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Russia Unhappy with Ukraine's Winning Eurovision Song; Transparency and Tax Returns; Healing America's Racial Divide; Cuba and the LGBT Community; Bruges and the Underground Beer Pipeline; Second Skin to Fight Wrinkles. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired May 15, 2016 - 03:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: A soundtrack of simmering tension why Moscow won't be singing along to Ukraine's winning entry at the Eurovision song contest.

Cubans fly the nation's LGBT community takes to the street and welcomes the world.

And the people of one of Belgian cities cut to run its over why Bruges won't be short of beer in the near future.

A unique way to make sure the beer keep flowing into the city, and that's coming up here on CNN Newsroom. I'm Natalie Allen.

Russia is not happy about this year's Eurovision winner. Ukraine singer Jamala won the contest with the song that pays tribute to the ethnic Tatars of Crimea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMALA, UKRANIAN EUROVISION WINNER: When strangers are coming, they come to your house. They kill you all and say, "We're not guilty, not guilty." Where is your mind? Humanity cries.

ALLEN: The lyrics criticize how the Soviet Union deported Tatars en masse during World War II, more than 40 countries voted under a new system this year and Ukraine's win over two top favorites was a surprise for many.

For most of the competition, it seemed like Australia was going to win. This was the second year Australia was invited to compete and it won the jury vote. Russia won the popular vote but in the end, Ukraine had the most combined votes.

To discuss all this, I'm joined by London-based journalist and self- proclaimed authority on the Eurovision song contest, William Lee Adams. He was at Saturday's big event and he's just about at home from the party in Stockholm, Sweden, has not flat but has agreed to come on CNN. And we appreciate that, William.

So, this was your seventh Eurovision and being a self-proclaimed authority means you just don't go to the contest, this is a lifestyle. Explain that. WILLIAM LEE ADAMS, JOURNALIST AND EUROVISION SONG CONTEST AUTHORITY:

Absolutely. So, I run a website called willyblogs.com and on willyblogs, we cover Eurovision all year round so not just the two weeks leaving up to Eurovision but also the national selection contest. We're in Moldova, we're in Israel, we're in Belarus, interviewing those people who want to get to the Eurovision before they're even there.

ALLEN: All right, well, I get it. You are a self-proclaimed authority.

So what did you think about this year's competition? We know there was a tense ending and a little bit of a squabble over the winner.

ADAMS: Yeah, it was an incredibly slick production and so many acts were bringing their A game. And it really came down to three countries, Australia, Russia and Ukraine. But obviously, because of ongoing political tensions, it was all about the Russia-Ukraine narrative.

Russia had been the favorite for months with a really modern sexy pop song, very disposable, a sexy guy singing about loving a woman. And then you had Ukraine, the singer was a Crimean Tatar and she sang about the deportation of Crimean Tatars under Stalin's regime, and her great grandmother was actually one of these victims who lost a child during the long march out of Crimea. And the song is telling that kind of collective history.

People have said the song is very much a slight against Russia because it speaks about this dark period of the past.

But Jamala, the singer, has said, "No, no, this isn't political, it's personal. And if you want to call it political, that's down to you not me."

Interestingly, the Ukrainian -- the CEO of Ukrainian television said prior to the contest that if Russia won, Ukraine would withdraw next year and then Russia, of course, ends up losing to Ukraine in the final. Incredibly heated. It's a huge slight against Russia for Russians. People in the state (ph) orchestra are taking it very personally.

ALLEN: I love it that Russia is singing a very sexy song about loving a woman and Ukraine has got this very deep, you know, historical message. There's Justin Timberlake who was there as well, we're seeing him on the screen. What about the dichotomy, how varied the different countries presentations are?

ADAMS: Yeah, absolutely. What's interesting is that Russia, obviously, is associated with its stands (ph) anti-LGBT laws. And they chose a performer who is very much camp. You know, he's best known for a video for the song, "Take it Off", in which he appears in pink leather pants with no shirt and well-oiled body, his muscles showing. And it's very hahahaha. So it's almost like saying, "We can do camp, too, you know, maybe our laws aren't as draconian as you think." And then you have Ukraine.

[03:05:00] Obviously, in light of the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia in recent years, the fact that based on a Crimean singer, who then attends her press conference wearing traditional Crimean clothes, it's all very loaded and their performance was much more theatrical. It was very much drama. She was thinking for hundreds of thousands of victims and when she screamed, she was screaming for them.

And, you know, the audience went silent but in many ways, they came alive because it was just filled with so much of a back story. And the presentation kind of captured that. at one point, the floor, it fills with yellow and blue light, the colors of the Ukrainian flag and it's stopped up (ph) behind her into a tree. You know, a tree of life, rebirth, renewal, so she is suggesting a bright future for Ukraine through her very dark song.

ALLEN: A very interesting. I want to ask, though, what happened to the U.K.? Was it because of the threatening of Breck Set (ph), or did you not like the song, or what do you think?

ADAMS: Yeah, interestingly, the professional juries, who account for 50 percent of the overall score, rated the U.K. quite highly. But when it came down to the public televote across Europe, Europeans just weren't feeling it.

And, I'd like to say, it was about Breg Set (ph), but I don't think it's that, I think it's just the song isn't good enough. That sounds harsh, but it's just not, you know, like, back to the drawing board U.K.

ALLEN: All right, let's go, U.K. All right.

Well, William Lee Adams, it's been a pleasure talking with you and hearing more about the contest. And I guess, let's talk to you again next year. OK.

ADAMS: Thank you so much. Enjoy the music.

ALLEN: Yeah, so have a happy fly home. Thank you.

ADAMS: Thank you.

ALLEN: The president of Ukraine wasted no time in celebrating the victory tweeting out a message praising Jamala's incredible performance and victory and saying, all of Ukraine congratulated the singer.

All right, from a singing, we turn to the U.S. presidential election and Democratic U.S. presidential front-runner, Hillary Clinton, is launching a new attack at against her likely opponent in November, Donald Trump.

The billionaire refusing public calls to release his tax returns like president -- presidential candidates do, Mr. Trump citing an ongoing audit. Now, Clinton is targeting his lack of transparency in this advertisement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Maybe I'm going to do the tax returns when Obama does his birth certificate.

BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: The State of Hawaii released my officials, long form birth certificate.

TRUMP: If I decide to run for office, I'll produce my tax returns, absolutely.

I am officially running for president of the United States.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABS NEWS CHIEF ANCHOR: Getting any closer to releasing your tax returns?

TRUMP: Well, I'm thinking about it. I can't do it until the audit is finished.

STEPHANOPOULOS: The audit is no excuse. The IRS has made it very clear that an audit is not a bar to public release. It is entirely your choice.

TRUMP: It's none of your business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: So that is the latest from the Clinton camp. Well, while she turns her attention to the general election, her Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders, is still hanging in there. He told a crowd in Kentucky, he has every intention of winning there as well as the contest that follow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Everybody would have believed that we would receive well over 9 million votes at this point in the campaign.

And very few people would have believed that this coming Tuesday, we're going to win a great victory right here in Kentucky.

And by the way, I think we're going win in Oregon as well, so.

And then on June 7th, we have California, the bunch of (inaudible) faith.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: He is a very optimistic, the delegate math for Sanders to actually beat Clinton for the nomination is very tricky, though. His odds are pretty slim, but as our Chief U.S. Correspondent, John King, explains, Sanders isn't out of it not quite yet.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: Is there anybody who really, six months, eight months ago thought Bernie Sanders was going to be giving Hillary Clinton this kind of a run for her money? I think not, except for maybe Bernie Sanders and his top campaign team. But, the very rules that have kept Bernie Sanders in the race so far, the Democratic proportional rules. No winner-take-all states, they don't exist. That has kept Bernie Sanders in the race.

Now, it keeps Secretary Clinton with her lead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[03:10:00] SANDERS: It's an upbuild (ph) struggle. We have a chance to end up with a majority of the pledged delegates, and if we do that, I think you are looking at the Democratic nominee for presidency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: This is the problem. You see what's left on the math, right? You see what's left on the math, does Bernie Sanders have a mathematical chance? Yes. But, is that realistic math? There's 897 pledged delegates left. He needs to win 67 percent of them. He has not been winning anywhere near 67 percent of the delegates so far. So is it possible? Sure, it's possible. That's mathematically possible. Would you place a bet on Bernie Sanders winning California with 67 percent of the vote? I think not.

Look at that, all Bernie Sanders, every county in West Virginia, that's pretty impressive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: It seems a little bit done to me if I might say so that last night where Secretary Clinton ended up with 35 percent, 36 percent of the votes. She is going to get six out seven superdelegates.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: In the end, she's still ahead even if he wins everything left on the board by 10 points, she's still ahead of pledged delegates.

Now, A, the Clinton campaign says this isn't going to happen. B, if this happens, unless they panic, Hillary Clinton still has inner back pocket, the secret weapon.

If Senator Sanders would run the board, some of these people would defect. The math is not impossible for Bernie Sanders, but it's pretty damn hard.

ALLEN: Clinton and Sanders both say they will work to heal America's racial divide. And since August of 2014 when a white police officer shot and killed African American teen, Michael Brown, no town has come to symbolize that division more than Ferguson Missouri.

CNN Sara Sidner sat down with Ferguson's new police chief.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How big of a challenge is this?

DELRISH MOSS, FERGUSON POLICE DEPARTMENT: I think it's monumental.

SIDNER: Delrish Moss is now the chief of one of the most scrutinized police department in America, Ferguson P.D. He left Miami Police to become the first African American ever to be sworn in as chief here. Not a surprise move, after the racially charged incident that shook this city to its core.

What made you take on this job?

MOSS: The unrest on television, all those things, it was -- I saw it as a, you know, a harkened back to good old days and it wasn't that.

I saw people hurting just like we hurt in Miami many years ago. And I said, "You know what, I think I can help them."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is Darren Wilson.

SIDNER: It's then more than a year since the resignation of the chief who was at the helm when white officer, Darren Wilson, shot and killed an armed teenager, Michael Brown, after the two tussled in Wilson's police vehicle.

The incident set off huge protests and sent shock waves across the country, first, when police used military style equipment to try and control it and then when riot broke out burning parts of the city down.

Chief Moss wasn't there for any of it. But, when riots raged in Miami in the 1980s, he was there.

What about your background makes you uniquely qualified for this job?

MOSS: One from being a kid living in a riot to our neighborhood to being a police officer working in one, I think I've been trained my entire career for this challenge.

SIDNER: He now has to implement a 130-page plus consent decree by the Department of Justice. Its report cleared Officer Wilson, but slammed the Ferguson police for engaging in patterns and practices of racial bias, constitutional violations and improper ticketing practices that focused on revenue, not public safety.

What are you going to do about that?

MOSS: Well, that's got to change. You can't tell me that providing tickets for revenue doesn't lead to some sort of corruption, those things are corrupted at core because they speak to everything that government is not for businesses to make profit, government does it. And that's not going to be the practice while I'm here.

SIDNER: And on race, he wants to make sure, no one is treated by police like he was as a teenager.

MOSS: I was called in in word (ph) by a police officer. And then I had another experience where I'm also walking home, teenager still, and a police officer gets out of his car, pushes me up against wall and pressed (ph) me and, you know, does his search. Then he jumps back in his car and leaves.

You know, in both of those experiences, nothing was ever done to restore my dignity. I was embarrassed, I was afraid and I decided then in there that I need to become a police officer.

SIDNER: Sara Sidner, CNN, Ferguson, Missouri.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: We wish him all the best in his new position.

The streets of Havana, Cuba were filled with the colors of the rainbow for a gay pride event. Well tell you more about who's leading the shift in Cuba stand on gay and transgender rights.

[03:15:01] Also ahead, how and why a Belgium brewery run their business into the ground, literary.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Colorful costumes line the streets of Havana Saturday at the gay pride parade made its way to the Cuban Capital. CNN's Patrick Oppmann is in Havana and he reports on the progress Cuba has made for its gay and transgender community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN HAVANA-BASED CORRESPONDENT: We are at the largest gay and transgender rights festival that's done every year in Havana, and it's really quite something, we're seeing more and more people coming in. The march is about to begin just a little while and it's a really change for the Cuban government because, of course, after the 1959 revolution of the government here, not only persecuted gay and lesbian people, but they even imprisoned them in work camps.

So it was really a very tough thing to be gay in Cuba for many, many years and that has shifted. One of the reasons that has (inaudible) close as all the older people are coming here with a very colorful costumes.

One of the reasons for the change has been Cuban President Raul Castro's daughter, Mariela. She is an advocate for gay and friends, civil rights on this island.

Another change we are seeing is more Americans through this year, because of course the U.S. and Cuba have restored diplomatic coalition and we're seeing gay rights activist coming from the U.S. to learn about gay and transgender rights in Cuba and advocate for better change.

UNIDENTFIED FEMALE: It's just so nice to see everyone just happy and celebrating who they are, not like feeling as a captive (ph) they have in the past, because I know they have experienced a lot of discrimination.

OPPMANN: There's a lot of work to be done in Cuba (inaudible) for the Cuban government to legalize gay marriage offer a greater protection to gay and transgender people, and not over the years convinced of the Cuban government through commitment. So there's movement for what people are saying, there's the big deal, at long last, there's a greater space to push forth equality for gay and transgender people here in Cuba.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: And Derek Van Dam is here to talk about the Italian Open in Rome with semi finals were delayed by heavy rain on Saturday. So, what about the final?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, the final is maybe interrupted by rain as well, unfortunately, but we've got some exciting not to disappoint not only the woman's finals, but we've got the men's final and Andy Murray versus Novak Djokovic.

Take a look at this graphic, this man waiting patiently for the -- one of the semi-finals matches to take place ...

(CROSSTALK)

VAN DAM: He is the only one, and stands at that moment in time, thank you to the rain.

And, as we just talked about a second ago, it looks as if the final, which occurs at about 4:00 p.m. local time in Rome, could be interrupted by heavy rain showers as well.

[03:20:02] Look at the showers and thunderstorms forming on our forecast graphic here. And you can see how they ramp up through the course of the afternoon today, so we'll find out soon enough if there will be any delays.

Let's talk about an area that needs the rain but could get too much too quickly. This is a look at Sri Lanka and Southern India, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center has a medium probability that this particular cycle, and you see developing here, could form into a formidable tropical system that will -- has the potential to produce significant amounts of rain, an excessive 400 millimeters in some locations, especially over Sri Lanka and the mountainous regions.

But remember, Southern India impacted by a severe drought lately, in fact, much of the sub-continents. So this could provide at least some minor relief for this area, but we're looking up for the potential of flooding.

Another quick story that I came up with, a moment ago, I saw from the NASA Earth Observatory, have you been flown to Hong Kong, a lots of people do obviously, but a lot of people have to make their way into Macau and they've had to take this route, which takes some about seven hours drive time around this particular water way here. But now, the Chinese government has actually put in a new bridge.

So, what you're looking at here is a before-image from November 29th, 2013. And here is an after image that shows you the bridge being built. But what's amazing about this, this is actually one of the longest bridges ever created, almost 50 kilometers long. It's actually seven kilometers of that that will be in submarine tunnels. But nonetheless, that is going to shorten that distance, the driving distance, I should say, to about 40 minutes for residents traveling between Hong Kong and Macau.

So, quite a cool story, I believe. And that still has another three years to go before that bridge is actually completely done and people can take that particular route.

So, these images from space, let's take you out there as well with this last image. This is actually NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and it captured the fifth closest comet approaching the earth just a few days ago. It came within 5.3 million kilometers of us here.

(CROSSTALK)

VAN DAM: ... will be covered there, right?

ALLEN: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

ALLEN: Doing above and beyond, loser me (ph).

OK, Derek, thanks.

Well, Belgium is among other things famous for its beer. Time to talk about beer (inaudible).

But narrow streets in the City of Bruges couldn't handle all the beer trucks and they can't build a big bridge in there. So the local brewery came out with a unique solution to a distribution problem. To beat the bottleneck, the brewery has gone underground and is building a pipeline for beer.

And CNN's Erin McLaughlin has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bruges, Belgium has been (inaudible) town as a tourist haven known as one of the best places to drink Belgian beer, but not much of it is made here anymore. Most of the breweries are long gone, except for the house man (ph), the only one left within the town's walls.

But this brewery had a big problem, the streets in this town are simply too small to accommodate the large tanker trucks required to transport the beer from the brewery to the bottling plant. So the solution is right over here. A two-mile long beer pipe underground, and this is where it begins. For 160 years, Xavier Vanneste's family has been brewing beer within

the walls of Bruges. The problem started back in 2010 when the brewery moved its bottling facility out of the town creating a bottleneck of beer trucks. He says this is the best way to keep the family tradition going on.

XAVIER VANNESTE, DE HALVE MAAN OWNER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR: I think they are the very first one to do this. Yeah.

MCLAUGHLIN: Engineers drilled through the town's canals and caballed street, ultimately (ph) a pipeline made up of high-end plastic is capable of transporting 4,000 liters of beer an hour.

And how did the residents react?

VANNESTE: Well, the residents were quite enthusiastic actually. We received a lot of people spontaneously offering us to pass alongside their house. They just had one condition. They wanted a tapping points, but a private tapping point. But ...

MCLAUGHLIN: Are you worried about people tapping into your pipeline?

VANNESTE: We are pretty sure this will technically not be possible.

MCLAUGHLIN: The pipeline's popularity gave Vanneste an idea, crowd fund the projects $4.5 million price tag. It came up with a scheme to exchange donations for beer.

Local restaurant tier (ph) Philippe Le Loup, gave over $11,000 and now gets free beer for life.

PHILIPPE LE LOUP, OWNER OF LOCAL RESTAURANT: I like the beer. I drink it everyday, but is more for the friendship.

MCLAUGHLIN: And there's nothing like good friends and the crisp taste of freshly brewed beer.

[03:25:03] But the pipeline is still under construction, the beer is expected to start flowing in the beginning of summer. In the meantime, have a taste.

Erin McLaughlin, CNN, Bruges.

ALLEN: Another great reason to visit the lovely town of Bruges.

While people will try just about anything to slow down the effects of aging on their skin, countless creams and ointments have gone in and out of style over the years, but now, scientists at MIT and Harvard are taking the fight against wrinkles to another level.

And here is Jeanne Moos with that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Whether it's baking soda.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Smear it on.

MOOS: Or coffee grounds, people will try anything to reduce those bags and wrinkles. So, why not a second skin?

DANIEL ANDERSON, PROFESSOR, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: I don't see why you couldn't put it on every morning and wear it like any other makeup.

MOOS: Even put makeup on it. "An elastic second skin" was the title of the paper published by MIT and Harvard scientists in the journal, Nature Materials".

ROBERT LANGER, PROFESSOR, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: First, you put on this invisible cream on your skin, and that has the polymer in it. And then in a second step, you put on what we call a catalyst.

MOOS: The two creams produce a bond, an invisible plastic coating that mimics younger skin. Look at the difference in photos accompanying the article. The coating lasts for at least a day.

How does it feel?

ANDERSON: It doesn't feel like you're wearing anything.

MOOS: Developed over nine years, tested on the over 100 people, the scientists say it could also protect sores and hide skin diseases like eczema and psoriasis.

You really can't tell where the fake skin ends and the new real skin begins?

ANDERSON: I can.

MOOS: Scientists stand to benefit, even get rich if second skin pans out when it hits the marketplace in a couple of years.

Why do they keep pinching that woman's eye bags?

To demonstrate, the coating gives elasticity to skin, something we lose when we age. One joker compared it to the "Game of Thrones" character who morphs from old to young and back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's kind of the Spanx argument, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You wear it, and then when you take it off, you let it all hang out.

MOOS: No word on pricing, though considering the chemical contents, Professor Anderson doesn't see why it should be super expensive.

So how you get your new, invisible second skin off?

Pretty much the same way they do in "Mission Impossible". Just hope that if you ever use second skin, you don't get this reaction when removing it.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: And that is CNN NEWSROOM. Thanks for watching. I'm Natalie Allen.

Erin Burnett is coming up in a moment. But first, our top stories right after this.

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