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London Elects Its First Muslim Mayor; Pakistan Girl Murdered for Helping Couple Elope; Race for the White House 2016; Alberta Wildfire Burns Out of Control; Not All Republicans Uniting behind Trump; Turkish Journalist Survives Assassination; Pope Exhorts Europe to Incorporate Migrants; Race for the White House 2016; Orvis Plans Cultural Trips to Cuba. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired May 07, 2016 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Ahead this hour: history made in London. Voters there choose the city's first Muslim mayor.
Also: trust betrayed: a Pakistani teenager murdered by those who were charged with protecting her.
And a Canadian town goes up in flames as thousands of people seek safer ground. We will check weather conditions there as firefighters struggle to battle an expanding wildfire.
Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
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HOWELL: A good day to you. We begin this hour in London with history that has been made in that city. Voters there electing their first Muslim mayor. The Labour Party's Sadiq Khan came out on top in the polls. The child of a Pakistani immigrant bus driver, he beat his rival, the Conservative Party's Zac Goldsmith, who is the son of a billionaire.
Throughout the race, Goldsmith has been criticized for trying to connect Khan with extremism. Khan has promised to be a mayor for all Londoners. In his victory speech, he said voters chose hope over fear and unity over division.
CNN's Phil Black has more now on that election and the challenges now that lie ahead.
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PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This hasn't happened in London before.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I therefore declare Sadiq Khan to be elected as the new mayor of London.
BLACK (voice-over): A Muslim election as the city's new mayor.
SADIQ KHAN, MAYOR OF LONDON: I never dreamt that someone like me could be elected as mayor of London. And I want to say thank you to every single Londoner for making the impossible possible today.
BLACK (voice-over): Sadiq Khan is the son of a London bus driver. He mentioned that a few times through his campaign. His parents were Pakistani immigrants; they lived in public housing. He went to state schools. He then became a lawyer, member of Parliament and government minister. More than 12 percent of Londoner are Muslims and many are thrilled about Khan's new job.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's a big victory and I'm feeling proud as a Muslim because you see the situation has gone on with Muslims and all around the world and everything.
BLACK (voice-over): Khan's win defies a political trend dividing Western nations.
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.
BLACK (voice-over): Across America and Europe, Islam has become an emotive, often fearful political issue after large terror strikes in the U.S., France and Belgium.
BLACK: Londoners have also known terrorism and live with its constant threat. Sadiq Khan's supporters say his win in this election shows many people here are very comfortable with the clear difference between those who murder in the name of Islam and the rest of the Muslim community.
BLACK (voice-over): But extremism was still an issue in this political race. Khan's oppositions, his cultural and political opposite, the wealthy white Conservative Party candidate, Zac Goldsmith, tried to link Khan to people said to support radical Islam. Fellow Conservatives David Cameron repeated the claims in Parliament.
DAVID CAMERON, PRIME MINISTER, GREAT BRITAIN: Well, he stood on a platform with people who wanted an Islamic state.
BLACK (voice-over): The effort was dismissed as dog whistle racism by people on all sides of politics and it did little to change voters' thinking. Perhaps difficult to smear Khan with extremism after he voted in favor of legalizing gay marriage.
KHAN: And I'm so proud that London has today chosen hope over fear and unity over division.
BLACK (voice-over): The mayor of London manages day-to-day issues like planning, transport, housing and police. It's a big job. But it's not the stuff of big political vision. Sadiq Khan's election marks an historic and cultural milestone for an international city long proud of its diversity -- Phil Black, CNN, London.
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HOWELL: On to Pakistan now. There has been another so-called "honor murder."
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HOWELL (voice-over): The victim, a 15-year-old girl, she spent her last moments inside the van you see here, which was set on fire. It was not an accident but punishment for helping a friend. Our senior international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, has this report.
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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A horrific crime committed in some warped idea of honor, a 15-year-old girl murdered, her charred skeleton found in a village in Northern Pakistan last week.
Authorities say the girl --
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WARD (voice-over): whose name was Ambreen, helped a female friend elope with her boyfriend. The couple escaped. Police say a local tribal council or Jirga ordered Ambreen's execution.
SAEED WAZIR, DISTRICT POLICE CHIEF (through translator): This was not a Jirga of elders, it was a Jirga of local hoodlums and ruffians who wanted to take revenge for the dishonor of the family.
WARD: Authorities say many of those council members carried out the killing, sedating and suffocating the girl, then tying her body to a van and setting it on fire.
More than a dozen people are now under arrest, including the victim's mother, who investigators say knew about the orders to kill her daughter but did nothing to stop it or call police.
Pakistan's prime minister condemned the brutal crime in a statement saying, "Such a barbaric act is not only un-Islamic, but inhuman. It is not honor killing, it's just plain murder."
FARZANA BARI, DIRECTOR, CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN GENDER STUDIES, QUAID E-AZAM UNIVERSITY: I think this is the tip of the iceberg because a lot of these numbers are coming out of the reported cases. So I think if you look at the scale of the problem, actually we don't know.
WARD: But hundreds of girls are killed by relatives every year in Pakistan, according to the country's Independent Human Rights Commission and experts believe many of these murders go unreported.
The suspects under arrest for Ambreen's murder now face trial, but human rights advocates caution few of these kinds of cases go to court. For many, justice remains elusive -- Clarissa Ward, CNN, London.
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HOWELL: Earlier this year, a Pakistani filmmaker tackled this very issue. She even won an Oscar for her documentary on so-called "honor murders." Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's film tells the story of a young girl whose own father and uncle tried to kill her after she got married against their wishes.
Obaid-Chinoy told CNN about the difficulties in approaching such a contentious topic.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Instead of taking her home, they took her to a dark, wooded forest, shot her point-blank, put her in a gunny bag and threw her in a river. And she miraculously survived.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Eighteen-year-old Sabha was engaged to a young man named Qaisar and was about to get married and her uncle opposed the wedding. So she had to run away and get married to him in a court. It's a miracle that she was alive.
And the only reason that she was alive was because when they shot her on her face, she put her hand there and moved her face. And so the bullet hit her hand and hit her face.
And her face was completely opened as a gaping wound right here.
The most difficult part about making this film was the mindset, that people actually thought "honor killing" was not a crime. At the end of the film, the father, when he's released from jail, says that now he is -- his stature in society has become much more, that his other daughters are getting better proposals of marriage because people think he's an honorable man.
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HOWELL: Many activists blame tribal councils for failing to address the practice. A little more background now on this type of crime. It has become all too common in Pakistan. Nearly 1,100 women were killed by relatives in Pakistan last year alone. This according to the country's independent human rights commission; 143 of those victims, they were set on fire or attacked with acid.
And between 2004 and 2015, more than 8,600 girls and women have died in Pakistan in so-called "honor murders." The government in Pakistan has spoken out against these murders, including the most recent one. My colleague, Errol Barnett, spoke to a women's rights activist, who said the government needs to take action beyond just condemning the killings.
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ZAINAB SALBI, ACTIVIST: This is part of a systematic agreement by the Pakistani government of allowing the tribal councils to have authorities, which is random authority over their own local population.
This is for me no different than terrorism. It's stemming from the exact same roots of traditional men thinking that they can kill anybody who they do not agree with them. Now today it is a woman. Tomorrow it is a person with a different mindset about Islam or traditions or whatever.
The day after, it is a foreigner and the day after, it is a terrorist attack somewhere else. It is stemming - it's coming from the exact same root of allowing traditional tribal councils to rule. And they have the authorities and the chutzpah, the guts, to kill whoever they want.
So we have to look at the systematic reason why this is happening.
ERROL BARNETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now you do have Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, saying this is not an honor killing. He says it's un- Islamic, it's inhumane.
But do you think some of that may just be lip service?
And how then do you undo or minimize the power of these local tribal councils?
How could that be done?
SALBI: Well, culture always changes. Culture by definition is an evolving set of values that adjust to modern day's -- [04:10:00]
SALBI: -- needs and realities. So I don't believe that culture is doomed to one certain behavior. And I do appreciate the prime minister's statement about the case. But we also have to walk the walk and not talk the talk. It means that we have to actually put the tribal leaders accountable for judicial law, for our national law.
It means that talk shows in countries like Pakistan, for example, that talks about where you can beat your wife, where you can hit her, where you can abuse her, these are sanctions in general public. These have to stop.
This is -- you know, so we cannot just say, oh, this is un-Islamic. Of course it is un-Islamic.
But we actually have to look at who are the leaders perpetuating such behaviors?
The beating of a wife, the beating of a woman. The woman's - the victim's own father, poor thing, he was saying, no, no, no, my daughter is OK, she's been out of school, I took her out of school. She's 15. She doesn't study -- as if this is a good thing.
So the whole moral system here is in question. But the government should be held accountable.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOWELL: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. And still ahead, Alberta's most intense wildfire; it may continue on for weeks. We'll get a look at what residents of Fort McMurray are returning to find after fire sweeps through that area.
Plus not all Republicans are racing to back their presumptive nominee, Donald Trump, for the White House. The challenges Mr. Trump faces in trying to unite his party.
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HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell.
We turn now to Canada and the latest on the wildfires that are burning there. Alberta's biggest fire is set to double in size in the coming hours. So far, that wildfire has burned more than 1,000 square kilometers. That's nearly 400 square miles, leaving the region with these very, very sad scenes of so many homes destroyed there.
Emergency crews worked all day on Friday to evacuate thousands of people to safety in the provincial capital of Edmonton. If conditions are safe, a convoy will start once again in just a few hours to help thousands of people to escape the flames.
Our Paul Vercammen has this report.
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PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Evacuees describing the frightening experience of escaping the Alberta wildfire. Morgan Elliott and his family fled their home in Fort McMurray. They are among thousands at the expo center in Edmonton.
MORGAN ELLIOT, WILDFIRE EVACUEE: It was like a scene out of a movie. It remind me of "Walking Dead," the TV show "Walking Dead," where you're going on the highway and abandoned vehicles everywhere.
VERCAMMEN: Fire officials are calling an extreme and rare event, they're focused on protecting communities.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In terms of fighting the large landscape size fire out there that's going to be the most difficult part.
We can be very, very successful in the community areas and critical areas, very strategic in the priorities and that's really how we fight our fires is we're protecting those values, the community, critical infrastructures.
VERCAMMEN: And more help is on the way to the approximately 90,000 displaced. The government is providing roughly 100 million Canadian dollars in emergency financial aid.
Stranded residents north of Fort McMurray are slowly getting escorted away from the flames. The Royal Canadian Mountain Police organized an evacuation convoy to move approximately 1,500 vehicles along a potentially dangerous route south to safety.
But the damage left behind by the wildfires is overwhelming, destroying more than 1,600 structures with some residents returning to nothing but rubble like Nathan Sheffield. He posted this video on Facebook what used to be his home in Beacon Hill.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my house -- this was my house. Nothing left. It's gone.
VERCAMMEN (voice-over): Paul Vercammen, CNN, Edmonton, Alberta.
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HOWELL: Paul's report there just tells the story.
Derek, you just see these images and you get a sense of just how powerful and dangerous these fires can be.
Weather plays into as well.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Weather is a huge factor. In fact, it provides the ingredients necessary for the wildfires to spread. I've come across a very interesting graphic that shows the recent flare-ups and hot spots from space. So get to that image.
This is plotted out on Google Earth. If you can see on your map, I'll try and point it out as best I can, but what we have here is Fort McMurray and the Interstate 63 that runs north and south through Fort McMurray, this is the one and only road leading in and out of the hardest hit, particular region.
And those dark shades of red on the outskirts of all these individual hot spots are the flare-ups that have taken place within the past six to even 12 hours at max. But I also want you to see what happened just to the east of where the main burn area actually is.
There's a new flare-up that's taken place over here and my bet, looking at the latest wind across this region -- you can see this generally out of the west to southwesterly direction, so moving basically perpendicular to Fort McMurray, it is blowing some of those hot embers, which, by the way, can travel hundreds of feet, several hundreds of meters.
And that can start spot fires in other locations. So that's my guess that that's what's happening right now and that is why we believe that conditions could become worse before they become better in terms of weather conditions helping put out these flames. Notice what's going to happen though. We are going to get a shift in the wind direction and that is a telltale sign that there are change coming. And there is, in fact a cold front with chances of rain. More on that in just a second.
Here it is, putting this fire in perspective, it's over 1,000 square kilometers. That is comparable to the size of Rome. It is all thanks to this heat ridge that has built over the western parts of Canada, sending our temperatures soaring across Fort McMurray.
But there's the relief. We have to wait until Sunday with our chance of rain and a dramatic cooldown in temperatures; still hot today for most locations --
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VAN DAM: -- across Alberta. Look at the fire danger though as it starts to suppress just the further and further south as we go forward in time from Saturday into Sunday. That is all thanks to the impending cold front that's going to move through this particular region.
I'll leave you on this image, George, because if you notice a little bit of a haze in the skies overhead here in Atlanta, that's because the smoke from Alberta hit the jet stream and traveled all the way to the southeastern United States, blanketing our skies --
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HOWELL: We were talking about that today.
VAN DAM: Wow, unbelievable, huh?
Derek, thank you.
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HOWELL: America's choice 2016, the race for the White House and Donald Trump has all but clinched the Republican nomination for president. But some party faithful are still crying, "Never Trump." Our Jim Acosta reports on those not yet ready to unite behind the presumptive nominee.
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JIM ACOSTA, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump is ready to bring on the battle ahead.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, it's between me and crooked Hillary.
ACOSTA: But even as the presumptive GOP nominee sets his sights on Hillary Clinton, he still needs to watch his back. Not only are top Republicans like House Speaker Paul Ryan publicly sharing their doubts -- REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Well, to be perfectly candid with you, Jake, I'm just not ready to do that at this point. I'm not there right now.
ACOSTA: The list of other GOP leaders who won't vote for Trump is growing. The latest, Senator Lindsey Graham.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I just don't believe Donald Trump is a reliable conservative Republican. Good luck with Paul Ryan trying to find a conservative agenda with this guy and I don't think he has the temperament and judgment to be commander in chief. Lot of my colleagues will vote for him enthusiastically, some will hold their nose. I just can't go there with Donald.
ACOSTA: Now, all eyes are on how Trump handles the pressure.
While Trump was measured in his response to Ryan --
TRUMP: I was really surprised by it and it's fine. He can do whatever he wants to do, it's fine.
ACOSTA: One of his top aides said his comments are an insult to Americans who voted for Trump. And a Trump spokesperson questioned whether Ryan should continue as speaker.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Do you think that Paul Ryan is still fit to be speaker?
KATRINA PIERSON, TRUMP CAMPAIGN SPOKESWOMAN: No, because this is about the party.
ACOSTA: Trump has hammered the never Trump movement as nothing more than beltway belly aching.
TRUMP: You know that thing, never Trump. You know why it's never Trump, because I'm going to stop the gravy train for all these consultants and all --
ACOSTA: But Trump's GOP critics say they're getting heartburn for good reason, pointing to his tweet about his love for Hispanics and taco bowls.
REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: He's trying. Honestly, he's trying.
ACOSTA: RNC chairman Reince Priebus says he knows Trump is trying because he took a call from the real estate tycoon after Ryan's comments.
PRIEBUS: He wasn't like furious or anything. It was like, you know, what do I need to do? My view is, just relax and be gracious.
ACOSTA: That's not how Trump remembers the call with Priebus, telling "The Washington Post" "I told Reince I thought it was totally inappropriate what Paul Ryan said. But Reince feels and I'm OK with that, that we should meet before we go our separate ways."
Democrats are crossing their fingers the GOP's Trump reality show never gets canceled.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There is no doubt that there is a debate that's taken place inside the Republican Party about who they are and what they represent. Their standard bearer at the moment is Donald Trump.
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HOWELL: That was CNN's Jim Acosta reporting there for us.
Donald Trump is hoping to win over the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan. The two are scheduled to meet on Thursday to try to work through their differences. Party unity is expected to be a topic of discussion at that meeting.
Donald Trump is also at a war of words with Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren. At a rally on Friday, he responded to one of her tweets from earlier this week. She accuses him of building a campaign of racism, of sexism and xenophobia.
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TRUMP: I just learned that crooked Hillary, along with her friend -- you know, she's got this goofy friend named Elizabeth Warren. She's on a Twitter rant. She's a goofus. She is a goofus.
So, Elizabeth, you ever see her?
I mean this woman, she's a basket case.
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HOWELL: Warren then tweeted, "'Goofy,' @realDonaldTrump? For a guy with 'the best words' that's a pretty lame nickname. Weak!" she says.
"And @realDonaldTrump spews insults and lies because he can't have an honest conversation about his dangerous vision for America." That tweet there.
Speaking on Friday in Oakland, California, Hillary Clinton also fired back at Donald Trump.
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HOWELL: Earlier in the day, Trump defended his comments, saying he's -- saying, rather, "Nobody respects women more than me."
Clinton took issue with that and his stands on (INAUDIBLE) America workers.
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HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He doesn't think we need to raise the minimum wage. And I got to tell you, I ask myself all the time, who is he talking to? I have now talked with thousands of people over the last year. And I know wages need to go up. And then of course he doesn't think much of equal pay for women because, of course, he doesn't think much of women, in terms of.
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HOWELL: Meanwhile, Clinton's rival, Bernie Sanders, says he is going all the way to the Democratic Convention. It is impossible, though, for him to win enough pledge delegates to become the Democratic nominee. But Sanders tells CNN he will continue to run an issue- oriented campaign and stop Trump.
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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VT., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I intend to do everything that I can, either as the candidate Democratic Party or, if I'm not the candidate, to do everything that I can to make sure that Donald Trump does not become President of the United States.
He will be a disaster for this country and I will fight as hard as I can to make sure that he does not get into the Oval Office.
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HOWELL: Keep in mind, though, there have been increasing calls for Bernie Sanders to suspend his campaign so that Hillary Clinton can focus on the general election.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. And still to come, in North Korea, much of the world is watching as the highest political gathering in 30 years takes place in Pyongyang. Coming up: a rare peek from just outside that event.
Plus: the pope accepts an award from the European Union while urging its nations to return to their unifying ideals and let immigrants in. Broadcasting live in the United States and around the world this hour, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
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HOWELL (voice-over): Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. It is good to have you with us. I'm George Howell with the headlines we're following for you this hour.
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HOWELL: On to North Korea now. A U.S. think tank says satellite images suggest that nation may be preparing for another nuclear test. The report comes as the leader there, Kim Jong-un, leads a rare ruling Workers Party Congress in Pyongyang. CNN's Will Ripley has more on this important political gathering being closely monitored by people around the world.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right now we're walking through Pyongyang towards the April 25th House of Culture. This is the venue for the 7th Workers Party Congress. It was also the venue for the previous congress back in 1980.
We saw a massive caravan of coaches that we believe are carrying the 3,000 members of North Korea's ruling elite, the Worker's Party who are here, to unanimously show their support for the Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un.
I say unanimously, because here in North Korea, there is no political dissent. It's just not an option.
She says, "we all say the Koreans are so fortunate to have such great leaders starting from the late president right up to the martial Kim Jong-un."
This is as close as we're allowed to get. More than 100 news organizations invited here. And we can't go inside the congress.
It speaks to the fact that the North Korean political system is quite nebulous, it is not transparent to say the least. And they say this event here is to rally support and help him push forward his plan for North Korea, which is a two-pronged approach of developing the country's nuclear program while also growing the North Korean economy.
Now, there are some observers on the outside who say you can't have your cake and eat it, too. You can't have a strong economy and also continue to develop nuclear weapons. But Kim Jong-un's government is intent on proving them wrong. And it's part of the reason why you see so much international press here.
One thing I've noticed in two years of coming here is how much activity there is. Cars in the streets, people are more well dressed. It seems as if the economy is growing, but you wonder how long it can last given these heightened sanctions and their trickle-down effect in the coming months.
Are you worried how the sanctions are going to affect your life?
He says, "We've been under heavy sanctions since the end of the Korean War in the '50s. We're not afraid of stronger sanctions because we're used to them and we've survived."
Now as we monitor this once in a generation meeting of the Workers Party Congress, we wonder what the supreme leader is going to announce.
Will there be a major shift in economic policy?
Will there be a fifth nuclear test or news of improvements to the North Korea nuclear arsenal?
Many around the world oppose the rise of Kim Jong-un, but here in Pyongyang, you won't hear a single person speak badly about their supreme leader and why would they speak badly about him when he holds absolute power in this country, power that inside this building is only expected to increase perhaps dramatically in the coming days -- Will Ripley, CNN, Pyongyang, North Korea.
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HOWELL: Now in Turkey, a prominent journalist there survived the courthouse assassination just hours before he and a colleague were sentenced to at least five years in prison.
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HOWELL (voice-over): You're watching here video of the gunman being apprehended. The journalists were charged after publishing images purporting showing government agents taking arms to Syria. The target of the assassination later spoke about his ordeal and blamed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Today we know that the reason for the threats we have been receiving for weeks and the bullets fired from that gun today are due to the fact that we have been shown as targets by the highest office in the state, the presidency.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): And inevitably we say this, the concern that the instructions given by the highest office of the state has played a role in this ruling will forever remain.
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HOWELL: Now the case has drawn fire from rights groups and raised fears about freedom of the press inside Turkey. The two journalists are free pending appeal.
France and the United Kingdom are condemning Thursday's deadly airstrike on a refugee camp in Northern Syria. The French foreign ministry is calling for an impartial and independent investigation. More than 2 dozen people were killed when warplanes bombed the camp near Syria's border with Turkey.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh reports many of the victims, they were women and children.
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JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They've escaped those homes but in Syria there's no escaping the violence. The anguished screams of women and children in this makeshift camp in Idlib province near the Turkish border bombed on Thursday. The United Nations says the attack could be a war crime. No one knows
who did it or why. Reports say it was unidentified jets that dropped the bombs that claimed the lives of dozens of refugees, many of them women and children.
But for these Syrians, trying to pick up what's left of their devastated lives in this camp, they blame the regime and its allies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (from captions): They are all killers. Bashar al- Assad, Iran and Russia, all are killers.
See here?
There are no young men here. All are women and children. There is not a single one over 12 years old.
They are all killers. This is Hassan the Satan, not Hassan Nasrallah.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): Syria has denied targeting the camp.
On that same day, about 250 kilometers away, it was a surreal scene, a different reality. The Russian orchestra performing in the ancient Roman city of Palmyra, touting the Russian and Syrian victory there recently after pushing ISIS out.
The U.S. said there was no justifiable excuse for the attack on the camp in Idlib, which came a week after the bombing of a field hospital in Aleppo that killed 50 people. That attack, an escalating bloodshed in Syria's second largest city, shifted the world's focus back to the conflict; world powers rushed to try and salvage the crumbling cessation of hostilities agreement.
An American- and Russian-brokered 48-hour truce between regime and opposition forces in Aleppo went into effect on Thursday.
With ISIS and other extremist groups not part of any negotiations, it was during that cease-fire that Al Qaeda's affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, grabbed several towns and villages south of Aleppo from the regime. Dozens of militants and regime forces killed in the fight.
For the civilians in Syria, with shaky cease-fires in this complex and grinding war, nowhere is safe -- Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Amman.
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HOWELL: As Jomana mentioned, the U.N. says the attack on the refugee camp may constitute a war crime if, indeed, it's found to have been done deliberately. The secretary-general's office is also warning those responsible will not evade justice.
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U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL SPOKESMAN: The secretary-general reiterates his call on the Security Council to send a strong message to all warring parties that there will be serious consequences for grave violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.
Those responsible for yesterday's seemingly calculated attack against civilians in the camp in Idlib, which could constitute a war crime, must be held accountable.
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HOWELL: Moving on to Rome now, Pope Francis campaigned for migrants while calling out Europe over the crisis. He urged E.U. nations to tear down walls while accepting a prize from the union for his efforts on unity. As our Vatican correspondent, Delia Gallagher, reports, the pope borrowed from the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to make his point.
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DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Some tough words from Pope Francis to European leaders who have come here today to give him an award for his efforts at peace and solidarity amongst European countries.
At a time when the European Union is facing challenges to its unity and questioning its values, for example, on immigration, Pope Francis challenged leaders, saying, "What has happened to you, the Europe of humanism, the champion of human rights, of democracy and freedom?"
And he took to task those countries which he said were considering putting up fences here and there. Let's take a listen to some of what the pope had to say.
POPE FRANCIS (through translator): The present situation does not permit anyone to stand --
[04:40:00]
POPE FRANCIS (through translator): -- by and watch other people's struggles. On the contrary, it is a forceful summons to personal and social responsibility. In this sense, our young people have a critical role. They are not the future of our people; they are the present.
GALLAGHER: And taking a page from Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I have a dream" speech, Pope Francis said he dreams of a Europe, a Europe in which young people can breathe the pure air, he said, of honesty, can have stable employment and families.
"I dream of a Europe," Pope Francis said, "in which being a migrant is not a crime" -- Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.
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HOWELL: This is CNN NEWSROOM. Still ahead, President Obama calls for greater scrutiny of Donald Trump's record. What the U.S. president said about the Republican presumptive nominee -- next.
Plus: wait until you hear from some civic-minded young people who can't vote yet but demand that their voices be heard. Stay with us.
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HOWELL: The U.S. president, Barack Obama, has made an unusually lengthy and critical commentary on Donald Trump's candidacy. He told reporters on Friday the presumptive Republican nominee has a long record that needs to be examined. Mr. Obama also made a veiled reference to Trump's role on the reality TV show, "The Apprentice."
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is really serious job. This is not entertainment. This is not a reality show. This is a contest for the presidency of the United States. And what that means is that every candidate, every nominee --
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OBAMA: -- needs to be subject to exacting standards and genuine scrutiny. It means that you got to make sure that their budgets add up.
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HOWELL: The U.S. president also reacted to the ongoing fight on the Democratic side. He points out that Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton agree on many issues. The president says the nomination process should play itself out despite the delegate math.
OBAMA: Bernie Sanders, I think everybody knows what that math is. I think Senator Sanders has done an extraordinary job raising a whole range of issues that are important to Democratic voters as well as the American people, generally.
And I know that at some point there's going to be a conversation between Secretary Clinton and Bernie Sanders about how we move towards the convention.
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HOWELL: The U.S. president there, chiming in on the election cycle.
So in the United States, you have to be at least 18 years old to vote. And it's easy for politicians to discount those who are too young to cast a ballot. But our Kelly Wallace met some teenagers who insist they aren't too young to care.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm too young to vote. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm too young to vote.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I may be too young to vote...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I may be too young to vote...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- but I'm not too young to care about the nation's security and the way our veterans are treated.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not too young to realize that in order for us to rise as a nation we have to rise above discrimination and prejudice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not too young to listen and decide what's best for my future as an American.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not too young to want a moderate president who'll get bipartisan support and unite a divided country.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You want that, really?
Is that even possible?
Is that possible?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Honestly, sometimes, it doesn't seem like it.
WALLACE: Thomas, what did you write?
Too young to vote but not too young to --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To realize that our country is sinking and we desperately need a leader who is willing and able to bring it afloat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm maybe too young to vote but I'm not too young to know that election is more about pushing party agendas than being flexible
to benefit the nation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm maybe too young to vote but I'm not too young to worry about my future as a woman and a student applying to college.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My Uncle Craig, he passed away because of 9/11 He's working in the World Trade Center and I just think we need to focus more
on our nation's security because that shouldn't have happened.
WALLACE: What are your biggest concerns right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just the prejudice going around and all the hate. Make America land of free again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I want to see from the president, the next president probably would be a sign of leadership and every aspect of his
life he shows leadership and will set an example for the rest of the country to follow him as our president, the tough guy.
WALLACE: Or gal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes or gal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are the people who are going to be running the country soon. So you're going to have to start listening to us.
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HOWELL: The hashtag there, #tooyoungtovote.
This is NEWSROOM. Still ahead, Cuba's pristine natural environment and U.S. relations improve with that nation. Well, it's presenting a unique opportunity for anglers. We'll show you some of Cuba's unspoiled fishing waters as CNN NEWSROOM continues.
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HOWELL (voice-over): New York skies are no stranger to the blinking lights of aircraft but this is something different. The lights you see there, those are pigeons swooping across the Big Apple. Thousands of pigeons, strapped with LED lights. It's part of an art show that is called "Fly by Night" that will run every weekend through June 12th, really interesting images there.
But I'll tell you, I don't think you'd want to be under one of those lights, to take shelter there.
As the United States eases its commerce and travel restrictions in Cuba, hundreds of companies are lining up to do business with the island nation. CNN's Patrick Oppmann introduces us to a company planning to offer guided fishing tours and cultural trips to Cuba later this year.
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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is how you get to one of Cuba's best fishing spots. The scenic Adezapata (ph) National Park contains 300,000 hectares of unspoiled natural beauty. Here, there's no development, no pollution and lots of fish. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very few places out there where the resource has absolutely been put first and foremost. And when that happens, the fishing is excellent and Cuba's a perfect example of that.
OPPMANN (voice-over): Water flows into the park from the Bay of Pigs, where in 1961, a U.S.-backed invasion of Cuba failed spectacularly. For five decades, Cuba remained isolated from the U.S. and its unspoiled waters, where off-limits U.S. fishermen.
But as the U.S. and Cuba repaired ties, that's changing. On Friday, Orvis, which says it's the largest fly fishing company in the world, will begin offering trips to the Communist-run island, just 90 miles from the U.S., Cuba could soon become a major fishing destination.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sparks curiosity at this -- sort of a forbidden fruit element to it.
OPPMANN (voice-over): The question now becomes how will the Cuban government manage the increased interest?
The park we're in is a pristine place. Guides say they only let eight people fish in these waters at any one time. The challenge, though, for Cuba is how do you meet the growing demands of the tourism industry and protect unique natural environments like this one?
Cuban guide Felipe Rodriguez (ph) says the area's future as a fishing destination will boost the local economy and provide a reason for people here to safeguard their environment.
FELIPE RODRIGUEZ (PH), FISHING GUIDE: We don't want 100 people fishing in the same spot. We want few people doing well at the same time preserving the area.
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OPPMANN (voice-over): Orvis which does $340 million a year in sales, donates 5 percent of their pretax profits to conservation. Money that will soon go to help preserve Cuba's unique environment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's something that's kind of instilled in us, which is you kind of use a fly rod to find amazing places, amazing species, amazing people. And that's just kind of what the tool has become for all of us.
OPPMANN (voice-over): The company says it practices only catch-and- release fishing so that this untapped resource in Cuba will endure for years to come -- Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Cuba.
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HOWELL: And we close this hour in Los Angeles, with a star-studded tribute for the late musical icon, Prince. Eric Benet, who is married to one of Prince's ex-wives, sang, "I Want to Be Your Lover" on the steps of city hall. The tribute honors Prince's musical genius as well as his philanthropy. The surprise finale performer was one of Prince's closest friends. That's Stevie Wonder singing "Purple Rain." Prince died last month as his estate at the age of 57 years old. Authorities are still investigating his death.
Thank you for being with us this hour. I'm George Howell at the CNN Center in Atlanta. I'll be back after the break with another hour of news from around the world. Thank you for watching CNN.
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