Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Protests Erupt after Rousseff Impeachment Vote in Brazile; Zika Virus Prompts Calls to Postpone or Move Olympics; Republicans Closer to Party Unity; Confronting a Convicted Jihadi Recruiter in Belgium; Inside Look at North Korean Regime; Information on Potential Involvement of Saudi Citizens in 9/11 Attacks; Nigerian President Says U.K.'s Cameron Right on Corruption in Nigeria; Russia Flexing Its Military Muscle; Columnist Dana Milbank Eats His Words on Trump. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired May 13, 2016 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(HEADLINES)
[02:00:34] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to our viewers around the world. These stories are coming up this hour. We're live in Atlanta. Thanks for joining outside CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen.
Brazil's new interim president faces a tough road ahead as he navigates the country through the upcoming Olympics and the devastating Zika crisis. Now Michel Temer is facing protests, too. Demonstrators set fires in the streets on Thursday after the Senate voted to begin an impeachment trial of President Dilma Rousseff. Some of her reporters chained themselves to the presidential palace in Brasilia.
CNN's Shasta Darlington is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A marathon session with a decisive outcome. Senators voted 55-22 in favor of launching an impeachment trial against President Dilma Rousseff. That means she's stepping down for up to six months to defend herself in that trial. It also means she won't be presiding over the Olympic Games when they kick off in august. But Rousseff came out swinging and she accused those involved in this process of staging nothing more than a coup d'etat.
DILMA ROUSSEFF, IMPEACHED BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): I am the victim of a great injustice. Those who did not manage to get to the government through the direct vote of the people, those that lost the elections, trying now by force to get to the power. This coup is based on irresponsible reasons because the acts that I have committed, they have accused me of, are pure acts of government. They were also performed by all the presidents before me. If it wasn't a crime before, it's not a crime now.
DARLINGTON: Thursday, Vice President Michel Temer steps in as interim president at the presidential palace behind me. He introduced his new cabinet. One detail, for the first time since the late 1970s, there are no women on it. He also addressed the nation.
MICHEL TEMER, BRAZILIAN VICE PRESIDENT: (through translation): My first words to the Brazilian people is reliability. Relay the values that form the character of our people, the vitality of our democracy, trust, trust in the recovery of the national economy, the potential of our country --
(APPLAUSE)
TEMER: -- In all our economic and social institutions, in the capacity of united we can face the challenges that we have ahead of us.
DARLINGTON: Temer faces many of the same challenges that really humbled President Rousseff, a dire recession with no end in sight, as well as a deepening corruption probe that has already engulfed dozens of politicians in many of the political parties. He has a short window to prove to Brazilians he's going to do something about it.
Shasta Darlington, CNN, Brasilia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Brazil's interim president has appointed a new sports minister, the country's third in just two months. The International Olympic Committee says the games won't be influenced much by the regime change because much of the planning is already done. Ticket sales though have been slow and Brazilian soccer legend, Ribaldo, warned visitors to stay away because of the violence in Rio de Janeiro.
A Canadian professor of public health and law says Brazil should either postpone or move the Olympics because of the Zika Virus.
Amir Attaran spoke with CNN's Jake Tapper.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMIR ATTARAN, PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH & LAW, UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA: The Brazilian government itself says there are no parts of Brazil with a higher number of Zika cases than Rio de Janeiro state. Rio is the top of the list for Zika cases. It's the heart of this epidemic. And that epidemic has already caused an epidemic of children being born with small heads, with brain damage. Brazil is right now investigating 7,000 cases of these children being born with small heads and potentially brain damage because of Zika. Do we need 500,000 tourists into Rio, the heart of the epidemic, potentially becoming infected, then going home and taking that virus with them? Because that's the seed for other epidemics elsewhere.
[02:05:15] JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, THE LEAD: Do you think your proposal, sir, is realistic? And what are the odds do you think that it will be your -- your advice will be taken? ATTARAN: It's totally realistic. You can easily move the games to
other venues. You could also postpone the games by year. There's precedent for this. The schedule of the Winter Olympics was shifted. And it's always the case that an Olympics may have to be juggle the somehow. Imagine the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. You could have had an earthquake the day before and then you'd have to go to Plan B. So there's always a Plan B. The question is really, it's an ethical one, is it worth having the games in Rio when you can have perfectly good games somewhere else, or just delay your pleasure a little bit, delay gratification. So as not to run the horrible risk of an outbreak of, I hate to say it, shrunken-brained babies. Because that's what we're dealing with. We also now know Zika is related to an adult condition called Gallium-Barre Syndrome that can in rare cases be fatal and we're seeing Zika deaths now. Is it worth run this risk --
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: You've had some harsh words for the International Olympic Committee and the World Health Organization. You say they are "in deep denial." We reached out to IOC to get a response to counter criticism: "We are working with our partners in Rio on measures to deal with the pools of stagnant water around the Olympic venues where the mosquitoes breed to minimize the risk of visitors coming into contact with them."
I assume you don't think that's enough?
ATTARAN: You notice IOC is not saying, we're going to eliminate the risk. Notice they're not saying that I'm wrong. Today the World Health Organization came out with new advice, the very first time the WHO has ever said anything about Zika and the Olympics was today. And that advice says, avoid crowded places and avoid places where sanitation is bad. You don't think the Olympics are crowded or that the slums of Rio have bad sanitation, do you? That's half the city. And that's describing the Olympics.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Dr. Attaran speaking with our Jake Tapper.
Here are other guidelines from the World Health Organization. It's urging travelers to use insect repellent and wear light-covered clothes that cover as much of the body as possible. Visitors are also encouraged to practice safe sex during their stay in Rio and for at least four weeks upon return. Zika can be transferred via sex partner. Travelers should also choose air-conditioned accommodation.
After weeks of political sniping, Donald Trump and U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan say they are laying the groundwork to unite their fractured party. Both men emerged from their long-awaited meeting on Thursday signaling they want to work together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: I think he's doing a good job. He's got, not an easy job. I don't mind going through a slow process. It's a very big subject and we have a lot of things. And I think for the most part we agree on a lot of different items and we're getting there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Trump also courted other Republican leaders in Washington, as we learned from CNN's Jim Acosta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(CHANTING)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was as expected a circus. As Donald Trump came to Washington in search of a GOP big tent large enough to hold his renegade campaign and the party establishment he hopes to win over.
REP. PAUL RYAN, (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I thought he was a very good personality, a very warm and genuine person.
ACOSTA: First up, house speaker Paul Ryan who is still holding back his endorsement of Trump, but as he hinted, perhaps not for long.
RYAN: I think this is going in a positive direction and I think this is a first very encouraging meeting. Again in 45 minutes you don't litigate all the processes and all the issues and principles that we are talking about.
ACOSTA: Trump shied away from the media scrums but tweeted, "Great day in D.C. with Speaker Ryan and Republican leadership. Things working out really well."
But Kumbaya on the capitol it was not. While aides say their meeting was not heated, Ryan indicated they remain split on critical issues.
RYAN: There are policy disputes we will have. There's no two ways about it.
ACOSTA: When Trump ventured to the Senate side of the capitol, there were more reasons for optimism, but also disagreements. Trump tweeted his meeting with Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, was great, but Texas Senator John Cornyn told reporters he confronted Trump on his rhetoric on immigration.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN, (R), TEXAS: There is a way to talk about these issues that people don't find offensive but yet still make the point that we're all for security borders.
[02:10:07] ACOSTA: All day long, Democrats eager to take back control of Congress were out to exploit the GOP's divisions. Pro- immigration groups delivered taco bowls to members of Congress to mock Trump's Cinco de Mayo tweet about his love for Mexican food and Hispanics.
Senate minority leader, Harry Reid, went further. SEN. HARRY REID, (D-NV), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: Since Republican leaders are all in for Donald Trump, we can only assume he approves Trump calling immigrants rapist and murders. Since Senator McConnell has so enthusiastically embraced Trump we can only assume he agrees with Trump's view that women are dogs and pigs.
ACOSTA (on camera): But the Trump campaign is feeling better after this Capitol Hill primary. Ryan's endorsement was never expected on this day, one Trump aide told me. And another official said that endorsement is a matter of time, adding, "He's not expected to jump on board right away as he has a lot of members to appease."
Jim Acosta, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Hezbollah says one of its top military commanders has been killed in Syria. The group says Mustapha Badder Adin (ph) died near the Damascus Airport. A U.N. special tribunal charged him for his suspected role in the bombing that killed four Lebanese Prime Minister Rafeeq Hari in 2005. The U.S. and Israel consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization. The group is fighting on the side of the Syrian regime.
A convicted jihadi recruiter is walking free in Belgium. Ahead here, we go there to track him down and find out why he's not in prison.
Also, a man known for a controversial shooting that left a Florida teen dead wants to sell his gun to the highest bidder. But is George Zimmerman having any luck with that? That's also ahead.
Much more CNN NEWSROOM as we push on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(SPORTS REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:15:57] ALLEN: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. ISIS claims responsibility for yet another deadly attack in the Iraqi capitol. On Thursday, two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a police station in Baghdad's Abu Ghraib district. The attack killed three officers and wounded ten others. That same day, angry Iraqis marched after more than 90 people died in three separate bombings on Wednesday. It was the deadliest day in Iraq this year. The demonstrators say the government has not done enough to protect them.
People in Brussels are asking, what if, as details emerge from an inquiry into March's terror attacks. 47 minutes went by between the time officials said the airport blast was a terrorist attack and when an alert went out to shut down the Brussels metro. Federal police sent an e-mail ordering metro's closure nearly 20 minutes later but it went to the wrong address. Four minutes after that, a terrorist blew himself up at station at the Metro. 32 people died in the two bombings. A jihadist recruiter linked to the network behind those attacks is
walking free. In this exclusive report, CNN's Erin McLaughlin tracked down that man and talked with the mother of a teenager he recruited who later died in Syria.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Photos from this teenager's 18th birthday, a family trip to celebrate, one of his mother's happiest memories before he went to Syria.
UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER (through translation): We don't know what's happened in Syria but we are sure what's happened with us when he was here.
MCLAUGHLIN: Eight months after that trip, she says her son became radicalized. He sent her a Facebook message to let her know he was in Syria. Then came a chilling phone call.
UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER (through translation): The Syrian guy said, "Congratulations, your son just died as a martyr." Then he hung himself.
She said her son was the happiest of her children. She didn't know the most dangerous jihadist recruitment network in Belgium had approached her son.
The network is made up of veteran jihadis and recruiters.
(SHOUTING)
MCLAUGHLIN: Some would go on to carry out the terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels. Authorities have prosecuted more than 60 recruiters and foreign fighters, but one of them was Rufla. Because there's no proof of death, Rufla was still convicted. His recruiters were also declared guilty. As you see here, the judge allowed them to walk free pending their appeal.
CNN tracked down one of the recruiters to his home address.
(on camera): This is the neighborhood of one of the recruiters convicted alongside Rufla. Rufla's mother says her son called him from Syria pleading. Rufla wanted to come home. The recruiter said no. We're here to ask him why.
(voice-over): We ring the doorbell. His mother answers. She screams at us to leave her alone.
As we walk away, the recruiter appears and confronts us. His words are not welcoming. He refuses to talk to us on camera.
Belgian authorities tell CNN they have not notified residents that a convicted jihadist recruiter is living in their midst.
We saw a teenaged boy entering the same apartment building. The president of Brussels tribunal says in Belgium it's not unusual
for a criminal to go free while they're waiting for appeal if they're not considered a flight risk.
(on camera): How is it a convicted member of a terrorist organization sentenced to seven years in prison is allowed to walk free after his trial?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): The judge has said this man's behavior was good throughout the trial and this decision of the judge needs to be respected.
[02:20:06] MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): For Rufla's mother, the fact that her son's recruiters are free while he's dead too is much. She says it's as if he's died twice.
UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER (through translation): I don't really believe in human justice. But in God justice. And he will pay. Not here. But by God. And I just want to tell him that my son didn't have a second chance, like him.
MCLAUGHLIN: Erin McLaughlin, CNN, Brussels.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Ben Ali founded Save Belgium, a nonprofit that fights radicalization in the country in the wake of her son's death.
George Zimmerman of Florida is having trouble selling the handgun he purportedly used in the killing of the unarmed American teenager Trayvon Martin four years ago. Two online auction houses stopped the sale of the firearm, one because it didn't want the negative publicity, the second saying the sale was not in its best interests. Now that site tells CNN it will make a final decision about a possible sale in the coming hours.
Zimmerman was acquitted in the shooting, citing self-defense. He's billing his weapon as, quote, "a piece of American history."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, ACQUITTED OF MURDER (voice-over): I thought it's time to move past the firearm. And if I sell it and it sells, I move past it. What I've tried to do is not cower. I'm a free American. I can do what I like with my possessions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: George Zimmerman has had run-ins with the law since the Trayvon Martin shooting.
North Korea's historic Workers' Party Congress is giving us a rare look at some of the inner workings of the secretive country. We're finding out more about leader Kim Jong-Un's sisters and who his confidants are.
Brian Todd reports on the message Kim is trying to send to the rest of the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An enormous display of fanfare with cutouts of missiles, marchers waving pink bouquets, and Kim Jong-Un, strides past his generals and waves from beyond the square in Pyongyang. Hundreds chant their leader's name.
(CHANTING)
TODD: The clothes of the Workers' Party Congress, where Kim is believed to have tightened his hold on power, sending a powerful message of the strength the leader wants to project. Part of the new message, this is a hip and modern regime, showcased by performance of Kim's hand-picked all girl band, Morenbach.
(SINGING)
TODD: Yearbook-style photos of Kim and his inner circle, Kim smiling broadly, a rare apparently untouched image.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At some level, they're trying to perhaps capture a bit of sense of a personality. He is the only one who is smiling in all of these pictures. Maybe he has reason to.
TODD: One of the photos is a surprise, of General Ryong Gill (ph), said to have been executed in February. Turns out, he is now a member of the powerful central committee. Part of the pageantry, Kim's younger sister, Kim Yo-Jong, seen collecting flowers for him at parade finale. She, too, has been elevated to central committee according to the North Korean government. Kim Yo-Jong is believed to be about 20 years old and has enormous influence in Kim's inner circle. Analysts say she works right in her brother's office, controls access to him and manages all his events.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is going to make sure that all of the schedule goes right. And all of the, right people can see him. But also she has, she is directly responsible for propaganda role. So really showing, showcasing Kim Jong-Un's image.
TODD: Experts say Kim has an older sister who has his ear. Kim Sol- Song, operates in the shadows no verifiable pictures of her but seen as a mentor to Kim and his younger sister, crucial to developing relationships inside the treacherous halls of power.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has got to have people who he feels are going to be unquestionably loyal to him, who are not going to undermine him, who are going to protect him under all circumstances.
TODD (on camera): Kim has two siblings neither he nor his father have trusted to be close to him. His two older brothers, Kim Jong-Nam and Kim Jong-Chol, passed over for the leadership role not interested in the job. Why didn't they get top positions unlike their sisters? Analysts say, both are considered potential threats to Kim, possibly creating rival factions within the regime. So the two brothers have kept distance or forced to. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:25:09] ALLEN: Moviemaker Woody Allen has responded to questions about ongoing allegations he sexually abused his daughter, Dylan Farrow. Alan's estranged son, Ronan Farrow, recently wrote an essay in "The Hollywood Reporter" about the alleged abuse but the award- winning director told reporters at the Cannes Film Festival in France that he hasn't read the article and never would. In 2014, Allen wrote a column in "The New York Times" saying he did not molest Dylan. He has never been convicted of a crime.
Pope Francis says the Vatican should study the possibility of ordaining women as deacons. He was meeting with the heads of women's religious orders when they asked him how women could play large roles in the church, like priests, deacons, can preach and celebrate marriages, but cannot hear confessions or consecrate the Eucharist. The Bible mentions a woman named Phoebe who may have served as a deaconess.
We're getting new information from a classified report about the potential involvement of Saudi citizens in the U.S. 9/11 terror attacks.
Also ahead, the British prime minister says Nigeria could be the world's most corrupt country. But wait till you hear how Nigeria's president responded to that when he spoke with our Christiane Amanpour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:29:45] ALLEN: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen with our top stories.
(HEADLINES)
[02:30:47] ALLEN: CNN is getting new information about the potential involvement of Saudi citizens in the U.S. 9/11 terror attacks. This comes as some victims' families ask Congress to pass legislation allowing them to sue foreign governments linked to the attacks.
Our chief U.S. security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, looked into that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(SHOUTING)
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's an allegation that has lingered almost since the moment the towers fell, that Saudi Arabia was somehow tied to the 9/11 attacks.
Now speaking to CNN by telephone, former 9/11 Commissioner John Layman says the classified 28 pages of a congressional report into 9/11 contain evidence that as many as six Saudi individuals supported al Qaeda in the run-up to the attacks. Those individuals, he says, worked for the Saudi embassy in the U.S., Saudi charities, and a government-funded mosque in California.
Layman makes clear the 28 pages, mostly FBI summary reports, contain no smoking gun, and like the 9/11 Commission, concluded he doesn't believe the Saudi government or any senior officials supported or were aware of the 9/11 plots.
(SHOUTING)
SCIUTTO: However, he says evidence of lower-level Saudi involvement was never sufficiently investigated and should now be, quote, "vigorously pursued."
Other commission members, including former federal prosecutor, Richard Benvanista (ph), are echoing Layman's call.
RICHARD BENVANISTA (ph), FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: We would not be so arrogant as to think that we with our limited time and resources have investigated every single aspect that there is to look at in the 9/11 disaster.
SCIUTTO: When it completed its investigation in 2004, the 9/11 Commission concluded it found, quote, "no evidence" that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded al Qaeda.
Saudi leaders have repeatedly cited that conclusion as eliminating the possibility of any official Saudi role.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you look at the commission report, it deals specifically with Saudi Arabia's role that there was not a Saudi role nor any official role in this situation.
SCIUTTO: Some 9/11 Commission members do not dispute that defense.
BANDVANISTA (ph): There's a substantial jump to suggest that somebody who had a job in a consulate is a representative of the Saudi government.
SCIUTTO: However, contentions the report left open the possibility lower-level officials or employees may have played some role even if they were not instructed by Saudi leadership. And it is that lingering question he hopes the 28 pages' release and further investigation will answer once and for all.
"The 9/11 investigation was terminated," he told CNN, "before all the relevant leads were able to be investigated."
(on camera): Layman points to clever semantics in that 9/11 report conclusion saying the Saudi government, as an institution, or senior Saudi officials did not fund al Qaeda, that that left open the possibility lower-level Saudi officials did play a role, perhaps without the direction of the Saudi leadership.
To be clear, the Saudi government also supports releasing those 28 pages, the Saudi foreign minister saying exactly that last week in Geneva. Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Countries from around the globe are working to squash corruption and money laundering. They pledged Thursday to set up public registers of company ownership. The announcement came at an anti-corruption summit in London. British Prime Minister David Cameron said the registers would lead to more transparency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER If you don't know who owns what, you can't stop people stealing from poor countries and hiding that stolen wealth in rich ones. That is why it's so important five countries have agreed to create public registers of beneficial ownership and six more will explore similar arrangements. This will mean everyone in the world will be able to see who really owns and controls each and every company in these countries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[02:35:10] ALLEN: That conference, however, has been overshadowed by earlier comments from Cameron. He was caught telling Queen Elizabeth that Nigeria and Afghanistan, both in the summit, could be the most corrupt countries in the world.
Nigeria's president told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that Mr. Cameron was right about the corruption in his country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You told me, Mr. President, during your campaign, that, "We have to kill corruption or else corruption will kill Nigeria." How are you doing? Are you making any inroads?
MUHAMMADU BUHARI, NIGERIAN PRESIDENT: Yes, we are. Those that are following the developments see it. Nigerians now are acutely aware that what we were seeing during our campaign is no exaggeration. And few instances where $2.1 billion were awarded for military hard and software for operations for Boko Haram. Those responsible sat down and share lunch or dinner and put it in their accounts.
AMANPOUR: You're kidding. The money that you designated to fight your major terrorist group, Boko Haram, they put it in their pockets?
BUHARI: Yes.
AMANPOUR: What do you do with these people who do that? Did heads roll in terms of losing their jobs, getting fired?
BUHARI: Well, most of them are now behind bars. We're getting documented corrected in a way that we can secure successful prosecution.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Well, Russia is flexing military missile, showing off new missiles armed with multiple nuclear war heads.
CNN's Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Russian military on full parade, Vladimir Putin's message clear, the Russian military is all-powerful. One element of that power, Russian's resurgent nuclear weapons program.
JAMES CLAPPER, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Despite its economic challenges, Russia continues its aggressive military modernization program. It has the largest and most capable foreign nuclear armed ballistic missile force.
STARR: Russia is updating its nuclear arsenal. And despite an economy hit by low oil prices, spending billions on new nuclear weapons, such as the new SS-30, still in development, but with multiple warheads that can hit more than one target, and an intercontinental range with the capability of hitting the U.S. That SS-30 could be in the field as soon as next year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So this weapon in and of itself does not change the balance between the two countries.
STARR: Rather, it replaces aging technology. Arms control advocates believe the real question is why are inventories not being cut on both sides?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, we're still stuck in the Cold War logic of mutually assured destruction.
STARR: Still, under current arms control treaties, both Washington and Moscow are limited. They must get down to around 1,550 deployed warheads from current levels. But Russia has another goal, design missiles to defeat American missile defenses.
The U.S. has just activated a missile defense shield in Romania, part of a NATO effort aimed at defending conveyances against an Iranian, not Russian, attack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Missile defense is for defense, it is defensive. It does not undermine or weaken Russia's strategic nuclear deterrent.
STARR: The Russian state news agency, however, says Moscow sees the system as a threat and is taking protective measures against it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:39:08] ALLEN: Barbara Starr, reporting for us there.
U.S. officials say they've offered to show Russia the technical specifications on that missile defense shield to prove it is not a threat.
Lots of pundits were wrong about Donald Trump's political aspirations. But only one of them is literally eating his words over Trump's success. I'll ask how it tastes to swallow his pride.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: We want to take you to Australia. What you're about to see is nothing short of stunning. A high-speed chase off the coast of Australia, a pack of so-called Foss killer whales running down a juvenile shark. They chased until another whale rose from below and snatched the shark in its jaws and dragged it under. These pictures were captured by a 7 News Sydney crew flying a drone with a camera attached. A Marine biologist identified the whales as rarely seen Foss killer whales are similar to orcas, but not directly related.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Wow.
ALLEN: I'm not sure who I was pulling for.
VAN DAM: That is absolutely stunning videographer. National Geographic photo journalists, they wait months if not years to capture that one moment and those guys are flying a drone, it just appeared in front of them.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
ALLEN: Derek Van Dam is here now with weather news for us after that cool ocean news.
VAN DAM: Yeah. This one's coming off kind of a different topic. We're talking about heat and drought conditions across Southeast Asia. India and the subcontinent has gotten so much attention on how hot it's been. We've forgotten places like Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and the Myanmar region.
ALLEN: They're dry as well?
VAN DAM: Extremely dry and hot, setting record high temperatures for each of those respective countries. And some of the video footage out of this area is just phenomenal. You can see the riverbeds just crackling, drying up. Unfortunately, this is leading to reduced fish populations, small fish sizes. Some of the rivers across this area are running at 50 percent capacity. This is impacting the agricultural parts of these nations as well. Getting into my graphic to highlight in detail. You've heard about the Mekong Delta? This is what it looks like, some of the crops there complete failure. We're talking about recent temperatures and records in these respective countries. Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos all setting their national record high temperatures in the move April. Astounding stuff. Extremely hot. Of course this is the onset before the monsoon. It is so dry across this area we have exceptional drought conditions, especially across the Mekong River, which runs north and south across many of these countries. I equate it to roughly $10 billion in economic losses. Reduced fish stock, water shortages, and crop failures. There's not a lot of relief in sight. It's not only Southeast Asia, it's further south into the Philippines where we have drought conditions across much of this area. Including Luzon, which is the largest island in the northern sections of the Philippines. They've had below-average rainfall and their temperatures are skyrocketing. Look at the heat index. This is what it feels like when you step outside. Oh, Manila 40 degrees on Saturday. That is very tough to handle in terms of regulating body temperature and it can lead to heat stress and heat-related illness as well.
[02:46:17] ALLEN: A lot of people around the globe having to worry that.
VAN DAM: Thank you, El Nino.
ALLEN: Derek, thank you.
Well, an eight-course meal made of news print. That's what one columnist dined on after promising to eat his words if Donald Trump became the Republican nominee. I'll ask him how that meal went down.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:50:27] ALLEN: For months, political pundits predicted Donald Trump would flame out in the race for the White House. Remember?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I can't treat it as a serious Republican platform and I can't treat it as if it's coming from a serious Republican candidate.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Donald Trump is not a serious presidential candidate. I have to tell you that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think we're going to see him in the field for very long.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: Every political junkie in the United States is drooling at the possibility of Trump versus Hillary, The Donald versus Hillary.
(LAUGHTER)
DANA MILBANK, POLITICAL COLUMNIST, THE WASHINGTON POST: Well, of course. That is not going to happen, Richard Quest, I promise that. If that happens I will come on your show and eat my shoelaces.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ALLEN: "The Washington Post" political columnist, Dana Milbank, was among those who doubted. Last October, he wrote this column saying if Trump secured the Republican presidential nomination he would literally eat the page on which his piece was precipitated. And there it is right there.
Now there he is, savoring his words. He made good on that promise as he feasted on an eight-course meal peppered with his article.
And let's bring in Dana Milbank. It's been a few hours since he feasted on that in Washington.
You've already had dinner and everything seems to be OK?
MILBANK: Yeah, I had a sort of after-lunch drink of Pepto-Bismol.
ALLEN: I bet you did.
MILBANK: That seems to have done the job. It all went down pretty easily. The worst part was drinking the Trump wine that went with it.
ALLEN: You were able to find some Trump wine?
MILBANK: I was able to find some but I'm kind of sorry I did, that was not good.
ALLEN: We'll talk more about that experience. I want to back up a minute. Because you had fun with it. People gave you ideas for recipes. Share some of those with us.
MILBANK: Well, all across the whole spectrum, a lot of people were suggesting the only way to do this is just eat the newspaper. Maybe put a little ketchup or mustard or salt on it. Other people went to the other extreme and said, you want to sort of get rid of the newspaper, make it beyond recognition, puree it into some sort of a smoothie. Then you won't even taste it at all. I decided that would be cheating a little bit. You want to actually have some of it, the texture of the newspaper. Neither did I see any reason to just suffer and eat the newspaper raw. I got a chef, Victor Albee, he put together eight courses plus newspaper-filtered coffee, and we took reader suggestions and really came up with a terrific menu. And despite that rather difficult ingredient, we had some good flavors going there.
ALLEN: Looked appetizing, actually. Perhaps your column, your words were a bit camouflaged. You wrote, talking about all the input you got from readers, "I discovered eating newspaper can be downright mouth-watering. This is going to be huge! We are going to build a big, beautiful meal and Mexico's going to pay for it!"
Could you taste the newspaper and that savory meal a little bit?
MILBANK: Yeah, I have to be -- the truth is, the newspaper surprisingly durable. You can grill it, you can pickle it, soak it in all kinds of things. But ultimately it's still newspaper. And you find you're chewing it and it kind of forms these wads of paper in your mouth and that's when you need to gulp down the Trump wine with it. For all your viewers who are really interested in eating newspaper on their own, I'm sure a lot of people will be, you want to grind it up as much as possible. It's really a texture issue. That's why the falafel that we had today was quite good. The ground newspaper and pork dumplings were excellent. It's when you got into large pieces of newspaper that you started to get what I would call the problem.
ALLEN: Corn Flake chunks weren't too good. Were your words difficult to swallow or were your words easy to swallow?
MILBANK: I think it was all easy to swallow. The problem is ultimately, much easier to swallow for me than actually imagining six months of Donald Trump on the campaign trail or perhaps four years of Donald Trump in the White House. But if we're going to have that kind of pain inflicted on the nation, then at least -- the least I can do is suffer a little bit of abdominal distress for one meal.
[02:55:12] ALLEN: You're a very good sport. I think you've come through it OK.
Dana Milbank --
(CROSSTALK)
MILBANK: So far, so good. We'll check in the morning.
ALLEN: Yeah, get through the night, take it easy. No ice cream or anything like that.
Thank you, Dana. Thanks a lot.
MILBANK: Thank you.
ALLEN: He's quite a good sport there.
OK, that was one unlikely moment in this bizarre U.S. election season. Here's another. TV Host Jimmy Kimmel jokingly announced he will run for vice president. And our CNN colleagues in Washington got the exclusive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Jimmy, take a look at this. Right now, all indications are you are polling at 100 percent.
JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE: Wow.
(CHEERING)
KIMMEL: Wow, that's great news, thanks, Wolf.
BLITZER: I do want to point out, Jimmy, at 100 percent, you are the only person running for vice president.
KIMMEL: Well, let's not split beard hairs here. (LAUGHTER)
100 percent is 100 percent, your? You know?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Yes, it is. We'll wait and see if he has any competition.
That's it for this hour. I'm Natalie Allen. Don't go anywhere. We have another hour yet to go. See you in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
