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ISIS Claims Responsibility for Gas Plant Attack; Ukraine Celebrating Eurovision Win; Clinton Targets Trump on Tax Returns; Kenya to Close Refugee Camps; Cuba Hosts Gay Pride Parade; Healing the Racial Divide in America; Bruges Brewery Finds Beer Solution. Aired 4- 5a ET
Aired May 15, 2016 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, ISIS claimed responsibility for this attack. You see here at a gas plant in Baghdad killing at least five police officers.
In Kiev, they are celebrating with a song that won for Ukraine. Angered Moscow. We will refer (ph) from a Eurovision expert about a night to remember.
Plus Kenya says, it is ready to move ahead with the decision for closed refugee camps inside its (inaudible) with our rights organization opposed to that drastic moves.
Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the United State around the world. I'm George Howell, CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
In Iraq, ISIS has claimed responsibility for a deadly attack just North of Baghdad. It happened at a cooking gas plant. You see the big explosion there. At least five police officers were killed, more than a dozen others wounded. Two suicide bombs went off at the plant, one at the entrance and another inside the actual facility. Six ISIS militants then try to storm their way inside but security forces were able to hold them off.
Following all of these, our Ian Lee joins us now live in Cairo, Egypt.
Ian, first of all, the simple fact that this happens so close to Baghdad -- it's a big deal. What more can you tell us?
IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, that's right, George. And we're getting an update. Now, we're hearing that seven people have been killed and 24 wounded. But what we're seeing by ISIS now are these sleeper cells being activated around the country as we've seen them loose territory with the advancement of Iraqi Security Forces as well as the Peshmerga. We've seen an increase in the number of attacks like this and this one happening just north of Baghdad. Also last Wednesday, there was a string of suicide bombing that killed more than 90 people. So this is -- it changed really in the tactics, a shift, if you will, in attack that the ISIS is using going from more conventional battlefield tactics when we see the two sides go head to head to moving to the sleeper cells.
HOWELL: And talking specifically about this target again that ISIS tried to storm their way inside a cooking gas plant, what's the significance if any?
LEE: Oh, this is really going after infrastructure and we've seen ISIS try to do that and a mixture of infrastructure as well as hitting soft targets. This cooking gas plant, a lot of people rely on cooking gas canisters for cooking in their households sometimes for heating, and so it is a significant target. It does have a real impact psychological, if they we're able to be successful and destroy this plants. Fortunately, security forces at the plant were able to stop them before they were able to destroy the whole thing. Although, three gas containers, gas structures that are holding it were destroyed or lit a flame.
So these are significant attacks when they go after the infrastructure like this, George.
HOWELL: Ian Lee, live for us in Cairo, Egypt, reporting again on this series of explosions that happened just north of Baghdad.
Ian, we'll stay in touch with you as you get more information.
Now to Nigeria where Boko Haram was the focus of a Security Summit that was held Saturday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL (voice-over): Delegates from regional and global powers attended including the French President, Francois Hollande. He told attendees the fight against Boko Haram was a generational struggle against evil. U.N. Security Council said Friday that the terror group threatened regional stability.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): At least 20,000 people killed since Boko Haram first wage war on Nigeria. In 2009, the terror group has been labeled the most deadly in the world by the latest global terrorism index. A threat so great, regional and world governments came together in Abuja with plans to work together and to fight back.
MUHAMMADU HUHARI, NIGERIA PRESIDENT: We must take the opportunity that this summit presents to evaluate the successes we have achieved, consolidate the gains, identify any shortcomings we have experienced, and then draw the important lessons.
[04:05:00]
(Off-Mic)
UNIDINTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Since the last meeting of delegates two years ago in Paris to discuss the problem and find solutions, the Islamic Extremist group has been pushed out of territory and once controlled in Northeastern Nigeria, instead resulting smaller suicide attacks.
And with the worsening humanitarian crisis, more than 2.6 million people in the Lake Chad region, neighboring nations from Chad, Niger, Benin and Cameroon came together to discuss strategies and affirm that they're not letting their guard down.
Supported by the United States, the U.K and France, that will play a key role in the fight.
FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, FRENCH PRESIDENT (translated): Boko Haram has been weakened but is still capable to conduct attacks of harassment and equally deliver suicide attacks in the middle of the civilian population. So, we have to support the Nigerian Armed Forces in the regional countries. Help them to be more efficient, be with them whenever it's possible, prepare their staff and provide training.
Western governments worry that ISIS is growing presence in North Africa and ties with Boko Haram who'd herald a push sound and create a spring board for wider attacks.
Nigeria has asked the United States to help with surveillance at reconnaissance and also to sell aircraft to the nation in the fight against Boko Haram. The United Kingdom has pledged to give Nigeria 40 million pounds to fight back.
PHILIP HAMMOND, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: The growing cooperation between Daesh in the Middle East and Boko Haram in this region is a growing threat.
As Daesh faces increasing pressure in Scotland in Syria from the international coalition, there is the real risk that it increases its assets in support of Boko Haram here in Nigeria and across the wider region.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: Regional and world power is coming together to fight Boko Haram for more on this terror group and what all of these different militaries are trying to do to stop. You can go our website, cnn.com/international and search for Boko Haram.
In particular, CNN has this exclusive report on a joint effort to fight the terror group and to recover Nigeria's missing school girls.
In Australia five men are facing terrorism charges, accused of flooding to join ISIS.
Authorities alleged that then plan to use a motorboat that would have taken them first to Indonesia and Philippines and then they would have continued on into Syria.
Australia's Attorney General says, authorities knew about their plan and then cancel their passports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE BRANDIS, AUSTRALIAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: After the cancellation of their passports, when it became clear to them that they wouldn't be able to leave the country in an Orthodox way, they remained under surveillance so that if they attempted to leave the country in this very unusual way, they would be able to be stopped and they were.
(END VIDOE CLIP)
HOWELL: Those suspects are due in court on Monday.
Dueling demonstrations to tell you about that erupted in the Venezuelan capital Saturday, just after the President Nicolas Maduro declared a 60-day state of emergency extending now into July.
Opposition protesters slam the decree and demanded his resignation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HENRIQUE CAPRILES, OPPOSITION LEADER (translated): If you block the Democratic pass, we don't know what could happen in this country.
Venezuela is a bomb that could explode at any moment.
We don't want to bomb or to explode, and because of that, we call on everyone to mobilize in favor of the recall referendum in 2016.
HOWELL (voice-over): The president has bound to see his term through and says the opposition is inciting violence just to justify foreign invasion. He's ordered military exercises to take place next weekend.
NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELA PRESIDENT: I have called for the Armed Forces and Militia to hold national military exercises to prepare for any scenario because this land is sacred and we should make sure it is respected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: One poll shows some 70 percent of Venezuelans want their president to leave office this year.
There are celebrations to talk about in Ukraine. Their singer Jamala won this year's Eurovision Contest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(Singing)
HOWELL (voice-over): Ukraine is celebrating. But let's talk about the lyrics of that song. It has Russia very angry. The lyrics pay tribute to the ethnic Tatars of Crimea.
[04:10:00]
They were deported in mass by the Soviet Union during World War II, and Ukraine polled a surprising win over two top favorites. For the most of the competition, it seemed like Australia was going to win. This was the second year, though, the Australia was invited to compete and it won the jury vote and Russia won the popular vote, but at the end, Ukraine had the combined most votes.
Earlier, CNN spoke with Journalist William Lee Adams. He's an expert on the Eurovision Song Contest and has been covering for years. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
WILLIAM LEE ADAMS, JOURNALIST: It was an incredibly flipped production and so many acts for 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 and 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 sing about the deportation of Crimean Tatars under Stalin's regime. And her great grandma was actually one of these victims who lost a child during the longer march out of Crimea. And the song is telling that kind of collective history. People have said the song is very much a flight against Russia because it speaks about the start 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 a down to you, not me."
Interestingly, the CEO of Ukrainian Television said, "Prior to the contest that if Russia won, Ukraine would withdraw next year." And then Russia, of course, since of losing Ukraine in the final, incredibly heated. It's a huge slide against Russia for Russians. People and the state broadcaster are taking it very personally.
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: I love 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 country's presentations are?
ADAMS: Yes, absolutely. What's interesting is that Russia, all these years, is associated with its stance, anti-LGBT laws, and they chose a performer who is very much kempt, you know, his 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 muscle is showing, and it's very, "Ha-ha-ha-ha." So, it's almost like saying "We can do kempt too, you know, maybe our laws aren't as draconian as you think." And then you have Ukraine, obviously in light of the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia in recent years and the fact that they get a Crimean singer within -- it tense (ph) her press conference wearing traditional Crimean cloth. It's all very loaded. And their performance was much more theatrical. It was very much drama. She was singing for hundreds of thousands of victims and when she screams, she was screaming for them.
And, you know, the audience went silent but in many ways they came alive because this was just filled with so much of a back story. And the presentation kind of captured that. And one point the floor, it fills with yellow and blue light, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, and it stop behind into a tree, you know, a tree of life, rebirth, renewal. So she's suggesting a bright future for Ukraine through her very dark song.
(END VIDEP TAPE)
HOWELL: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Still ahead, FIFA is under fire again this time from within.
Coming up, why a top official says, "He quit the World Football Body." Plus, Kenya prepares to shutdown all of its refugee camps while eight agencies say that would put lives at risk. Stay with us.
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[04:15:00]
(WORLD SPORTS)
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HOWELL: In the United States, the Democratic Presidential Frontrunner Hillary Clinton is launching a new attack ad against her likely opponent in November, Donald Trump. The billionaire is refusing public calls to release his tax returns citing an ongoing audit. Now, Clinton is targeting his lack of transparency. Just look at that latest ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. 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 official 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, ABC NEWS 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 finish.
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) HOWELL: Clinton obviously they're turning her attention to the general election. But her rival, Democrat Bernie Sanders is still putting up a fight. He told the crowd in Kentucky that he had every intention of winning there as well as the contest that follow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nobody would have believed that we would receive well over nine 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 to win in Oregon as well. And then on June 7th we have California and bunch of other states.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: So the delegate math for Bernie Sanders to actually beat Hillary Clinton for the nomination. It's incredibly tricky. He's ads are just very slim these days but as our Chief U.S. Correspondent John King tells that Sanders isn't quite out of it yet.
[04:20:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN chief CORRESPONDENT: To anybody who really -- six months ago, eight months ago that Bernie Sanders was going to be giving Hillary Clinton this kind of a run to 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)
SANDERS: It's an uphill 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 map, right? You see what's left on the map. Does Bernie Sanders have a mathematical chance? Yes, but is that realistic math? There're 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 to bet on Bernie Sanders going to win in 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 dumb to me, if I might say so, that last night, where Secretary Clinton ended up with 35 -- 36 percent of the votes. She has going to get 6 out of 7 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 superdelegates. Now, A, the Clinton campaign says this isn't going to be. B, if this happens, unless they panic, Hillary Clinton still has in her back pocket the secret weapon.
If Senator Sanders could run the board, some of this people would affect. The math is not a puzzle for Bernie Sanders, but it's pretty damn hard.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HOWELL: The man credited with leading reforms at FIFA has quit in protest. Domenico Scala was in-charge of the Football Federations Independent Audit and Compliance Committee. He opposes a new move that effectively gives FIFA more control over committees like his own.
CNN's Patrick Snell explains.
PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORTS: But if the new President of Football's World Governing Buddy Gianni Infantino calls his first FIFA congress was going to pass off without incidents, it would be in fire ready to wait name (ph) because on Saturday, it was revealed that Domenico Scala, FIFA's head of Auditing and Compliance had resigned from his post. This in protest the controversial reforms at the various highest level of the Swiss-based association.
Now, Scala reportedly quick after surprise vote was taken on Friday in Mexico City. In spite the fact that Scala, being one of the most important figures in FIFA's reform process, the vote meeting that he other corruption watchdogs could not be charged by the new FIFA Council. Theoretically is his statement released on Saturday, Scala is saying with his decision, "It will henceforth be possible for the Council to impede investigations against single members at any time, by dismissing the responsible Committee members or by keeping them acquiescent through the threat of a dismissal. Thereby, those bodies are factually deprived of their independence and are in danger of becoming auxiliary agents of those whom they should actually supervise. I am consternated about this decision, because it undermines a central pillar of the good governance of FIFA and it destroys a substantial achievement of the reforms."
What about response from the World Football Governing Body will came like this, "FIFA regrets that Mr. Scala has misinterpreted the purpose of the decision taken by the FIFA Congress. The Council fully respects the independence of the Audit and Compliance and the Ethics Committees, and any suggestions so the contrary are without merits." Now, on Friday, Infantino revealing he was appointing Senegal's Fatma Samba Diouf Samara, this is the Body's first ever female Secretary General, but this was from Scala's resignation, no question has changed the tone immediately. He'd been pushing for a comprehensive reform packaged into being -- very much seen as the architect of the vital package for reform that FIFA so badly needs.
I'm Patrick Snell, back to you.
HOWELL: A devastating fire engulfs a crowded slum in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This happened around 5:00 p.m. Local Time and quickly destroyed several houses in the country's most populous city in that favela. At least one person was injured. So far, no deaths have been reported.
A new bridge built in Southeastern Asia has the potential to shorten the particular commute from six hours to just 40 minutes.
Our Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is here to tell us more about this.
DEREK VAN DAM: AMS METEOROLOGIST : I came across the story. I found it absolutely fascinating to see what human's are capable of actually doing.
HOWELL: Six hours to 40 minutes --
VAN DAM: Six hours to 40 minutes --
HOWELL: How do you that?
VAN DAM: And you'll see exactly why.
[04:25:00]
So, the demographics for -- you'll see, George and every watching at home, I mapped it out on Google maps, this is from Hong Kong International Airport, roughly, all the way to Macao. And you can see that big underway that's really impeding people's, well, driving time, that there is six hours 53 minutes according to Google. But we have now an answer for that. Smart human beings I'd say. And 132 billion Hong Kong dollars later, a nearly 50 kilometer bridge is born. This is a 30-year dream that is now finally coming into fruition. It's then being built for the past seven years. It has another three years to go. But this is fascinating.
Check this out. This is an image taken from NASA in 2013. Here is the International Airport, Hong Kong International Airport. This is Macao here is the water way. Now we go fast forward by about three years present moment in time. And there was a little alignment there. I try to highlight it with the bridge. That is the bridge effectively being built. It's going to be 50 kilometers long, seven kilometer of which will be underwater tunnels, it's going to connect Macao to the Hong Kong International Airport and this is going to be incredible for this. We're talking about saving commute times down from six hours or more down the 40 minutes. Unbelievable. All right. I want to talk about something else quickly. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center has a medium development or probability a development of a tropical cyclone near Southern India and Sri Lanka. This is significant not only because the Syria has been plagued with drought conditions for the past two months. And see, since we have deficit across this area, but it has the potential to bring too much rain in a short amount of time, so landslides, flooding, all possibility you can see in excess of 300, even that was 500 millimeters not all the question.
Now hopping to the other side of the globe, this is in Europe we got the Italian open finals taking place today and will this man had to wait patiently for the semifinals to take place on Saturday. Of course that was rain-delayed. You can see more showers and thunderstorms expected from a strong system moving about the Adriatic. And here, look through the rest of the day. We've got Andy Murray versus Novack Djokovic. Coming up. 4:00 p.m. Local Time in Rome. And it looks like it could be affected by the weather as well. Weather, unfortunately.
HOWELL: All right. Derek Van Dam, thank you so much.
VAN DAM: You're welcome.
HOWELL: This is CNN NEWSROOM.
And still ahead this hour, a reckless decision that is what one human rights move this call in Kenya's plan to shutdown its refugee camps. We speak with Amnesty International about the controversial decision coming up.
Plus the members of Cuba's gay and transgender community show their pride in Havana while some say Cuba needs to work harder on gay right issues. Live in the United States and around the world this hour. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
[04:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOWELL: Welcome back. To our viewers here in the United States and around the world, you are watching CNN NEWSROOM. It's good to have you with us. I'm George Howell with the headlines were following for you this hour.
Progress has been made but much more work remains in confronting and defeating Boko Haram. That message was sent the delegates on Saturday at a Regional Security Summit in Nigeria.
