so much of Syria for so long, this negotiation coming at a low really and how the sides have been treating each other.
Potentially, in the days ahead, those in Madaya may begin to see more food. Aid workers say they need regular deliveries, not one massive spurt in order to keep people there alive.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: A Canadian official says one of its nationals, Colin Rutherford, has been freed in Afghanistan after nearly five years in Taliban captivity. Rutherford went missing in 2011 while traveling there as a tourist.
CHURCH: A Taliban video from May 2011 reportedly showed Rutherford while in captivity. It's still unclear how Rutherford was freed but the Canadian government says it does not negotiate with terrorists.
BARNETT: Still to come this hour, tensions widen in the debate over migrants and refugees in Germany as outrage over New Year's Eve sex assaults in cologne grows. We'll bring you the backlash of anger there.
[02:09:50] CHURCH: Plus, al Qaeda's master bombmaker has a new threat for the U.S. Why authorities have good reason to take him seriously. That's just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(SPORTS)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARNETT: Welcome back. We want to get you to Germany now. There's growing fallout over New Year's Eve mob sex assaults in Cologne. Anti-immigrant protesters rallied in the city of Leipzig on Monday.
CHURCH: Police say they surrounded at least 250 right wing extremists after some people ransacked local businesses.
CNN's Atika Shubert has the latest on the rising anti-immigrant sentiment from Cologne.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These are the latest numbers that have come in on that mass assault that apparently took place here on New Year's Eve on that chaotic night in Cologne. According to police, they have more than 500 criminal complaints from that night. A little less than half are being investigated as cases of sexual assault.
The vast majority of the suspects are believed to be migrants or refugees. As you can imagine, that has caused a tremendous backlash throughout the country, but especially in Cologne. Over the weekend, we saw hundreds of angry protesters take to the streets demanding an end to Germany's refugee policy. It did get a little violent, beer bottles thrown. Water cannons were used to push them back. But even as that was happening, nearby hundreds more protesters were demanding that the doors be kept open to refugees and that there simply be tougher law enforcement. Overnight, police have also said that there were some attacks on
migrants here in Cologne, six Pakistani men and one Syrian man assaulted by local residents. That's the type of thing authorities were fearing.
Germany's interior minister spoke today. In his speech, he said that there should be tougher law enforcement regardless of where the perpetrators are from. But he also underscored that the right to asylum is a basic right in Germany and in Europe and the door to refugees will remain open, although anyone who enters the country, he said, must abide by German law.
Atika Shubert, CNN, Cologne.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:16:00] CHURCH: U.S. defense officials say American war planes bombed a building in Mosul, Iraq, where it was keeping millions of dollars in cash to pay its fighters and finance its operations.
BARNETT: Here's the latest information for you on the bombing. The strike came at dawn Sunday when the least number of civilians could be in the area. The U.S. says it believes five to seven people were killed. The U.S. has been expanding its list of potential ISIS targets. War planes started bombing the oil trucks several weeks ago.
CHURCH: Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is making a new threat to attack the United States.
BARNETT: This comes from the man known for previous attempted bombings against American targets.
Chief U.S. security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(SHOUTING)
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With ISIS dominating the headlines, today, al Qaeda's master bombmaker made it clear that his terror group is still targeting the U.S. Ibrahim al Asiri speaking to Americans, vowed, "We will not leave you alone as long as we have a pulsing vein in us."
Al Asiri, a senior leader of al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula and widely considered the most creative and dangerous bombmaker, designed the notorious underwear bomb intended to bring down a U.S. passenger jet on Christmas day in 2009.
His ability to make bombs that can get past airport security is a primary concern of U.S. counterterrorism officials and one reason that U.S. intelligence views AQAP along with ISIS as the two most severe terror threats to the U.S. homeland.
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Because al Asiri has a capability that few other members in al Qaeda possess, we have to pay very close attention to what he says. He may very well be able to carry out what he threatens.
SCIUTTO: Today, al Asiri also directed his anger at Saudi Arabia after the kingdom executed several al Qaeda militants as part of a mass execution earlier this month. Asiri said he knew many of them personally and vowed revenge.
(SHOUTING)
SCIUTTO: The reference to the executions that's ignited large protests across the Middle East, a clear indication al Asiri is still alive and still a threat.
(EXPLOSION)
SCIUTTO: As is ISIS in Iraq. Two weeks after losing the Western city of Ramadi, it launched two bold attacks today, simultaneous coordinated assaults on a cafe and a shopping mall, killing more than three dozen people.
LEIGHTON: Any time that they attack the capital, that ISIS can attack the capital of Baghdad or anything on the Syrian side in Damascus, is a big win for them. It shows in the weakness of those particular governments.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: CNN's Jim Sciutto reporting there from Washington.
CHURCH: Some called him the chameleon of rock 'n' roll. David Bowie was never one to blend in. And we will look back at the range of characters that combine to make the singular David Bowie.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[02:20:16] BARNETT: Fans coming together there to remember David Bowie at his birth place, a district of London called Brixton. You are hearing a spontaneous sing-along that erupted in the crowd as people shared memories of songs they've loved for so many years.
CHURCH: David Bowie changed music forever. He broke new ground every time the world thought it might have figured him out. He reinvented himself for his last album "Blackstar," which came out Friday. He also has a musical called "Lazarus" showing off Broadway.
Many theorizing he knew this would be his last project even though his passing shocked many who never even knew he was sick. Then again, Bowie built a long career in being unpredictable.
Jake Tapper remembers the many faces of a one-of-a-kind legend.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(SINGING)
DAVID BOWIE, SINGER: One thing I really wanted to do was to affect the medium. That was very important to me.
(SINGING)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, THE LEAD (voice-over): He was called the chameleon of rock 'n' roll. He rightly laughed at that idea.
BOWIE: The chameleon would change the color of its skin to fit in the environment. I do the reverse.
(LAUGHTER)
TAPPER: David Bowie's technicolor transformation and pushing of boundaries inspired generations of misfits and music lovers to not just face but embrace the strange.
(SINGING)
TAPPER: Today, the world grieves for a cast of characters that changed our views on sound, fashion, sexuality and theatrics.
BOWIE: I've always just seemed to collect personalities.
(SINGING)
TAPPER: We say good-bye to Ziggy Stardust, the alter ego.
(SINGING)
TAPPER: That's the androgynist alter ego that took a generation grounded in the turmoil of the 1970s and launched it into an other worldly "Space Odyssey" above the status quo.
(SINGING)
TAPPER: "Rolling Stone" magazine credits him with making rock 'n' roll safe for glitter gods, the kind sprinkled on stages under the titles Lady Gaga, Boy George, Marilyn Manson and countless others.
TONY VISCONTI, MUSIC PRODUCER: He was the ideas guy. He dreamt all that up. Dreamt up a persona. That was never done before.
TAPPER: Today, we say farewell to the Thin White Duke --
(SINGING)
TAPPER: -- who's decidedly less flamboyant "Fame" introduced Bowie to mainstream America in 1975.
(SINGING)
TAPPER: Three decades later, Bowie had sold 150 million albums. (SINGING)
[02:25:13] TAPPER: Today, we bid adieu to the man who provided an anthem for astronauts. The stars do not get much brighter.
(SINGING)
TAPPER: We say good-bye today to the "Labyrinth's" Goblin King, who showed audiences how to break through the maze between music and film. Tallying more than 450 soundtrack contributions and nearly than 40 acting credits, including a comedic twist on HBO's "Extras."
(SINGING)
BOWIE: I think we're all fairly tolerant.
TAPPER: To the shy young Brit, Davy Jones, who appeared on the BBC to defend his long hair more than 50 years ago --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have rather long hair, haven't you?
BOWIE: We have, yes. It's not too bad really.
TAPPER: -- we say regretfully, rest in peace. Your legendary innovations have left their mark on millions of us.
DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: David Bowie was a genius. For someone of my age, he provided a lot of the soundtrack of our lives.
TAPPER: David Bowie, you've really made the grade.
(MUSIC)
BOWIE: Any questions?
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: So many people across social media still shocked at the news, coming to terms with it.
BARNETT: It was about 24 hours ago that we brought that breaking news to our viewers. Still, a day later, people think that last album was his farewell message. At least he's left his legacy through music and art, and that lives on.
CHURCH: Exactly.
(CROSSTALK)
CHURCH: We'll have more for you of CNN NEWSROOM after this short break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [02:30:12] BARNETT: This is CNN NEWSROOM. Welcome our viewers joining from the United States and a big welcome back to our international interviewers. I'm Errol Barnett.
CHURCH: I'm Rosemary Church.
It's time to update you on the main stories.
(HEADLINES)
BARNETT: Vice President Joe Biden is also facing his final year in office. You'll remember he decided not to run for president after the death of his son, Beau.
CHURCH: In this exclusive interview with chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, Biden talks about how he and his family are coping, and what his plans are for the future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I want to ask how you're doing.
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're doing well. Look, anybody who has been through this kind of thing, and millions of people have, know the -- and I know from losing my wife and daughter years ago, that you got to get through the season. Thanksgiving was hard. For the same, for 40 years, we all together went the same place and did the same thing. We're kind of a traditional family. Christmas, where everybody moves in to my house for the last 20 years four days ahead of Christmas, they literally move in. Leave their homes, move in. And, you know, the idea of an empty chair and -- was something no one looked forward to, but everybody, they're tough. And we're focusing on the inspiration of Beau rather than loss of Beau. But it's -- we're as a family, sticking together, getting through it. And, you know --
(CROSSTALK)
BORGER: How are you?
BIDEN: I'm good. Look, I miss him every day. This was -- he was my soul. Hunter is my heart. He was my soul. And my daughter is my comfort. It's interesting, you have more than one child, you love them all equally. They all have a slightly different relationship. And Beau was -- Beau was my soul. Beau was my conscience. Beau was my -- Beau was like, he was the little boy who when he was 6 years old, he was 30 years old. And Hunter is my heart with his passion and -- but -- so it's, I think about him all the time, but I try to focus on what we have. And, by the way, his -- my two grandchildren, his two children, are beautiful and smart. And you'd expect a grand pop to say that. But I see them all the time. And so everybody is -- everybody -- his wife is incredible. Halle is like my daughter. So we're just focusing on, you know, Beau's -- anyway. We're -- I'm talking too much about that. I apologize.
[02:25:28] BORGER: No, that's all right.
BIDEN: But thank god. And, you know, you said you all mourn with me. The truth of the matter is a lot of you did. I knew it was sincere. And it mattered. It really matters.
BORGER: Let me ask you about your next big thing, which is the moon shot for cancer as you call it. What did you learn as the parent of a cancer patient about how realistic and achievable this moon shot really is?
BIDEN: I learned two things. First of all, when you have a son or daughter, husband, wife, someone you adore, you become as educated as you can as quickly as you can, particularly when you know it's a very serious form. So I learned a lot about, for lack of a better phrase, the mechanics of cancer and the delivery systems. And there's so many -- so many changes that are just on the cusp. Then as I got into it more deeply after Beau passed, I realized a lot of this is siloed. I've now met with over 200 oncologists and cancer research centers and philanthropists involved, and what everyone acknowledges privately, what I hope I can do, they think I may be the convener. I may be able to bring them all together --
(CROSSTALK)
BORGER: What's do you want to do?
BIDEN: Break down the silos. Have immediate access to information, all the researchers have, one another's research as well. Being able to have a conduit to get out to places not just the great cancer hospitals, the centers of study to get to oncologists out in the field the information we already have that they don't have access to.
BORGER: Let me ask you, as we head into the State of the Union, is there a moment you're going to remember with the president?
BIDEN: Well, yeah, there is one. He may be embarrassed. We were having lunch, and it was pretty clear Beau was having trouble with his speech. And he still had three months to go four months to go as attorney general. And my son, Beau Biden was the most fastidious, honorable, straight guy. I knew if my son thought he was losing his cognitive capability, he wouldn't stay on as attorney general. He'd resign. Thank god he took all these tests and there was no cognitive, but it was affecting his speech.
And so I was having lunch with the president. He was the only guy other than my family I confided all along in everything going on with Beau because I felt responsibility to do that so that he knew where I was, my thinking. And I said, you know, my concern is, I said if Beau resigns, he has no -- there's no -- nothing to fall back on, his salary. And I worked it out. But Jill and I will sell the house. We'll be in good shape. He said, don't sell that house. Promise me you won't sell the house. He's going to be mad at me saying this. He said, I'll give you the money, whatever you need. Don't, Joe. Promise me. Promise me. I said, I don't think we're going to have to anyway. And then I'll never forget the eulogy he delivered for Beau. And when
Beau had his stroke, when they had a stroke, and it turned out it was the beginning of the blastoma, and he came running down the hallway in his shirtsleeves and said, Joe, Joe, is he OK? His love of family and my family and my love of his family, you know, his two grand -- his two children and my granddaughters are best friends. His number-two daughter, my number-three granddaughter, they vacation together, they play on teams together. They sleep at each other's homes all the time. It's really personal. It's family.
BORGER: Do you have any idea what you're going to be doing your first day out of public office? Let's say, January 21st, 2017.
BIDEN: I know I'm in the process of trying to work that out right now. Look, here's the thing. You have known me a long time. Since I've been 27 years old, every morning, I get up, I've focused on an issue, focused on a public policy. This will be the first time. Then I decided I don't have to stop focusing on that. What forum I'll use to continue that focus -- my dad used to say, no man or woman should retire unless they know exactly what they are going to do the next morning they wake up. I'm working on that right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:40:20] CHURCH: Very personal side there of Joe Biden.
China's richest man is now a Hollywood mogul after a major deal with a film studio.
BARNETT: Billionaire Wang Jang Lin's (ph) Wanda Group has announced it is buying legendary entertainment maker of hit films like "Jurassic World."
CHURCH: The price tag was about $3.5 billion, making it China's largest cross-border cultural acquisition to date.
BARNETT: North Korea has detained an American citizen, but the U.S. government is remaining quiet. We'll hear this man's story after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(HEADLINES)
[02:45:48] BARNETT: Turning to North Korea, where a detainee who says he's an American citizen is asking the U.S. to rescue him. North Korea gave CNN exclusive access to the man they are holding on charges of spying.
CNN's Will Ripley joins us now from Beijing with details on this.
Will, you know better than anyone the challenge in reporting from North Korea is that everything is controlled and choreographed by the government. It was just last week the country was facing criticism for its claim of a successful H-bomb nuclear test. So why is it presenting this detained man now?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's interesting, Errol. We were told about this man shortly after we arrived in Pyongyang, about a day after that purported H-bomb test. They said they had an American prisoner and would give us more details later. We didn't know a lot until shortly before the interview when this man was brought into the room with a very complex and, I should point out, uncorroborated story of espionage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY (voice-over): Days after North Korea's nuclear test shocked the world, a new diplomatic bombshell. Kim Dong Chul says he's an American citizen who used to live in Fairfax, Virginia. North Korea calls him a spy, accused of stealing nuclear secrets.
Pyongyang authorities order Kim to speak to us in Korean. He seems aware our conversation is likely being listened to.
"I committed an act of espionage against North Korea," he says. "I gathered information about its nuclear program and military facilities."
Kim says North Korean agents arrested him three months ago, seizing a USB drive, camera and documents with details of North Korea's nuclear program."
CNN cannot determine whether Kim is making his statements under duress.
He says he was not spying for the United States but for South Korean conservative elements with a goal of undermining North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Un's regime. The South Korean government calls the claims groundless.
(on camera): How did it work? How did you pass on the information you collected?
(voice-over): "I bribed a local resident, an ex-soldier with military access. He handed over information. I hid it in my car and secretly brought it to China."
Kim says he drove back and forth from China every day as president of a company that operates in a special economic zone where foreign-owned businesses operate just inside North Korea.
(SHOUTING)
RIPLEY: The businesses help the cash-strapped regime make money to pay for things like its nuclear program.
"It's time for the U.S. government to withdraw its hostile policy against North Korea," Kim says, using the same language often found in Pyongyang propaganda.
We're allowed to photograph Kim's American passport. He says he was born in South Korea but became a U.S. citizen almost 30 years ago.
So far, the State Department has refused to comment or confirm his U.S. citizenship, telling CNN, quote, "Speaking publicly about purported cases of detained Americans can complicate our tireless efforts to secure their freedom."
"I'm asking the U.S. or South Korean government to free me," Kim says.
Neither country has diplomatic relations with North Korea.
For now, this professed U.S. citizen is detained, no trial date, no idea if he'll ever see his family again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Will Ripley filing that report for us. We'll speak with him again next hour.
CHURCH: New Delhi has been coping with stifling, dangerous pollution.
Meteorologist Allison Chinchar has been tracking the air quality levels.
Allison, they are trying to do something about it, aren't they, with cars, but not sure it's really working that well.
[02:49:32] ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Not to the level they probably expected it would.
Let's take a look at what we have. New Delhi's air quality is typically bad this time of year. They don't have that monsoonal rain that comes in to help clear the air out. This time of year is when they typically have bad air quality. 331 for the most recent air quality reading. That definitely puts us well into the hazardous category. This isn't just for folks with sensitive lungs or breathing or asthma or anything like that. This is for anyone. You should not be outdoors breathing in that consistent bad air.
What is going on in the region, normally we have a lot of that monsoonal flow and that rain helps clear the air out. We get a lot of warmer air aloft. High pressure up towards Russia that allows that warmer air to act as a lid and traps that cold dense air below underneath it. It also allows the pollutants to stay in place. You get this smog that just develops all along the region back and forth. And it just sits there because you have nothing to really clear the air out. So again, the numbers, especially around New Delhi. You have a lot of cars, and things putting more pollutants into the air. They're going with the odd and evened numbered license plates taking turns driving. 407, 331, 359, 382, all within the close proximity of the New Delhi area. Here's a look at the smog. This is the last 27 hours. They've never really gotten to a healthy level. They go back and forth between unhealthy, very unhealthy or hazardous. Those are the only options for the last 27 hours. Here you see the Himalayan Mountains through here. This is where the smog is stretching. It's not just in New Delhi. It's all along that southern rim of the mountains. And the numbers out of here staggering. 290 in New Delhi. Notice further south and further east, the numbers go up. That's due to the geographic area around here. Again, 522, 400. These are not good numbers.
And when we look at the forecast, there's not much good news because we're not expecting really much in the way of rain or a shift in the wind or anything that could perhaps help to clear out a lot of the pollution. At this point, what they hope is that it's a delayed effect but that a lot of things they've set in place like the odd and even license plate numbers, taking turns, different days, that maybe it will start to make a significant difference.
BARNETT: It's a new reality in that part of the world.
CHURCH: Yes, absolutely.
Thanks for that great explanation, Allison. Appreciate it.
BARNETT: Thanks, Allison.
It's not just hazardous pollution in the air. Love is up there, too. Rupert Murdoch is set to marry again. The FOX News founder is engaged to a former actress and model, Jerry Hall. This, after a four-month romance. Hall was previously in a long relationship with Mick Jagger with whom she had four kids.
CHURCH: The pair got engaged over the weekend in Los Angeles where they attended the Golden Globes. The announcement was made in a London newspaper owned by Murdoch. This will be the fourth marriage for Murdoch and the first for Hall.
BARNETT: Hey, for $200 million, the Playboy mansion could be yours.
CHURCH: But there is a catch. You'd have to live with Hugh Hefner. Here are the details.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: It ends on the prize there.
(LAUGHTER)
BARNETT: Why does he still want to live there? That's the part I don't get.
CHURCH: Crazy, isn't it.
(HEADLINES)
[02:55:23] CHURCH: Donald Trump is used to hiring and firing people. On Monday night, the tables were turned.
BARNETT: Late-night talk show host, Jimmy Fallon, was asking all the questions during a mock job interview. After all, Trump is running for the highest office in the land. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY FALLON, HOST, THE TONIGHT SHOW: Tell me a little bit about yourself?
(LAUGHTER)
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: Well, I'm an extraordinarily handsome person.
(LAUGHTER)
I have a beautiful head of hair.
(LAUGHTER)
FALLON: I noticed that.
(LAUGHTER)
Donald, this is a high-profile position. Is media attention something you'd be comfortable with?
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: Not at all. I'd be very, very uncomfortable with it.
(LAUGHTER)
FALLON: Very good. Are you willing to relocate?
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: I love the White House.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: So comfortable in the limelight.
(LAUGHTER)
And remember, you can always follow us on Twitter any time.
More CNN NEWSROOM after this quick break.
BARNETT: Stay with us. We'll have the biggest stories from all around the world, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
