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Deadly Car Bomb Explosion in Kabul; Ecuador Still Reeling from Earthquake; Uncertainty about Olympics in Brazil; Polls; Clinton, Trump Leading in New York; Syrian Town 1 Month after ISIS Chemical Attack; Obama to Veto 9/11 Bill Amid Saudi Threat; Trump Fight with GOP Heading Up, New Message to RNC; Life Bustling in North Korea Despite Sanctions; Deadly Flooding in Houston, Texas; Syrian Refugees Go Home with Pope. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired April 19, 2016 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[02:00:40] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: And thanks to everyone across the globe for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church.
ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Errol Barnett. We are your anchor team for the next two hours. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
CHURCH: Breaking news at this hour, in Afghanistan government officials say a suicide car bomber was behind a deadly explosion in central Kabul. The Afghan president says a number of people were killed and injured in that blast. A U.S. embassy spokeswoman told CNN it was heard near the embassy compound.
BARNETT: Now, this compound is also home to the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan.
Journalist Sune Engall Rasmussen joins us from Kabul with the latest on all of this.
This explosion took place just in the past hour. Tell us what you know about how it unfolded and what took place.
SUNE ENGALL RASMUSSEN, JOURNALIST: The explosion took place more or less an hour and a half ago. This is in an area, like you said, a kilometer away from the American embassy. It took place in an area which is home to government ministries and some intelligence headquarters. But we don't know yet what the exact target was. The authorities here are being very scarce in details when they tell us about this attack. The presidential palace has put out a statement saying that a number of civilians were injured. We don't know what that exact number is. We don't know how many civilians or casualties or how many security forces. But there is a fear that casualties might be quite high as this area is crowded around 9:00 in the morning local time on a Tuesday. That's the fear. BARNETT: As you're speaking to us, we're seeing some footage of Kabul,
our first glimpse of the scene and some of the activity there. Is there still ongoing gunfire or do you get the sense that the situation has ended?
RASMUSSEN: The latest I heard was that there was still gunfire in the area. But I have to say it's difficult to confirm this because the security forces have cordoned off a very large area around the site, so it's difficult for journalists to come close to the area. This is something security forces tend to do when there's an attack like this in Kabul, both to have the peace to work but also to prevent other attacks from making a follow-up attack. But from what I heard most recently there, was still some gunfire in the area that also corresponds with the fact that the ministry of interior, the ministry of defense, the normal sources on this are not really issuing any statements at the moment.
BARNETT: One witness has been sharing some images on social media he saying the windows of his room were blown out from the blast. There have been attacks like this in Kabul in the past. Typically the Afghan Taliban claims responsibility. If we pursue that theory of who may be behind this, could it be connected in any way to the government's springtime offensive in the West of the country?
RASMUSSEN: The springtime offensive is a Taliban offensive. It was announced last week. This is an annual occurrence. The Taliban always announce an annual spring offensive where they're going to increase attacks across the country. So yes, this could be part of the spring offensive which the Taliban claim responsibility. That's what they're going to say. But attacks in Kabul have happened independent of the spring offensive. Attacks over Christmas season or in December close to Christmas, which were also quite serious. So we'll have to wait and see if the Taliban claim attacks among militant groups that conduct attacks from time to time.
BARNETT: We could be witnessing the Taliban's spring offensive under way or could be another militant group. All of this still unfolding.
Sune Engall Rasmussen joining us from Kabul. We will reconnect with you in the hours ahead as we get more information. Thanks very much.
RASMUSSEN: You're welcome.
CHURCH: We turn to Ecuador, and it's reeling from Saturday's earthquake. The death toll has soared to 413. Another big jump as more bodies are pulled from the debris.
BARNETT: Damaged roads, heavy rain and power outages are slowing the rescue and relief efforts, but there are some signs of hope. Three people were saved in Manta when firefighters cut a hole in the ceiling of a collapsed building to get people out. You see it unfold there.
[02:05:15] CHURCH: And more police are being deployed to the hardest-hit areas along the coast. But it's time, of course, that poses the biggest threat right now.
Our Rafael Romo has the very latest.
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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN LATIN AMERICAN EDITOR (voice-over): In the city of Pedernales a ray of hope. Rescuers pull a 7-year-old girl from the rubble. Nearly 27 hours after the earthquake hit. In the coastal city of Porto Viejo, one of the hardest-hit areas, relatives of the victims pleaded with the Ecuadorian vice president.
"They are still alive," this man said, pointing to the mounds of rubble all around his neighborhood. Moments later, a woman breaks into tears, saying "She badly needs help."
In Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest and most-populous city, rescue crews and passersby join efforts to pull out people in a car under a collapsed bridge.
"The situation is very serious, but we will recover from this," the president said. "The only things we can't recover are the lives that have been lost. The sorrow is immense."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The situation is grave. Six provinces have been declared as an emergency. Two of the provinces most hit are Esmeraldas Marabi (ph) along the coast. These are poor and vulnerable areas of Ecuador.
ROMO: The 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Saturday just before 7: 00 in the evening. People were shopping at a busy supermarket in Guayaquil when the floor began shaking and they had to run for their lives with merchandise falling off the shelves and lights going off.
This is Ecuador's deadliest earthquake since 18987 when a 7.2 magnitude temblor killed about 1,000 people.
Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.
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BARNETT: Japan is also struggling with the aftermath of earthquakes. In fact, we have this drone footage we can show you revealing the long cracks in the ground caused by landslides. At least 44 people have been killed in the two earthquakes there which struck Kyushu Island Thursday and on Saturday.
CHURCH: And more than 1,000 injured rescuers are battling aftershocks as they search for survivors. Officials warn of more building collapses and landslides. About 180,000 people have fled their homes.
BARNETT: Consider this. In less than four months, Brazil will host the Summer Olympics. Local officials and the International Olympic Committee are happy with the preparations.
CHURCH: But there's some uncertainty in the air, of course. Brazil's president may soon have to step down to defend herself in an impeachment trial. President Dilma Rousseff describes the situation as a coup. Shasta Darlington has more.
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SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff speaking out for the first time since a crushing defeat in the lower house of Congress where lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to push forward with her impeachment. They accuse her of breaking budgetary laws to hide a budget deficit.
Rousseff told journalists at the presidential palace on Monday that she hadn't committed any crimes or broken any laws.
DILMA ROUSSEFF, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): The acts that they accuse me of, they were practiced by other presidents in the republic before me, and it wasn't characterized as being illegal acts or criminal acts. They were considered legal. Therefore, when I feel injustice, it's because with me I was treated like no one else was treated.
DARLINGTON: Now, there's no doubt that Rousseff is a very unpopular leader. She's got an approval rating down near 10 percent, thanks in large part to a prolonged recession, to a corruption scandal that has implicated many in her own party. But when speaking to journalists, Rousseff pointed out that she herself hasn't been implicated in the corruption scandal or accused of socking away money in Swiss bank accounts. She accused those driving the impeachment effort of really carrying out a coup d'etat, especially since so many of the lawmakers behind this effort have been accused of the very same crimes. And she said she's going to fight it's same way she fought the military dictatorship back when she was a young guerrilla.
ROUSSEFF (through translation): In my youth, I faced the dictatorship with conviction, and now I face with conviction a coup, a coup that is not only a traditional coup from when I was young but, unfortunately, this is a coup that is traditional of my maturity.
DARLINGTON (on camera): In the meantime, the impeachment motion moved on to the Senate on Monday. The opposition only needs a simple majority for it to be approved there, in which case an impeachment trial to be launched. Rousseff would be forced to step down for 180 days to defend herself. All this could happen as early May while Brazil gears up to host the Summer Olympics in August.
Shasta Darlington, CNN, Brasilia.
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[02:10:28] BARNETT: All right, Rosie, check your watch. Are you wearing a watch?
CHURCH: Check, check.
BARNETT: OK. The polls open in less than four hours in New York, where Democrats and Republicans will cast their votes in that state's presidential primaries. Now, for the Republicans 95 delegates are at stake, and for the Democrats, 247 delegates, plus 44 of those super delegates.
CHURCH: It's worth noting the state has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1988. Donald Trump, though, is a heavy favorite to win the Republican contest.
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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tomorrow, we're going to show Ted Cruz, who hates New York. Hates New York. When you look at that debate and you see the way he talked about us and New York values, no New Yorker can vote for Ted Cruz.
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BARNETT: And on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton has consistently topped Bernie Sanders in the polls in New York. But Sanders has a message for his supporters that he says could lead to an upset.
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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We win when the turnout is high. We lose when the turnout is low. Tomorrow, let us all do everything we can to make sure that New York State has the largest turnout in a Democratic primary in its history.
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BARNETT: Joining me now from New York is CNN political commentator, Angela Rye. She's a Democratic strategist and former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Angela, thanks for joining us today.
What do you make of this new national poll taken by "NBC News" and the "Wall Street Journal," which finds Hillary Clinton is only two percentage points ahead of Senator Bernie Sanders nationally, 50 percent to 48 percent, essentially a statistical tie? What do you make of that?
ANGELA RYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think it's very interesting given the fact that so far Hillary Clinton's math is not aligning with what folks are calling Bernie Sanders' momentum. So while Bernie Sanders has done very well in the last eight states, of course he's won eight of the last nine contests, these numbers would be on par with that. However, the trouble is the mathematics when it comes to delegate count and of course the super delegate count, it's not in alignment at all.
BARNETT: Should Bernie Sanders still have his eyes set on the nomination or should he now be looking for a second best option, perhaps a change in caucusing rules, some more independents can participate in the nomination process, something more long-standing like his legacy? Or is that too soon? RYE: Well, I think a couple things. One is I think that to Bernie
Sanders' campaign to decide. I'm certainly glad that he continues to be in the race. It makes our side of the equation a little more exciting. Nothing can beat the reality show of the Republican Party right now. But I would certainly say I'm glad he's in the race. He's made his imprint already. His legacy is clear. Wall Street has become a key focal point of this particular election. Middle class and low-income voters have become a key focal point of this election. And that would not be the case if Bernie Sanders was not in the race talking about citizens united and its impact on campaign financing and the election. What wages should be, he's talking about $15 an hour. What the impact on Wall Street has been, and of course again talking about black voters and other people of color, we were hit the hardest with that particular crisis, with the mortgage crisis. So he's been speaking to issues that a lot of folks in this country wouldn't be hearing if he hadn't been in the race thus far. So it's very important that he's here.
BARNETT: And some people complain that oh, he's only been striking this one note. But it resonates and it continues to resonate nationally. Who knows? New York may have another surprise in store for us. We shall see.
Angela Rye, CNN political commentator. Thanks for joining us today from New York. Appreciate it.
RYE: Thank you.
CHURCH: Israeli police are investigating an explosion that engulfed a bus in flames during Jerusalem's evening rush hour.
BARNETT: They say at least 21 people were injured when a device went off, setting this bus and other vehicles there on fire.
[2:14:44]CHURCH: Investigators have not ruled out terrorism but are calling this attack deliberate. Even so, the Israeli president and prime minister are calling the blast a terrorist attack.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translation): We will locate those who prepared this terrorist bomb. We will reach those who dispatched them. We will also reach those who stand behind them.
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BARNETT: This incident comes amid a seven-month-long wave of violence between Palestinians and Israelis throughout Israel and the West Bank.
Now, a town in Iraq has suffered chemical attacks from ISIS. We'll look at the aftermath and see what it means about the group's growing capabilities.
CHURCH: And the latest strain on U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia as President Obama heads there. BARNETT: Plus, another big-time rock band raises its voice against a
new law in North Carolina. We will tell you who.
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CHURCH: U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter says 217 more American troops will head to Iraq soon. Their mission, to advise and train forces in their fight against ISIS.
BARNETT: And the timing is critical. ISIS is getting more proficient at using chemical weapons.
CNN's Arwa Damon went to one town that's still reeling more than a month after a chemical attack.
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MOHAMMED JASIN (ph), SUFFERED IN CHEMICAL ATTACK: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
[02:20:57] ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Every few steps, Mohammed Jasin (ph) needs a break. His lungs can't take it. His body shakes. A month after he was exposed to a chemical attack he still needs shots twice a day to control the symptoms.
This man was also exposed. He had a small blemish that spread and grew into this.
And little Fatima. The billboard bearing her image reads "The first martyr of the Taza chemical attack." Fatima had come into this clinic alive, Dr. Hussein Ali remembers.
DR. HUSSEIN ALI, SYRIAN PHYSICIAN (through translation): She was crying, but she was wounded, and the chemical was all over her body, like black grease.
DAMON (on camera): The town of Taza has been hit by numerous chemical attacks. One of the strikes happened right here. And there's still a very distinct chemical odor, a bit hard to describe.
(voice-over): Hundreds were injured, describing trouble breathing, burning eyes, and blistering skin. Chemical weapons experts say that it was some sort of homemade mustard gas, possibly combined with something else.
Because of security concerns, this man does not want his identity disclosed. His background is chemistry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Look at this book. It's the same one we used in the old Iraqi army for training on how to protect the Iraqi forces from gases. I found this book in the market, and it has very dangerous information.
DAMON: For example, details on the chemical makeup of lethal gases and how to store them. Mustard gas, he says, is among the simplest to concoct.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Anyone with a degree in chemistry would know how to prepare.
DAMON: ISIS also has plenty of foreign operatives with expertise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we compare this attack in Taza, which was a month ago, maybe less than a month ago, to the attacks maybe five, six months ago, we saw a difference. We see that they have moved forward with their chemical capabilities.
DAMON: The U.S. has bombed Mosul University's high-tech chemistry lab. But the chemist says there are plenty of other facilities ISIS could potentially be using. And the advance of their capabilities poses a serious threat, both here and beyond.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Taza, Iraq.
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BARNETT: To some other stories we're following for you. The White House is threatening to veto a bill that would allow 9/11 victims' families to sue Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia's denied any involvement in the 2001 terror attacks, but most of the hijackers were of Saudi descent. And there's been long-standing suspicion about al Qaeda's ties in the kingdom.
CHURCH: That suspicion is fueled by 28 pages of the 9/11 Commission's report on foreign involvement in the attacks that remain classified.
President Obama explained his opposition to the measure.
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If we open up the possibility that individuals in the United States can routinely start suing other governments, then we are also opening up the United States to being continually sued by individuals in other countries.
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CHURCH: Riyadh warns it will sell off billions of dollars of U.S. assets if the bill passes.
BARNETT: And as Nic Robertson reports, the tension over this legislation comes as Mr. Obama heads to Saudi Arabia this week.
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OBAMA: I am honored to be in the timeless city of Cairo.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): 2009, and just in office, President Obama came to Egypt.
OBAMA: We meet at a time of great tension between the United States and Muslims around the world.
ROBERTSON: Talks of reshaping U.S. relations with Middle East nations.
(CHEERING)
ROBERTSON: The crowds loved him. Less than two years later --
(SHOUTING)
ROBERTSON: -- the same city, his host, President Mubarak, overthrown in the Arab Spring uprising. How Obama responded to the fall of his allies, set the tone of his relationship with the region next.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It wasn't so much how they failed but how the U.S. went by it. That's really the beginning of this schism.
ROBERTSON: A schism that crew to rupture, with the U.S./Iranian nuclear deal. The Saudis were furious.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They believe that Barack Obama sold him at the altar of Iran, their arch enemy.
ROBERTSON: In response, Saudi Arabia has ramped up its armed forces --
(SHOUTING)
(GUNFIRE)
ROBERTSON: -- overtaking Russia, to become the world's third-largest defense and security spender. And last year, formed a 34-nation Sunni Muslim coalition to follow Saudis' lead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a result of the mistrust of Barack Obama, the Saudis have a more muscular foreign policy. On the attack in Yemen and other places. And they're trying to counterbalance Iran in the region. The Americans have lost control.
ROBERTSON: Where they needed control the most, solving Syria. Saudi's new king is a very impatient ally. He wants Assad gone now. And Iran's influence removed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is going to change if there's a new president that is more amenable to Saudi interest? I don't think so. The ship has sailed.
ROBERTSON: But for all the strains, both sides need each other. Saudi Arabia needs weapons. Obama wants regional stability. This time in Riyadh will not be about divorce but easing the estrangement.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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[02:26:00] BARNETT: The U.S. State of North Carolina's facing another round of backlash for a new law that critics call anti-LGBT. The so-called bathroom law requires transgender people to only use restrooms that correspond to the gender on their birth certificate.
Rock band Pearl Jam is just the latest to take a stand, calling it a despicable piece of legislation.
CHURCH: They have canceled their upcoming concert there. Major musicians like Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr, and the rock group Boston have all canceled shows recently.
BARNETT: But not everyone is taking that approach. Pop star, Cyndi Lauper, remember her? She is going ahead with her concert but says she'll be donating her proceeds to a group working to repeal the law.
CHURCH: And the National Basketball Association says it still plans to hold the 2017 all-star game there. For now, at least, the league's commissioner says he wants to use it as leverage to influence a change in the law.
We'll take a quick break here. But still to come, North Korea is speaking out about the harsh new U.S. sanctions against them. But they're not asking for relief. Instead, they say they've barely noticed them at all. We'll explain.
BARNETT: Plus, New Yorkers are set to vote in that state's primaries as Donald Trump issues a new warning to the Republican National Committee.
We're back after this.
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[02:30:30] BARNETT: Thanks so much for staying with us. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Errol Barnett.
CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church.
It is time to update you on the main stories we have been following.
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CHURCH: The first polls in New York will open less than four hours from now as the state holds its presidential primaries. Democrat Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders in the latest opinion surveys there.
BARNETT: And Donald Trump is a heavy favorite on the Republican side.
CNN senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, has more. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One day before the New York primary Donald Trump wants the voters to know how much he loves his home state.
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: You look at the other folks that are running, they couldn't care less about New York. We do care about New York and we care about New York a lot. And we care about New York values.
ACOSTA: And how much he hates the Republican Party system for picking a president.
TRUMP: We have a system that's rigged. We have a system that's crooked.
ACOSTA: At just about every turn Trump is warning the GOP of the consequences of denying him the nomination. If he's ahead in the delegate count, but just short of the magic number needed to win.
TRUMP: You're going to have a very, very upset and angry group of people at the convention. I hope it doesn't involve violence. And I don't think it will. But I will say this. It's a rigged system.
ACOSTA: For weeks he's seen delegates slip away to Ted Cruz in places like Wyoming where party insiders and activists pick the winner. And even in states where the real estate tycoon has won like Georgia some delegates are pledging their support to Cruz if Trump fails to win on the first round of voting at the July convention.
TRUMP: The fact that you're taking all these people out and wing them and ding them, nobody does that stuff better than me. I just don't want to do it.
ACOSTA: Trump's fight with the GOP is escalating into a new war of words with Cruz. In a tweet Trump suggested the RNC is in on the scam saying, "Lying Ted Cruz can't win with the voters sew has to sell himself to the bosses." Cruz is hitting back.
SEN. TED CRUZ, (R), TEXAS & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald is not a complicated man to understand. He doesn't handle losing well.
ACOSTA: Trump is sending a message to RNC officials, if he's the nominee, buckle up.
He told the "Washington Post" he'd like to put some showbiz into the convention. But Trump is also looking ahead to the general election, meeting with his diversity council to improve his standing with minority voters.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I say Donald you say Trump. Donald!
ACOSTA (on camera): Despite his recent struggles Trump is poised to go on a roll over the next couple of weeks. Polls show he could pull off a clean sweep of New York's 95 delegates at stake. And then the calendar stays in the northeast, where Trump could put some serious distance between himself and Ted Cruz and John Kasich.
Jim Acosta, CNN, Buffalo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Joining me now from New York is Republican strategist, Brian Morganstern. He's also supported Marco Rubio's campaign for president.
Thank you, sir, for talking with us.
BRIAN MORGANSTERN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: My pleasure.
CHURCH: Now that your man is out of the race, who are you backing and what impact do you think the New York primary will likely have on the race going forward?
[02:35:42] MORGANSTERN: I am unaffiliated. I am not supporting any particular candidate. I'm an observer. But the New York primary, it's fascinating to be a part of it when it actually matters because this is rare. Obviously the first time in a generation at least that both parties' primaries matter. It looks like Trump is the man to beat this year on the Republican side. Looks like he will win the lion's share of the delegates. That's going to help him with his argument that he's the only one who can get to the critical number, 1,237, which secures the nomination. So New York will be helpful to him on his journey there. It will still leave room, however, for the other candidates to keep chipping away and make sure he doesn't get that number so that there could be that contested convention coming up in July where who knows what's going to happen.
CHURCH: Indeed. It's interesting that you almost say it's a fait accompli there but there seem to be some questions now about whether Donald Trump is going to be able to reach that required delegate count of 1,237. He appears concerned about that himself. What's going on behind the scenes with some delegates apparently shifting to the Cruz camp? And given that apparent trend, is it possible that Cruz could be the Republican nominee in the end?
MORGANSTERN: Well, what's happening is the delegate selection process is different from state to state. In some states delegates are elected and bound to a candidate. In other states it's sort of a combination of processes. There are caucuses. There are county conventions. It really depends on the locality as to how the delegates are selected. And what the Cruz campaign has done, which is very shrewd, is found delegates to run in whatever way their local authorities elect their delegates and be loyal to the Cruz campaign even if Trump wins that jurisdiction in the event that there is a subsequent ballot. If Trump does not get that critical number, on the first ballot so there will be subsequent votes, Cruz is betting he'll get delegates to switch from Trump's campaign to his because he knows where their reality loyalties lie when they become unbound. So this is really shaping up to become an unpredictable battle in Cleveland come July.
CHURCH: Indeed. And Donald Trump has orchestrated a shake-up and reorganization of his senior staff in an effort to fight for every delegate that is out there. But is it too little too late perhaps?
MORGANSTERN: Only time will tell. The strategy Trump is employing right now has less to do with the sort of technical maneuvering that the Cruz campaign is using and more to do with a public relations strategy. He is going out and saying this process is rigged, if it is not one person one vote then it's party bosses basically cheating. And that plays well with Trump's supporters. And what that does is puts pressure on the delegates and on the RNC and on the people who are going to be creating the rules for the convention to really make sure that Trump supporters have their voices heard because frankly, you know, Trump's organization has been not up to par with what Cruz has put together. And so this is his way of making lemonade out of lemons. But it's pretty effective in terms of putting pressure on people. We've already seen some e-mails leaked today about the infighting on the rules committee about the different views on how the rules procedure should be written. So he's already getting under people's skin. And this public relations game is -- as I said, it's a way of compensating for what he's miss out on previously. But going forward, the committee's going to have tremendous scrutiny to do everything on the up and up and give every candidate their fair shot.
CHURCH: We'll be watching very closely.
Brian Morgenstern, thank you so much for being with us.
MORGANSTERN: Thank you.
CHURCH: We appreciate it.
BARNETT: North Korea doesn't seem fazed at all by the latest round of U.N. sanctions. In fact, one official says they'll only make the country work harder to develop nuclear weapons.
CHURCH: Our CNN team was invited inside the secretive nation. And Will Ripley reports life appears to be bustling.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Something unusual happened while driving around the North Korean capitol. We got stuck in traffic.
(on camera): Even in the last year and a half, I've been coming here there's a noticeable increase in the number of cars on the streets here in Pyongyang. The North Koreans will say they had more traffic than they ever have before here. So even though they're some of the strongest sanction that's have ever been in place against this country, here in the capitol city North Koreans say they're not feeling the impact, at least not yet.
(voice-over): Tough U.N. sanctions intended to stop North Korea from developing dangerous weapons seem to be having little if any effect on life in Pyongyang. At least the parts we're allowed to see. The sanctions follow this year's satellite launch and claimed H-bomb test. Actions condemned even by North Korea's most powerful friend and trading partner China. Chinese state media says the sanction wills begin to hurt within a year.
UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: And trying to see for ourselves --
[02:39:54] (voice-over): A CNN crew in this Chinese border city last month could not independently verify if cargo to North Korea is being inspected as the sanctions require.
A long-time diplomat and former ambassador who now runs a Pyongyang think tank believes sanctions won't hurt the country's military or economy.
"We built a Socialist country under U.S. sanctions ever since our liberation," he said. "Under our beloved comrade Kim Jong-Un's lead everyone is working hard."
He's ordering more weapons tests, including a recent apparent failed missile launch.
"We assert the U.S. is the real culprit of the aggravated situation in the Korean peninsula," referring to eight weeks of U.S. and South Korean military exercises.
"We must defend our supreme leader's dignity, our republic's sovereignty and our people's right to live," he says, "at any cost."
The U.S. calls it a path to further isolation and hardship. North Korea calls it the only way to survive.
Will Ripley, CNN, Pyongyang.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: More stories still to come. Texas has been hit hard by flooding, and it isn't over yet. We'll have the latest on rescue efforts after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARNETT: At least five people have been killed in flash flooding across Houston, Texas. Many areas of that city picked up more than 30 centimeters of rain. You see some of the aerials. At least 1,000 homes are flooded.
CHURCH: Crews rescued hundreds of people from high waters. One reporter guided a man to safety as his car quickly sank.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Dude, you've got to get out of the car. You've got to get out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What should I do?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Swim.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What? UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Swim. Swim.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What should I do?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Leave the car. Swim.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay in the car?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Leave the car. Swim.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[02:45:13] CHURCH: Obviously a little bit in shock there, not realizing what he needed to do.
The region's terribly bad weather is not over.
And we want to turn to our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri, who has more on this.
It is incredible. When you see somebody in a situation like that, they don't know what to do. They need guidance.
BARNETT: And you think it's simple, just swim. But no, he's in shock.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And this has all happened probably in a matter of 45 to 60 seconds as far as the water was just a few millimeters off the ground, the car is suddenly submerged and within a few seconds the car is going underneath the water as you saw in that video. It is a very scary thing.
In the United States and many places worldwide flooding is the number one weather-related killer. Not as sexy as tornadoes or hurricanes. Things that get headlines. Flooding takes more lives. It's really important to note. Show you how this all happened and transpired. This is an incredible story. It really impacted a wide variety of areas across a major city in the United States, Houston, Texas. You see 500-plus flights that were canceled across major airports of Houston. Even 100 flights were delayed across this region as well. In fact, the severity and the significance of this is pretty impressive because going back the last four months, the 1st of January in 2016, Houston had only seen 206 millimeters of rainfall. On Monday, the 18th of April, Monday alone, they saw over 252 millimeters of rainfall. Literally more than they're getting the entire four months combined happening in a few hours. Some parts of Houston, western suburbs, picked up almost half a meter of rainfall in one day. That is more than what you would get in Athens, Greece, in an entire calendar year. So again, it really shows you the significance of what happened over this region in a short time period. And if Houston was a city that was very lush, you had a lot of potentially soil there, the moisture could be absorbed, that would be a different story. Some of that moisture would be absorbed into the soil. Houston a very flat city. A lot of asphalt, a lost of concrete. When the rainfall comes down it becomes all instant runoff and that becomes a deadly scenario. We've run numbers on this. Do the math for you. You can easily take the surface area of any city in the world, take the rainfall amount of any city put it in a calculator, and get the amount of water that came down from one storm. Over one trillion liters of water fell out of the skies over this region in Houston on Monday alone. That would be equivalent to 350,000 Olympic-size swimming pools falling on top of the city in a matter of a few hours. This is why we're talking about flooding being the number one weather-related killer in the United States.
You take a look at the forecast, unfortunately there is more rainfall coming over this region in the next couple of days. It's a very slow- moving disturbance. Not as much as we've seen but if you've had this much water on the ground it doesn't take much more to cause more devastation in this region.
BARNETT: So folks in the Texas area, be careful. Look out.
JAVAHERI: Absolutely.
BARNETT: Don't drive into what seems like a shallow area of water.
JAVAHERI: Ankle-deep waters can knock someone off their feet and get up to knee high and they'll move your vehicle.
CHURCH: Good to know.
Thanks, Pedram.
BARNETT: Pedram, thanks.
JAVAHERI: Thank you.
BARNETT: We are sad to tell you that Doris Roberts has died. The actress was well known as the nosy matriarch on the TV show "Everybody Loves Raymond."
CHURCH: She was a Hollywood veteran with a career that spanned more than six decades. In the 1980s, Roberts had a recurring role on the TV show "Remington Steele," working with Pierce Brosnan's title character. She was 90 years old. BARNETT: All right. Still to come this hour on CNN NEWSROOM, they
fled ISIS in their hometown in Syria, making it all the way to Greece, and now they're living in Italy. We'll hear from some of the lucky refugees who were chosen to go home with the pope.
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[02:52:37] BARNETT: Three Syrian refugee families are settling into their new lives in Italy right now. The 12 migrants were chosen to go with Pope Francis to Rome after his visit to the Greek island they were camped at.
CHURCH: CNN's Ben Wedeman spoke to one of the families about their big opportunity.
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The pleasures of daily life are once more within the grasp of 7-year-old Guduz Shakurji and her family. They fled their home in is-controlled Der Azur (ph) in northeastern Syria. First, to Turkey and then to Greece.
Their fortunes changed dramatically Saturday when Pope Francis flew them and two other Syrian families to Italy after his visit to refugees in Lesbos, Greece.
Her father, Ahmed, is still in disbelief.
"We boarded the plane with the pope," he recalls. "We sat next to him and not in the back. And twice he came to check on us and welcome us. And when we arrived in Rome, he greeted us again."
"The atmosphere on the plane back was unreal," says Cecilia Pani of the community of Santo Giglio, the Catholic charity tasked with helping the new arrivals.
"They ate a good meal of lasagna. The children ate chocolate."
Guduz is basking in the attention, grabbing our microphone and interviewing her father. Her mother, Soheila, relieved the nightmare, as she calls life in Syria, is over.
But she recalls a moment of doubt when she was told they were going to Italy with Pope Francis.
"We were afraid," she says. "We had heard many Syrians were being expelled back to Turkey."
The family was in Lesbos for 50 days. During that time I asked Soheila, did any Arab officials visit their camp?
"No. Unfortunately not. Not one," she says. "We're Arabs. This initiative should have come from the Arabs. But the pope was way ahead of them in doing a good deed."
Adjusting to life in this strange land won't be easy. The family's first visit to an Italian supermarket was confusing enough. And this is only their second day here.
(on camera): These are the lucky ones. They essentially came to Europe walking down a red carpet rolled out by Pope Francis himself, an important symbolic gesture but the problem of the refugees remains.
(voice-over): Hundreds of thousands more are desperate to come to what is fast becoming fortress Europe. Pope Francis can set an example, but he can't tear down the wall.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Rome.
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[02:55:48] CHURCH: Tremendous new life for those people who were selected.
BARNETT: Yeah. And kind of eye-opening to know that no official from where they fled visited them or made the effort to see how they're doing. It's just incredible what they've been through, and now the opportunity they're getting with Pope Francis.
CHURCH: And I'm sure we'll be following their lives.
BARNETT: Certainly.
CHURCH: Remember, you can always follow us on Twitter anytime.
We will have more CNN NEWSROOM after this very quick break.
BARNETT: You can expect all the top stories from around the world. And we'll hearing from the Boston Marathon bombing survivor who just completed her first marathon.
Stay with us.
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