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Trump Pressured to Release Tax Returns; Sanders Yanks Clinton Left; Tensions High in Brazil During Impeachment Debate; More Details in Prince's Death; Woody Allen Called Sexual Predator by Son; Political Upheavals in Iraq after ISIS Bombings; How Will Iraqi Government Protect Against ISIS; North Korea Bringing Forward Defector Families to Prove Abductions; Trump Bashes China but Earns Chinese Respect; Clinton Woos UFO Fringe. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired May 12, 2016 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(HEADLINES)
[02:00:33] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.
ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Errol Barnett. We very much appreciate you joining us. We're your anchor team for the next two hours on CNN NEWSROOM.
CHURCH: Donald Trump is on a mission to build unity with the Republican party while staying true to his brand.
BARNETT: That's right. In the next few hours, he'll be meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan to get that unite thing going, I guess. But just a day ago, the presumptive nominee told "The New York Times" he believes he has a mandate to be provocative. He says the strategy is working for him, so why should he change it?
CHURCH: Meanwhile, an old controversy is dogging his campaign, taxes.
Sara Murray reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump's bucking tradition once again, refusing his tax returns, which he says are still under audit. Trump tells the Associated Press there's nothing to learn from them. And he took to Twitter to add "I told A.P. that my taxes are under routine audit and I would release my tax returns when audit is complete, not after election."
But Trump would be the first nominee since 1976 to keep all his tax info under wraps.
(CHEERING)
MURRAY: The returns shed light on a candidate's effective tax rate, charitable giving, and investment income, all issues that have tripped up politicians in the past. Earlier this year, Trump suggested it was only a matter of months
before he'd release his returns.
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: I have one of the world's most complicated tax returns. It's a massive return. But I will get it done as soon as I can.
MURRAY: Now the billionaire businessman isn't budging. His latest reason, claiming he can't release them because they're under audit.
TRUMP: I will absolutely give my return. But I'm being audited now for two or three years, so I can't do it until the audit is finished, obviously.
While I'm under audit, I'm not going to release any tax returns. No lawyer would let you do that.
MURRAY: It's an excuse some tax experts balked at, saying releasing the returns wasn't likely to cause additional problems. But other experts said it may make sense as a legal strategy to keep his taxes under wraps.
As for the IRS, it says individuals are free to release their own tax information.
Richard Nixon did just that, releasing his returns while he was under audit in the 1970s.
Now Hillary Clinton is seizing on Trump's reluctance to release his returns.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: When you run for president, especially when you become the nominee, that is kind of expected. My husband and I have released 33 years of tax returns. We've got eight years on our website right now.
(APPLAUSE)
CLINTON: So you've got to ask yourself, why doesn't he want to release them?
MURRAY: Trump's resistance is a sharp about-face after he criticized 2012 GOP nominee, Mitt Romney, for failing to release his tax returns sooner.
TRUMP (voice-over): I think that mitt was hurt really very badly by this whole thing with the income tax returns. I believe that he should have either said I'm giving them April 1st or I'm giving them soon.
MURRAY: This year, the tables have turned. And it's Romney questioning what Trump's hiding.
MITT ROMNEY, (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR & FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (voice-over): I predict that there are more bombshells in his tax returns. MURRAY: Even taking to Facebook today to write, "It is disqualifying
for a modern-day presidential nominee to refuse to release tax returns to the voters."
While Trump may never win over Romney, he's still looking to patch things up with Paul Ryan tomorrow on Capitol Hill. Even though the House speaker said he's not quite ready to endorse Trump, he insists he's still pushing for party unity.
REP. PAUL RYAN, (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: What we're trying to do is be as constructive as possible to have a real unification. We just finished probably one of the most grueling primaries in modern history. It's going to take some work, and that's the kind of work we're dedicated to doing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Sara Murray reporting there.
Let's bring in Republican strategist, Luis Alvarado. He is a Latino political and media consultant, joining us live from Los Angeles.
Thank you, sir, for talking with us.
LUIS ALVARADO, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST & LATINO POLITICAL/MEDIA CONSULTANT: Thanks for the invitation.
CHURCH: So Donald Trump set to meet with House Speaker Paul Ryan in the coming hours in an effort to forge some sort of unity within a very divided party. What do you expect will come out of that meeting? Can they patch up their differences?
[02:04:48] ALVARADO: I think if anybody's looking for a Kumbaya moment they're not going to get it. I think it's only the beginning of the dance. There's a lot of things that separate them from ideology from strategy to how they actually implement their messaging. And speaker Ryan has a lot to protect in the upcoming election. And Donald Trump really doesn't care about what happens with the RNC and the candidates in the down ticket ballot. He just wants to win the presidency. There is some patching to do. I don't know if they're going to be able to get there. I think they're basically looking to seem to be working together in the name of the party. So both their objectives can at least start moving forward. But at the end of the day I think it's quite clear that Donald Trump's objectives are not Paul Ryan's and Paul Ryan's objectives as a speaker are not the same as Donald Trump.
CHURCH: Yeah, that seems very clear. What about the issue of Trump's reluctance to release his tax returns? Mitt Romney as we heard, said that would disqualify him and he suggests Trump's hiding a bombshell of some sort of Hillary Clinton of course seized on that point saying she's going to find out why. How bad could this get for Trump, do you think?
ALVARADO: Well, you have to understand when you go run a campaign the objective is to win votes, and when it comes to the primary he already conquered that. He already has his base. Obviously, there are things he has to patch up before they get to the convention. But when it comes to the general election he has to be able to peel off some voters who are independents, voters who are Democrats. And it's up to his opponents to be able to create these mine fields that he's going to have to navigate. And not releasing his taxes creates a question. And there's an old saying where I come from if there's a little bit of smoke mayor there's a little bit of fire somewhere. And if he doesn't put out the fire, if he doesn't get rid of the smoke, then the question will be persisting. It will give the ability of his opponents to be able to corner him and define him as somebody who's actually hiding something from the electorate.
CHURCH: And that's going to be particularly the case since there is actually no reason yes can't -- certainly legally the IRS have said he can certainly release them. Want to ask you as a Republican but also as a Latino, how do you feel about Donald Trump as your party's presumptive presidential nomine nominee? And will you be voting for him in.
ALVARADO: I actually stood at a press conference in Colorado at the presidential debate with many of my fellow Republican leaders who worked very diligently to get closer the Republican party and the Latino community. And we knew from the get-go that Donald Trump did not represent the interests that we wanted the Republican party to have, not just for the Latinos but for the nation. I personally denounced him. I said I would be one of those never Trump, although I say it in Spanish, "Nunca Trump." I will not be voting for him. I will work diligently like many other Republicans in ensuring that other qualified Republicans are supported in a down-ballot ticket and that's what I'll be --
(CROSSTALK)
CHURCH: How's that going to work?
ALVARADO: For example, here in California you have Tom del Beccaro who's a great Republican running for the U.S. Senate. I'm going to make sure that Republicans know that Tom del Beccaro is good for the United States. And there's others Republicans working constituencies that include Latinos and other minorities. They're doing a great job. Governors are doing great jobs. And they're looking at how to separate themselves and their accomplishments from what the Donald Trump message is. So for people who want to build progress you need to look at the candidates and what they've actually delivered for their constituencies. If you have a governor that can prove to his electorate that he's effective or she's effective, then that's what we're hoping the American people find. Democrats who are going to do everything in their power tone sure that America thinks the Republicans are going to stand behind Trump and every Republican is the same as Donald Trump and that couldn't be farther from the truth. I do not stand with Trump, I do not believe in anything he stands for. But I do believe in the Republican party, Republican ideology. And I also believe in working with Democrats when it comes to working and building our country.
CHURCH: Luis Alvarado, not ready to embrace Donald Trump as your nominee. Many thanks to you for joining us. Appreciate it.
ALVARADO: My pleasure.
BARNETT: A very difficult situation he is in, as many others are as well.
Meantime, on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are still battling for the party's nomination.
BARNETT: And that's forcing a bit of a shift on some key issues.
CNN's Tom Foreman explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rapidly closing in on her party's nomination, Hillary Clinton clearly wants to steer toward the middle ground where general elections are won. But Bernie Sanders keeps yanking her left.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I), VERMONT & DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is the future of America, the future of the Democratic party.
(CHEERING)
FOREMAN: The Democratic Socialist from Vermont has won 19 states to Clinton's 23, and he trails in delegates.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Show me what democracy looks like!
FOREMAN: But liberals love him, prompting Donald Trump tweet, "I don't want to hit Crazy Bernie Sanders too hard yet because I love watching what he is doing to Crooked Hillary."
How is she counterpunching? Sanders wants a nationwide increase of the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
CLINTON: I favor a $12 an hour --
[02:10:12] FOREMAN: Last year, she was talking about $12 and encouraging some local governments to maybe make it more. But now listen.
CLINTON: I have supported the fight for $15. I am proud to have the endorsement of most of the unions that have led the fight for $15.
FOREMAN: Sanders has sharply criticized many trade deals that Clinton has supported including the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Now she is dead set against the TPP.
CLINTON: And in looking at it, it didn't meet my standard.
FOREMAN: Sanders raged against the Keystone XL Pipeline as a potential environmental disaster. Clinton stayed mum on it until the campaign heated up, and then she turned it down. And while Clinton has repeatedly said refining the Affordable Care Act
is the best plan for health care, Sanders has pushed for a government- backed single payer system. And just this week, she took a step his way.
CLINTON: I'm also in favor of what's called the public option, so that people can buy into Medicare above a certain age.
FOREMAN: Exit polls show Sanders has significantly outperformed her in winning over white men and young people, suggesting, in addition to her policies, she may need to adjust her approach to some voters.
(on camera): Like it or not, all of this might just be smart politics. A study by Pew has found that over the past 15 years, the number of Democrats who call themselves moderate or conservative has been in decline, while those who call themselves liberals are now the dominant faction in the party.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Australian officials say two pieces of debris are almost certainly from Malaysia Airlines flight 370.
BARNETT: They were found on beaches in South Africa and Mauritius back in march. One piece is an engine cowling that shows part of the Rolls-Royce logo. You see it here.
CHURCH: And the other is an interior panel that came from the main cabin. The discoveries were made two years after the plane disappeared on a flight from Kuala Lumpur.
BARNETT: Now, another big story we're following. Tensions are high in Brazil. We could be just hours away now from learning if President Dilma Rousseff will have to step down, at least temporarily.
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(SHOUTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Police rained tear gas there on protesters outside the Senate. This, as lawmakers debated Rousseff's future. A vote is expected, as we mentioned, in the coming hours on this.
CHURCH: And we're watching out for this. We're looking at a live shot here at the proceedings in Brasilia. It's just after 3:00 in the morning there. Published reports say most Senators plan to vote for a trial.
Shasta Darlington has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brazil's Senate has been gathered all day and into the night for a crucial vote that will decide the fate of President Dilma Rousseff. If a majority votes in favor of an impeachment trial, she'll be forced to step down for 180 days to defend herself.
And while the speeches have gone on longer than expected, each Senator given 15 minutes and many going over, it is widely expected that that impeachment trial will be approved and Rousseff will be stepping down on thursday, replaced by her vice president, Michel Temer. This, again, will happen at some point during the day thursday. He'll be in a hurry to appoint a finance minister and other economic staff to prove to markets and investors that he's going to get the economy back on track.
Unfortunately, for him, he'll face a lot of the same challenges and problems that Rousseff has so far failed to overcome, a deep recession and frustration over widespread corruption.
Shasta Darlington, CNN, Brasilia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: So what will happen next here?
Joining us from Los Angeles with a bit more insight is UCLA Professor Octavio Pescador.
Thanks for staying up late and joining us, Professor.
We do expect the impeachment to be approved by the Senate, if you look at what the Senators have already told us and what the local papers are reporting. But Dilma Rousseff is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Brazil's economic issues. How likely, then, is this to be a real turning point for the country?
OCTAVIO PESCADOR, PROFESSOR, UCLA: Well, it will be a turning point in terms of the rule of law. There's been ample cases. In fact, folks who are involved in this investigation and challenging President Rousseff are under investigation themselves. The head of the lower chamber was ousted from the process because of corruption accusation. Interestingly, Rousseff herself has not been accused of corruption but of a responsibility rule that she broke in terms of trying to cover up the budget deficit she had. And interestingly, if you see the timeline of these events, the key catalyst has been the crisis that the Petrobras corruption scandal uncovered in terms of every single party involved. And so if anything positive is to come out of this -- because remember, the price of oil is still in the '40s. It's come up over the last 48 hours. You know, 3 percent. So it may be that the vice president, when he takes over, almost certainly within the next few hours will find a better situation. But in terms of the overall global panorama it's not going to be that easy. So if something positive comes out of it --
[02:15:49] BARNETT: Yeah, and you wonder who will bring that reform then, if no one's hands are clean? It does seem as though markets rally each time the impeachment process moves forward. But Michel Temer himself has been named by witnesses in the Petrobras scandal. He's not been investigated. But is he really the savior the country needs?
PESCADOR: No, certainly not. As I said, this is a lame-duck administration either way, either Rousseff at the helm, or the vice president, but the situation is not going to improve or not. What will improve, and that's the expectation, although this transition or forced transition may be a way to cover other cases and additional information and provide this impunity. There's a current Senator that was -- currently in Brazil, a congressman cannot be tried except for the Supreme Court. Some of them have been found guilty, but through the appeals process are still in office and have not been ousted. So in a sense, if something positive can come out of this, it will be a change in that the movement of the youth that started in 2013 with the price of buses and transportation and then was moved into the transparency contingents will continue to grow. That you can be sure of.
BARNETT: The issue is certainly larger than one person. We'll continue to watch the Senate here in these next few hours.
Octavio Pescador, UCLA professor, joining us from L.A. Thanks so much for your time today.
PESCADOR: It's a pleasure.
CHURCH: Investigators want to know how Prince obtained painkillers. How a search warrant could provide new clues into the singer's death. We'll have that in just a moment.
Stay with us.
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(SPORTS REPORT)
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[02:21:29] BARNETT: We are learning more about the investigation into the death of music legend, Prince.
CHURCH: Officials want to know how Prince obtained the painkillers that were found in his home. The focus is now on his inner circle, including his doctors.
Our Sara Sidner reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)
911 DISPATCHER: Rescue needed for a medical at Paisley Park. Person down, not breathing.
(END AUDIO FEED) SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That was the 911 dispatcher sending paramedics to Prince compound the day he died. Now new details have emerged about that day, and the days leading up to Prince's death.
The details revealed in a search warrant published by the "L.A. Times" and "Star Tribune."
(on camera): The search warrant request was filed May 6th and eventually served on this medical center, which is about 23 miles from Prince's Paisley Park compound. In it, it asks for any and all of Prince's medical records.
(voice-over): Dr. Michael Todd Schulenberg, shown here in an unrelated video on YouTube, worked at the facility and was treating Prince. A detective notes Dr. Schulenberg said he did prescribe Prince medications and the prescriptions were to be filled at Walgreen's. The warrant says the doctor saw Prince on April 7th and April 20th, the day before Prince died. And it states that Dr. Schulenberg was actually at Prince's Paisley Park compound to drop off test results the day Prince's body was discovered in an elevator.
(on camera): We checked on Dr. Schulenberg's medical license, and there were no complaints against him. It was clean. We also called North Memorial Medical Center to try and talk to him. But we were told by a spokesperson that he no longer works here.
(voice-over): So far, no one has been charged in this case but the investigation is still going full throttle. On Tuesday, the DEA and sheriff's deputies were back inside the Paisley Park compound, executing another search.
Sara Sidner, CNN, Chanhassen, Minnesota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Health officials in the U.S. are battling a growing epidemic of painkiller overdoses. Around 75 percent of the world's prescription drugs are consumed in the U.S.
BARNETT: Which is just incredible.
CNN hosted a special town hall on prescription drug abuse to shed a light on this terrible addiction. Doctors, experts, and opioid recovering addicts joined the conversation. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, A.C. 360: Ray Lucas is here with us. Ray's a former NFL quarterback who at one point was taking -- get this -- up to 1,400 opioid pills a month. Is that right?
RAY LUCAS, FORMER NFL QUARTERBACK: Yeah, that's correct.
COOPER: That's incredible.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUCAS: Yeah, it started from a football injury. Didn't have insurance. 300 turns into 600. Before I knew it 1,400 pills a month. And I was doing TV at the time, doing all the Jets stuff. I was a functioning addict.
COOPER: You could function?
LUCAS: Functioning addict. The day before I would go on TV, I would stop taking the pills, do the show, and I could swear as soon as my producer was in my ear saying five, four, the pain would rush back. So I would go downstairs and I would take 15 pills right away. And before I got in my truck to go home -- and I only live in Jersey, coming from New York. I would take 15 more pills. I mean, at my worst I had taken 80 a day at one point. 40 a day. I mean, this was my life. And the funniest thing about -- I won MVP that year. In reality. This is what I did on a daily basis for a year. Bankrupt my family. Put my wife and kids through hell.
And I tell my story, and I'm not ashamed because I think opiates have changed the face of what people think are addicts. I'm an eightier NFL veteran, graduated from Rutgers University, but I'm an addict, and I will always be that way. So again --
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Even now that you're not using, you still --
(CROSSTALK)
LUCAS: Oh, 100 percent. And I don't wear it like I'm supposed to be ashamed of it, because I survived. I overcame my addiction and I tell my story so people know out you can overcome your addiction.
[02:25:18] COOPER: It's incredible. I think a lot of people don't think about a functioning addict.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Yeah.
Ray, it's good to see you. You look well. But I think you'd probably agree you had windows where you were functioning.
LUCAS: Like I said, the day before, stopped take the pills. Soon as the show was over for the next three days before my next show, 40 a day, 50 a day easy.
GUPTA: But the rest of the time, there's denial. There's probably hiding of pills, things like that.
LUCAS: The funniest thing with me was I used to walk past the mirror. Being a quarterback, we really like to look good and be sexy and stuff. But I couldn't shave because the guy I looked at in the mirror wasn't the guy I knew.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Just stunning.
CHURCH: Wow.
BARNETT: Don't forget, you can see the entire special town hall "Prescription Addiction: Made in the USA." Join Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Anderson Cooper at noon in London, 7:00 p.m. in Hong Kong, for those of you watching CNN International. CHURCH: All right. We go to France now. And film director Woody
Allen's romantic comedy "Cafe Society" premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. That's him posing with some of the stars of the film, including Blake Lively and Jesse Eisenberg.
BARNETT: While the festival kicked off in France Wednesday, Woody Allen's estranged son was condemning the media for its handling of sexual abuse allegations against the filmmaker. Ronan Farrow says the media's not pressed his father enough over decades-old abuse allegations made by Allen's adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow.
CHURCH: In a "Hollywood Reporter" opinion piece, he writes, "Tonight, the Cannes Film Festival kicks off with a new Woody Allen film." He'll have his stars at his side. They can trust the press won't ask them tough questions. That kind of silence isn't just wrong, it's dangerous. It sends a message to victims that it's not worth the anguish to come forward."
BARNETT: Earlier on CNN, we asked an executive for the "Hollywood Reporter" why she thinks Woody Allen's received a pass from the media.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALLISON BROWER, DEPUTY EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: The industry does revere its great artists. And I think that's also true of Woody Allen. There are many, many film fans who have e-mailed us and e-mailed Ronan and probably contacted Woody's team as well. I haven't seen his films since 2014. I won't do it. But in Hollywood, people are still absorbed in the craft and they do revere the work, and sometimes very often there is a compartmentalization, a separation of those things. Although again, increasingly in this world of social media, the personal and the professional are not as easy to divide. And while Woody Allen wasn't asked those questions today at Cannes, everyone noted that those questions weren't asked.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: More of the world's biggest stories still to come. After an especially violent day at the hands of ISIS terrorists, Iraqis are demanding more from their government.
Stay with CNN.
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[02:31:22] BARNETT: A warm welcome back to those of you watching here in the states and everyone tuned in from around the world. I'm Errol Barnett.
CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church.
It is that time, time to check the stories we've been following this hour.
(HEADLINES)
BARNETT: Iraqis are demanding answers from their government a day after a series of deadly attacks. The bombings killed at least 93 people in Baghdad on Wednesday.
CHURCH: Jim Sciutto reports political upheaval there is making it easy for terror groups like ISIS to thrive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the bloodiest single day in Baghdad in months. Here, the smoke still rising moments after a suicide attack on a checkpoint killed 12. Earlier, the deadliest strike of the day. More than 60 killed at a busy market in a Shiite neighborhood. Blood soaking the pavement. Cars reduced to smoldering hulks. ISIS quickly claimed responsibility for the bloodshed.
The attack sparked renewed anger from Iraqis already deeply distrustful of their government.
(SHOUTING)
SCIUTTO: Today's violence coming just days after angry crowds stormed government headquarters inside the capitol's heavily fortified Green Zone --
(SHOUTING)
SCIUTTO: -- protesting corruption.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Many people were killed, and you can see blood everywhere. There were poor people who were here to earn a living. Why did this happen? Can this corrupt government tell us why? The people are dying because of this government.
(SHOUTING)
SCIUTTO: Today, the White House blamed the ongoing political struggle in the deeply divided Iraqi government for undermining Iraqi efforts to fight ISIS.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The United States government has been of the strongly held view that the Iraqi government is more likely to be successful in securing the country if they can succeed in uniting that country to face down the threat. That's what Prime Minister Abadi has tried to do.
(EXPLOSION)
SCIUTTO: The attacks come as the terror group has suffered devastating losses on the battlefield.
(GUNFIRE)
SCIUTTO: U.S. coalition and Iraqi security forces have driven ISIS out of more than 40 percent of its territory --
(EXPLOSION)
SCIUTTO: -- including once-important power centers in Ramadi and Hitt.
(GUNFIRE)
SCIUTTO: The result, says the U.S. military, is an ISIS that is less capable of large-scale operations on the battlefield.
UNIDENTIFIED U.S. MAJOR GENERAL: It's much smaller groups really attempting to in my mind stay relevant and to put pressure, really to try to fix the Iraqi security forces from continuing to move.
SCIUTTO: Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And Jomana Karadsheh joins us now from Amman, Jordan.
Jomana, losses on the battlefield for ISIS, clearly not affecting their capability to attack with deadly force. What's the Iraqi government planning to do to protect its citizens from more strikes like this, even though they're in the midst of this political turmoil?
[02:35:11] JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, I think we might see what we have seen in the past following other similar devastating attacks. After all, violence has become the norm in Iraq, attacks like this that happen over and over again. And in the aftermath of these attacks, you see Iraqi officials bringing in security officials, questioning them, firing officials, increasing security. But that really doesn't stop these attacks from happening, and that loss of life that we continue to see in Iraq.
And as you mentioned, ISIS still has that ability despite losing ground, despite some of the losses that we have seen in recent months whether in Iraq or Syria. It still possesses the ability to carry out these high-profile coordinated and complex attacks, whether like this one that we saw, these three attacks that we saw in Baghdad on Wednesday, or like we saw last week, those attacks that carried out in northern Iraq, complex coordinated ones.
Iraqis here would be expecting their politicians to be providing more, Rosemary. As you know, in Iraq politics and security are really so closely intertwined and whatever happens on the political scene is really reflected on the ground and the security situation. So to really weaken ISIS and to go after the group they need to be doing more than the fight on the battlefield. More needs to happen on the politics scene, Rosemary, something that hasn't happened so far.
CHURCH: Yeah. And that is certainly what people there in Iraq want to see.
It is 9:36 there in the morning in Amman, Jordan. Talking to Jomana Karadsheh, bringing us up to date on that situation. Many thanks.
Well, North Korean officials are making an extraordinary propaganda move, bringing forward the relatives of 13 defectors to try to prove they were abducted and forcibly taken to South Korea.
BARNETT: The defectors were working at a North Korean restaurant in China when they fled, en masse, to South Korea last month, you may remember.
Now their relatives are speaking exclusively to Will Ripley.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, Errol, it is highly likely these families received some sort of media instruction before the government brought them here to our hotel in Pyongyang for these media interviews. But I can tell you sitting across from them, looking into their eyes, the heartbreak they're feeling is real.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
RIPLEY (voice-over): The final gift from a daughter who disappeared.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
RIPLEY: Ri Ji Ye (ph), seen here smiling as she left North Korea to work in China, saved up to buy her newborn nephew a present.
Ri's (ph) mother says, "When she got our letter that Li Song (ph) was born, she sent this coat and shoes. She said she wanted to see him."
They don't have Facebook here. Before they could mail this picture, this one emerged. Ri (ph) and 12 other restaurant workers in South Korea. The government says all defected willingly. Abandoning this North Korean state-owned restaurant in China, now closed.
North Korea says agents from the south lied, tricking the group into thinking they were going to another state-owned restaurant in Malaysia.
Government officials brought three families to tell their stories in a Pyongyang hotel.
"This is an abduction, a kidnapping," says the mother of waitress, Ri Bom (ph).
(on camera): A lot of people might think it doesn't seem likely that a whole group could be abducted. Is it possible that they left voluntarily?
(voice-over): "How can they say my sister went to South Korea?"
She says they talked about all the new clothes her sister was buying in China and promised to bring some home.
"I never want to believe our daughter went there," says the father of waitress, So Byong Ah (ph).
Ironically, his job is to train citizens working abroad. They bring the North Korean government $1 to $2 billion dollars a year, according to a U.N. report last year.
Each family believes their daughters in South Korea are in solitary confinement, on hunger strike, nearly dead. They say relevant authorities told them.
"Our loving, loving daughter is in a life or death situation," he says.
The South Korean Unification Ministry says the claims that they are in solitary confinement and on hunger strike are completely untrue. South Korea also says they also cannot grant a request from the North Korean families to meet with their daughters, a request they also made to the U.N. Human Rights Commission. South Korea again saying, quote, "They defected on their own free will."
All 13 will stay in South Korean Unification Ministry custody for several months. Time, the government says, is needed to adjust.
"My loving daughter. Let me go to my loving daughter."
A heartbreaking plea made countless times before on the divided Korean peninsula.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:40:07] (on camera): And despite the fact those young women are maybe 121 miles, less than 200 kilometers from where I'm standing right now, they might as well be 10,000 miles or more because once they cross that border into South Korea they automatically renounce their North Korean citizenship and it is now officially a crime for them to have direct contact with their families here. Why is the government putting them forward now? Perhaps because after a weekend where Kim Jong-Un was trying to project unity and strength after his promotion to chairman during the seventh party Congress, this humiliating apparent mass defection is not the image that the supreme leader and his party are trying to present to the world -- Rosemary, Errol?
CHURCH: Thanks so much, Will.
We'll take a very short break here. But still to come, Donald Trump has plenty of harsh words for China, but his fans there, they don't care. The reason for Trump's appeal. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARNETT: Surely, you know by now, Donald Trump, the U.S. Republican presidential front runner, has hammered China repeatedly during his campaign. CHURCH: But his tough talk appears to have actually earned him some
loyal fans there.
Matt Rivers reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[02:44:40] DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: We can't continue to allow China to rape our country. And that's what they're doing. It's the greatest theft in the history of the world.
MATT RIVERS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR (voice-over): Tough talk about trade from the Republican presumptive nominee against one of his top targets, yet, here in China, there is respect and even admiration for Donald Trump.
QU YU (ph), CHINESE RESIDENT: I think Donald Trump have the guts to say everything that normal people in the rest of society fear to say.
RIVERS: Qu Yu (ph) is a young Chinese tech entrepreneur, part of a vocal group of Chinese fans of the billionaire businessman.
One social media user on China's Twitter equivalent, Weibo, says, "Hillary Clinton just makes empty promises while Trump is the king of doing what he says."
Another calls him "sharp and pragmatic."
One person even said they'd vote for him "because he is so handsome."
(SINGING)
RIVERS: A face Chinese audiences got to know from his days on "Celebrity Apprentice," a hit here in China.
TRUMP: You're fired.
RIVERS (on camera): From TV to books, Trump's best-seller "The Art of the Deal" in Mandarin, is found in bookstores across Beijing. His success as a businessman is no doubt part of his appeal as a politician. Some Chinese see a rich billionaire and want to be just like him.
(voice-over): Like the owner of Trump Consulting, a Chinese real estate firm named after the candidate himself. The irony? The owner tells CNN, "Donald Trump is a political clown, but I wouldn't change my name for that. He's a real estate tycoon after all."
His feelings on Trump, the politician, shared by the media here. In March, the state-run newspaper, the "Global Times," called Trump "a rich narcissist" and "a clown" for statements like this.
TRUMP: Negotiating with China. When these people walk in the room, they don't say, oh, hello, how's the weather, so beautiful outside. They say, "We want deal." RIVERS: Even with all the bluster, Trump Tower is still a popular
destination for tourists from mainland China and Taiwan visiting New York City.
UNIDENTIFIED CHINESE TOURIST: He's like a superstar, you know.
UNIDENTIFIED CHINESE TOURIST: Everybody like Trump. So I came to see. I wish that Trump would wave.
RIVERS: Still, not everyone is a fan.
UNIDENTIFIED CHINESE TOURIST: If he become the president, I have a little bit scared.
RIVERS: The Chinese, just like many Americans, with no shortage of opinions on Donald Trump.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Scared, some thrilled.
Matt Rivers joins us now from Beijing.
So, Matt, it's hard for a lot of people to grasp, but after all Trump has said about China he has fans there willing to tell the world how they feel about him. How hard was it to track some of them down?
RIVERS: Rosemary, the logical thing, right, like you said, you would think most people won be big fans of him here, given his negative comments, but there are fans here. It does take a little hunting. You go online and kind of go through the social media groups to see who you can find. But there are people out there. It didn't take us too long.
One thing we were able to find that I'd just like to show you is this T-shirt, though. This is more evidence that there are fans here in China. That says "Trump 2016." It's a terrible T-shirt. But it is made here in China, and perhaps more interestingly, it is only shipped here in China. We don't know how many people are buying this T-shirt but we do know they have sold some.
So there may not be a lot of fans, but there are a few.
CHURCH: Still intriguing.
Matt Rivers, joining us live from Beijing. Always a pleasure to chat with you.
BARNETT: Terrible T-shirt? Some people might see it as stylish. I don't know.
CHURCH: Clearly. I mean, there is demand. There's supply and demand.
BARNETT: Now, presidential candidates try not to alienate voters, right? But one in particular is appealing to the voting demo that chases flying saucers. This is for real. How Hillary Clinton is wooing the UFO fringe, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:52:29] CHURCH: U.S. presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, has some down-to-earth plans for what's called the most powerful nation on the planet.
BARNETT: But a certain voting group hopes she'll also be gazing at the stars and finally reveal the truth out there.
As Jeanne Moos reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Since the 2016 campaign has seemed a little alien, you might as well discuss the UFO vote because UFOs and the secretive Air Force Base, Area 51, keep coming up. For instance, at Wednesday's White House briefing.
EARNEST: I have to admit I don't have a tab in my briefing book for Area 51 today.
MOOS: And Hillary Clinton has been answering UFO questions.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: There are enough stories that I don't think everybody is just sitting in their kitchen making them up.
MOOS: Answering them so well, she's sounding like an expert.
CLINTON: And you know, there's a new name. It's unexplained aerial phenomenon.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Unexplained aerial phenomenon, really?
CLINTON: Yeah. UAP.
MOOS: Actually, it's unidentified aerial phenomena. UAP is meant to better describe and put some distance between it and the sometimes ridiculed UFO.
Hillary has said she would try to open government files. She told the Conway, New Hampshire Sun, "I think we may have been visited already. We don't know for sure."
So for many UFO believers worldwide --
(on camera): Who is the best candidate from your point of view?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, Hillary is definitely. No question. It's nice that they are making the subject respectable. But I also know that presidents don't always gain access to stuff that they're interested in.
MOOS (voice-over): Many moons ago, the "Weekly World News" mocked Hillary with its alien baby cover.
Her current campaign chairman, John Podesta, is a long-time proponent of opening government files.
JOHN PODESTA, CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN, HILLARY CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: The American people can handle the truth.
MOOS: Some self-described E.T. hunters oppose Hillary.
UNIDENTIFIED UFO HUNTER: My candidate is Donald Trump because he's not a politician.
MOOS: UFOlogists, who prefer Hillary, worry.
UNIDENTIFIED UFOOLOGIST: I'm waiting for Donald Trump to get around to saying oh, she believes in flying saucers.
MOOS: Maybe the aliens are looking for signs of intelligent life on our campaign trail.
Jeanne Moos, CNN --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you believe?
CLINTON: I don't know.
MOOS: -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Intriguing.
Now, here's a flying object we have identified. It is the world's largest aircraft, and it's on a rare flight. The Ukrainian-built cargo jet is making its first long-distance journey this year from Kiev to Perth, Australia.
[02:54:56] CHURCH: It has stopped in the Czech Republic and will also go to Turkmenistan, India and Malaysia. The jumbo jet's maximum total weight at takeoff is 640 tons. That's more than twice as heavy as the Statue of Liberty, in case you were wondering.
OK. Instagram getting a makeover. The popular photo and video sharing app showing off its updated icon on Wednesday. The new look is on the left. Instagram's familiar symbol on the right. Well, that is ancient history.
BARNETT: Now, the way that users navigate the app won't be changed. Instagram says its users share more than 80 million photos and videos per day. I'm on there as Errol's Window.
What are you on there as, Rosie?
CHURCH: Just Rosemary Church.
(CROSSTALK)
BARNETT: We asked all of you what do you think of this new logo? Because some online have been up in arms. Here are some of your responses.
David wrote on Twitter, "Looks like a one-eyed pig."
CHURCH: Alan writes, "It makes me want to delete all forms of social media."
And this one I love. Brian asked, "What's Instagram"?
(LAUGHTER)
BARNETT: Catch up, Brian. We're all on there with the great pics.
CHURCH: So much for popular, right?
Well, remember, you can always follow us on social media anytime.
I'm Rosemary Church.
BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett.
Stay with us. Live reports from Syria, Jordan, and the U.K., are after this short break.
CHURCH: Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:07] BARNETT: Firestorm. Donald Trump says he won't release his tax returns, at least not yet, leaving critics to ask, what is he hiding.
