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Trump Fights with New York Times; Clinton and Trump Take Shots at Each Other; Sanders Tries to Remain in the Race; Record-Breaking Athlete's Painful Past; US and Other World Powers Willing to Arm Libyan Troops to Fight ISIS; South African Gay Rugby Club Breaking Stereotypes; O'Hare Airport Experiencing Major Delays. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired May 17, 2016 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:00] ERROL BARNETT, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: It's on. Donald Trump fights the New York Times, Hillary Clinton and Trump fight each other while Bernie Sanders and his supporters fight to stay in the race.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW CO-HOST: Long lines, missed flights. The security backlog that's stranding hundreds of airline customers at some of America's biggest airports.
BARNETT: Also ahead, the record-breaking athlete who is using her painful past to inspire others in the present.
A very warm welcome to those of you watching here in the States and our viewers around the world. I'm Errol Barnett.
CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. Thanks for joining us. This is CNN Newsroom.
BARNETT: It is primary day once again in the U.S., and in just a few hours, voters at opposite ends of the country will cast their ballots.
CHURCH: Yes. Republicans and democrats are voting in Oregon. Kentucky already held its republican caucus, so it's just the democrats this time, and that's where Hillary Clinton is trying to get back on the winning track after losing to Bernie Sanders in West Virginia.
BARNETT: But the republican side of the race is drawing many of the headlines, specifically the New York Times, look at Donald Trump's past behavior toward women.
And as Jim Acosta reports, that's put Trump on the offensive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROWANNE BREWER LANE, FORMER MODEL: He was very genuine, he was very gentleman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: She was a key subject in what looked like a blockbuster New York Times article, depicting Donald Trump as a playboy who objectifies women, but Rowanne Brewer Lane tells CNN, her views on Trump were misrepresented.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LANE: I don't like anything about the story. I'm very upset with the New York Times article because it was completely misleading. They misled me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: That was more than enough for Trump who routinely slams the media at his rally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The world dishonest people, see that? That's the press.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: To blast away at the New York Times, tweeting with the coming forward today of the woman central to the filling New York Times hit piece on me, we have exposed the article as a fraud.
Trump, who's been laying low since his trip to Washington last week has now been subjected to the kind of scrutiny that comes with being a party nominee. Take the Washington Post story claiming Trump once pretended to be his one his P.R. agent, featuring bizarre 25-year-old audio recordings.
Top Trump aid, Paul Manafort has his doubts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL MANAFORT, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I could barely understand it. I couldn't tell who it is. Donald Trump says it's not him. I believe it's not him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Trump is also taking hits from British Prime Minister David Cameron who slams the real estate tycoon's proposal for a temporary ban on Muslims coming into the U.S., as stupid.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It's like we're not going to have a very good relationship. Who knows? I hope to have a good relationship with him, but it sounds like he's not willing to address the problem either.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: President Obama was piling on over the weekend in a commencement address at Rutgers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PRESIDENT: It's not cool to not know what you're talking about.
(APPLAUSE)
That's not keeping it real or telling it like it is. That's just not knowing what you're talking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Much of which why there's still an effort inside the GOP to find somebody to run as a third party candidate. CNN has confirmed Mitt Romney has asked Nebraska senator a never Trump leader ben Sasses to consider it. Also filled in calls billionaire, Mark Cuban.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REINCE PRIEBUS, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: It's a suicide mission because you're not only changing and throwing out eight years of the White House but you're also throwing out potentially generations on the Supreme Court.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: On the V.P. search over the weekend, Ben Carson was quoted as naming Chris Christie, as well as Sarah Palin, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and John Kasich as being on the short list.
Carson back away from those comments on CNN. And top campaign officials tell me Carson was not speaking on behalf of the campaign.
Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.
CHURCH: Joining me now from our New York bureau is republican strategist Brian Morgenstern who was previously supporting Marco Rubio for the republican nomination. Thank you so much for talking with us again.
BRIAN MORGENSTERN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: My pleasure.
CHURCH: Well, the Trump campaign has spent the last few days putting out fires on various issues, including his behavior with women. And now a former Trump girlfriend is disputing the New York Times version of her account of events. What impact is always likely to have on the Trump campaign given his negatives with women voters?
MORGENSTERN: Well, time will tell. It's obviously as you mentioned a sort of damage control and trying to change perception. And the way Trump, you know, the campaign rolls things out like this it's entertaining, it gets into the nitty-gritty; it involves new characters and personalities in this performance art that has been the campaign thus far.
[03:05:04] So people will pay attention. And so, to the extent that it's effective, it's going to reach a wide audience. But in terms of voting, obviously the primaries are largely over on the republican side. So this will be borne out with polling day as we, you know, get closer to the general election and there are more statistics for us to analyze along those lines.
CHURCH: And then of course one of those adviser (ph) over the weekend there was a lot made of Trump apparently pretending to be his own P.R. guy some years back. Is this all just to distract from him failing to release his taxes as some people have suggested? Or is this what we're going to see from now right up until November?
MORGENSTERN: It is sort of classic Trump in that it is this, you know, weird, sort of conspiracy theory, where there's like a smidge of deniability. But not really. And it captivates people. I mean, it's such a bizarre behavior, and sort of funny and a little bit harmless, but it's something that is going to be reported on because it is so weird that to the extent that he's trying to distract.
If that's the goal it's certainly working, it also just keeps his name at the top of the headlines and continues to captivate people with, you know, how strange a character Donald Trump is.
CHURCH: And then, of course, in an interview on I-TV's Good Morning Britain, Trump responded to British Prime Minister David Cameron calling him divisive, stupid and wrong in regards to his temporary ban on all Muslims.
Trump has said he's not stupid. How does that all play out for republicans? Is it embarrassing? Is it cringe worthy?
MORGENSTERN: I think that when a world leader calls out an American, the natural response, at least, oftentimes on the republican side is they want a tough guy. And so, Trump coming out saying, you know, I'm not stupid.
And you're not starting a relationship out very well, you know, basically coming out with that sort of a strong stance is the sort of reaction most republican primary voters would want.
CHURCH: And then of course as this all plays out, we are seeing more of how Trump and Hillary Clinton will likely target each other. Lots of attacks on character and calls for policy details.
Now the Bill Clinton factor in regards to the economy. What advice would you give each side, if you were in the driver's seat for each campaign right now?
MORGENSTERN: Well, obviously, jobs, jobs, jobs. But the other side is the -- the other side of the coin is that, in addition to informing the American people how you're going to get the economy going again, how you're going to protect them from terrorism, those are probably the two key issues.
In addition to that, it's going to be telling them why your opponent shouldn't win. And expect that to be a key focus because negativity drives voter turnout often more than positive -- positivity. And obviously, Hillary is, has already telegraphed, she's going to
come out and say Donald's a loose cannon. He's already telegraphed he's going to come out and call her corrupt because of the foundation issues, the e-mail controversy with classified information being on her own personal e-mail server, and various other lines of attack.
I don't expect either one of them to pull any punches, this is going to be a battle royale. And I think everybody is gearing up for it.
CHURCH: Yes. And negativity as you mentioned. That is always saying right now. We'll see how it all develops. Brian Morgenstern, thank you so much. Pleasure to talk with you.
MORGENSTERN: My pleasure.
And John Kasich is dashing the hopes of some members of the Republican Party.
In an exclusive CNN interview, the former presidential candidate declined to endorse Trump and reiterated he won't be Trump's running mate either.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KASICH, OHIO GOVERNOR: Well, I think that I gave it my best where I am. And I just think running third party doesn't feel right. I think it's not constructive.
I wanted to win, and I wanted to get to an open convention. My basic deal was not to stop somebody else. It was to be about the ideas I have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Now billionaire Mark Cuban says he was approached to run for president against Donald Trump. He says he thinks it's too late to enter to race and he'll probably vote for Hillary Clinton.
CHURCH: The Dallas Maverick's owner says he thinks Trump is as smart as he thinks he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK CUBAN, DALLAS MAVERICK'S OWNER: Now when you have that amount of uncertainty, when there's -- you know, you're flip-flopping, when you're not sure what the candidate's going to say from one thing to another.
That uncertainty, you know, potentially as the president of the United States, that's the last thing Wall Street wants to hear.
And I can say with 100 percent certainty, that there's a really good chance we could see a huge, huge correction, and so all those people that look at him and say, you know what?
This is the guy to ta take on the establishment, this is the guy to change the game, something that I hoped would happen.
[03:10:00] Unless he comes up with concrete examples of what he's going to do, it could really turn Wall Street upside down. And all those 401K's from all of his followers their net worth could fall farther than Donald's would.
CHURCH: Interesting. And as we mention, Tuesday's democratic primaries in Oregon and Kentucky are the next battleground for Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.
BARNETT: Clinton is hoping to win her party's nomination with some leveraging of her most loyal ally.
CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll tell you what the truth is. And you know, it's time people stop listening to republican propaganda about the economy, education and health care.
(CROWD CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: But before she can take on republicans, Hillary Clinton had a more urgent task in mind today. Her battle with Bernie Sanders.
She's hoping to interrupt Sanders' recent winning streak. Campaigning across Kentucky on the eve of Tuesday's primary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I want to help bring back the kind of economy that worked for everybody in the 1990s.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: And revealing more about Bill Clinton and his role in her White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I've already told my husband that if I'm so fortunate enough to be president, and he will be the first gentleman.
(APPLAUSE)
I expect him to go to work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: It's another way to fire up democrats. Offering two Clintons for the price of one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's coming out of retirement.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he does.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: She wants nothing more than to focus exclusively on Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: Here's the question, so what is your plan to create jobs?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: Even envisioning what a debate with him would sound like.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: His answer is "I'm going to create them, they're going to be great. I know how to do it, but I'm not telling you what it is I'm going to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: But Sanders isn't going quietly, campaigning today in Puerto Rico and trying to speak Spanish.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
ZELENY: Clinton is only 140 delegates away from hitting the mark needed to reach the party's nomination. She needs to win only 16 percent of the remaining delegates.
Sanders needs 102 percent, an unreachable goal unless a sudden surge of super delegates suddenly came his way. No matter the size of her lead some Sanders supporters simply won't accept it.
Raw emotions on display at the weekend Nevada democratic convention. Booing, shouting, even a chair being thrown. The fight growing so intense over delegates, authorities shutting down the meeting early.
But this democratic family feud may seem polite, compared to what's awaiting Clinton in her fight with Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: This is crooked Hillary Clinton.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: He's the one person democratic leaders believe can unify their party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CLINTON: I've been called nearly everything, but I've never been called a quitter, and I will not quit on you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: Now her campaign is trying to clarify some of those remarks she made about exactly what role Bill Clinton would serve in her administration. She said he would not be in her cabinet at all. And her spokesman said it's a bit premature to offer any formalized role because of course she does not yet have the nomination and certainly has not yet won the election.
But there is no doubt that she is looking forward to take on Donald Trump but she will not hit that magic threshold of 2,383 delegates until she reaches the California primary on June 7th.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Los Angeles.
BARNETT: Joining me now is Tharon Johnson, he's a former regional director for President Obama's 2012 campaign. Tharon, thanks for joining us.
Secretary Clinton is working hard to woo those Kentucky voters. She's offering Bill Clinton as an economy star. She made more almost a dozen campaign stops in the state over the past week, flooding the air waves with ads. Even though she is well ahead in delegates, how badly does she need the Kentucky win for upticks and for her narrative?
THARON JOHNSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I was happy to see that the campaign is spending time in Kentucky, because quite frankly, Errol, this is what they're really supposed to be doing right now, but the tough position that Hillary Clinton is in right now, is that at a time when she pretty much has the nomination clenched.
I mean, she's only 133 delegates away from basically sealing the nomination, but she's got to spend time in Kentucky because Bernie Sanders has been pretty much on a winning streak and winning some key democratic primary states.
Now one of the things that I was very happy to hear was her tone in Kentucky. I mean, she's talking about, again, strengthening the middle class, she's talking about making sure that we do everything we can to strengthen the Affordable Care Act.
And then she also was talking about jobs, but particularly around the issues of stagnation with women workers. And so at a time when she's in a state that probably is not going to go for her in November, but she was staying on message, which is a general election message so that she'll be prepared to go and beat Donald Trump in November.
[03:15:04] BARNETT: But she still has this Bernie Sanders issue. I mean, what happened in Nevada? You've got Bernie Sanders supporters there who were essentially ready to throw chairs, they were so upset about delegate rules changing in a way that negatively impacted their candidate. Could this outrage show itself, you know, again? JOHNSON: No, I think what's, one thing about what's going on in the
democratic side right now is that if you talk to most voters whether they're Bernie Sanders supporter or Hillary Clinton supporter, they all agree that we've got to be unified to beat Donald Trump in November.
Now Bernie Sanders I think stopped running for president, Errol, about a month and a half ago. And that's when he figured out that it was basically mathematically inconceivable that he could be the nominee for the Democratic Party.
However, with him standing in the race, the Clinton campaign has got to be a little frustrated because they know that they pretty much have this in the bag. But Bernie Sanders, you know, consequently cannot ignore his voters.
I mean, at a time when this guy was raising $40 million in one month, I mean, he's racked up a lot of wins to some key primary states. I mean, he's got to stay in the race and stay strong.
But ultimately, what Hillary Clinton cannot do is al allow Bernie Sanders with his speech that he's really been giving for the last 30 years drive her to the left.
She got to stay in the middle, kind of middle right and to sort of remains, sort of eccentric candidate that can be a, were to go up and beat Donald Trump in November.
BARNETT: Well, I can feel some Bernie Sanders carried for their chairs at the TV right now. What you say he ended his presidential campaign, they would disagree.
But Clinton, we've also seen now. She's starting to mock Donald Trump. Now this is something he does regularly to his opponents, but will that work for her? Will calling him a loose cannon when his unconventional style is part of his appeal really benefit the Clinton campaign?
JOHNSON: Listen, I think that she's basically saying what everyone has seen from Donald Trump since the day that he decided that he wanted to run for president in 2016.
I mean, this is a gentleman who has shown a total disrespect for women. I mean, you've seen the polls. He's doing terrible with women voters. He now says I want to ban all Muslims from coming from the U.S. And then he comes back last week and says, well, I don't really mean all Muslims, I only mean some Muslims in a temporary ban.
And look, we all agree on the democratic side that Donald Trump does not have the temperament nor the experience and nor policy ideas to go and basically lead the United States of America.
And so, I think what you're going to see from Hillary Clinton is a stronger approach, stronger language to really remind the American people when the two are facing each other that this is a race about the future. And this guy is clearly promoting hatred that he's living in the past.
And I think that those two visions are going to be front and center, and I think the American people are going to basically make the right choice, and that choice is going to be Hillary Clinton.
BARNETT: Yes. Lots of important issues. Of course but it's a face that we all do want to see, and as fireworks are guaranteed.
The former retail director for Obama's 2012 presidential campaign, Tharon Johnson, thanks for your time today.
CHURCH: Coming up, some Syrian are returning to their war scared neighborhood in Damascus after fighting pushed them out. But how long could a fragile peace there last? We will go live to the Syrian capital ahead.
BARNETT: Plus, the human trafficking survivor runs ultra-marathons to cope with trauma. She now holds multiple world records and using her journey to empower other survivors. That story, next.
[03:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: I'm Don Riddell with your CNN World Sport headlines.
The head of a security firm has admitted that he accidently left a fake bomb in a toilet at the Manchester United Old Trafford stadium which cause the evacuation of the ground and the abandonment of the United's final Premier League game against Bournemouth.
Chris Reed is the managing director of Security Search Management and Solutions Limited. He said that he was conducting a venue safe awareness training session at the stadium last Wednesday and miscounted all of his training devices back into his bag.
While everything has been unraveling at Old Trafford, it was a different scene in Leicester on Monday as the Foxes basked in their new fan glory.
Leicester's unlikely run for the title has been the story of the season, and they celebrated on the streets with hundreds of thousands of their fans.
Manager Claudio Ranieri said it was unbelievable that the whole city have seemingly turned down to celebrate.
Meanwhile, Chelsea and Tottenham have received record fines following three charges of failing to control their players in their recent Premier League draw. The game produced 12 yellow cards and the fines are over two incidents during the game and one after full time.
Chelsea have to pay $540,000 and Spurs just under $325,000. Chelsea got the bigger fine because they breached the FA's rule on mass confrontations four times since the end of 2014.
That is a quick look at all your sport headlines. I'm Don Riddell. BARNETT: The United States and other world powers say they are open to arming Libyan troops to fight ISIS.
CHURCH: The Libyan government is asking to be exempt from a U.N. arms embargo, saying weapons are need to battle militant groups gaining strength there. There are an estimated 6,000 ISIS fighters in Libya.
BARNETT: The international support group backing peace talks on Syria is meeting at this hour in Vienna, Russia, and the U.S. will be attending.
CHURCH: At the same time, the Syrian government has been pushing its own solution to the ongoing conflict.
Fred Pleitgen is in the Syrian capital with more on that.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Like so many places in Syria, the Qadam neighborhood in Damascus is scarred by five years of war. But now some civilians are returning.
"I was forced out of here three years ago. This is the first time I'm able to go back," this woman says.
The Syrian army says a local reconciliation project helped silence the guns here, enticing some rebels like this man to lay down their arms.
"I think reconciliation like this is the only way forward," he says, "even though it may take time for some rebels to latch on to the idea."
The Syrian military claims between 150 and 200 rebels have defected in Qadam, leading to a dramatic drop in violence. As you can see, there's widespread destruction here in this frontline neighborhood. But believe it or not, the military commander for this district says it could have been even worse.
They wouldn't have had the reconciliation program and the fighting would have gone on even longer.
But the United States and U.N. are skeptical of programs like this one. Instead of local projects, they want to strengthen a nationwide ceasefire in Syria and jump start the political reconciliation process for the whole country.
Many rebel factions also don't trust the Syrian government, believing they'll be locked up or worse if they lay down their guns.
But this member of the Qadam reconciliation council shows me lists of names he claims proves that many rebels are taking up the government's offer.
"The names in green are the ones who have been accepted into national reconciliation," he says. "So they are now free to go anywhere without fearing punishment."
While this project may have yielded some results in this neighborhood of Syria's capital, the U.N. believes only nationwide reconciliation back and supervised by powerful nations like the U.S. and Russia can overcome the distrust between the warring factions and move the effort to end the Syria's civil war forward.
[03:25:09] BARNETT: Fred Pleitgen joins us now live from Damascus this morning. Fred, as you watch that you wonder how viable, does the government think this reconciliation is anywhere else in the country? Or is it more about diplomatic posturing at these peace talks?
PLEITGEN: Yes, certainly. I mean, the Syrian government says that it does believe that this local ceasefire, local reconciliation projects are something that can work in the entire country. It can actually lead to a decrease in violence here in this country.
It's interesting because the Russians are actually, Errol, are also going a similar way on top of the fact that they're part of the U.N. process, they also have troops that are on the ground trying to broker local ceasefire in some of the regions where the Russians hold sway.
But the big problem is that the U.N. says that all of this is something that will undermine the greater political process, the greater diplomatic process that is of course in place.
They think that all of this needs to be one big reconciliation project that's backed by the U.S., backed by Russia, that's also quite frankly, backed by Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia and Iran as well. To make sure that all parties are on board in trying to move this forward.
Otherwise they believe that what you're going to see is divisions among the ranks, on the opposition you'll have some trying to latch on to agreements like the one that you saw in that report. You have others who say absolutely not.
Now at the same time, of course we always have to keep in mind that here in Syria, there are bigger political problems at play as well. On top of the fact that you want a ceasefire for the whole country, there also is something called a political transition process where no side at this point in time is clear how exactly that is going to be filled with life.
So, the larger political issues are something that the U.N. believes these local ceasefires are not going to be able to solve. So, they're quite skeptical of all these, even as the Syrian government and the Russians as well continue to push forward, trying to get these local agreements in place, Errol.
BARNETT: Yes. But still a very interesting angle on this story. Fred Pleitgen live in Damascus, approaching 10.27 in the morning there. Fred, thanks.
CHURCH: A woman who survived human trafficking is urging others to be relentless. We will tell you about the unique and record-breaking running route she created to raise awareness.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK) BARNETT: Welcome back to our viewers in the U.S. and around the world. It's your last 30 minutes of CNN Newsroom with us. I'm Errol Barnett.
CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. We do want to check the headlines for you right now.
Hillary Clinton is hoping to put a stop to the recent string of victories by Bernie Sanders in the U.S. presidential primaries. She has campaigned heavily in Kentucky. Voters there and in Oregon will cast their votes in just a matter of hours.
BARNETT: Donald Trump warns he may not have a good relationship with Britain's Prime Minister if he wins the presidential election.
David Cameron has called the republican candidate's proposal of a temporary ban of Muslims entering the U.S., quote, "divisive, stupid and wrong.
CHURCH: Doctors have performed the first successful penis transplant in the United States. Sixty-four-year-old Thomas Manning's penis was amputated four years ago due to cancer. The operation took 15 hours and a team of more than 50 surgeons, doctors and nurses.
BARNETT: Now we showed you the first part of this report yesterday, an ultra-marathon runner said she wanted to break the world record for the longest triathlon to empower human trafficking survivors. Norma Bastidas survived human trafficking twice.
CHURCH: The running route she chose was specific and her message to survivors clear. Be relentless.
CNN's Kyung Lah has more on her journey in this CNN Freedom Project report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know what's going to make the final cuts hear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hollywood would have a tough time matching the drama of Norma Bastidas' life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were trying to interweave the triathlon with what's happening in human trafficking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: The first woman to run seven of the planet's most unforgiving ultra-marathon on all seven continents received plenty of recognition for the accomplishment. But the world record holder didn't quite feel complete until she came forward about her own violent past. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NORMA BASTIDAS, HUMAN TRAFFICKING SURVIVOR: And I remember being drugged, beat up and almost murdered when I was 24.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: Bastidas was actually trafficked twice, once kidnapped am abused in Mexico City and several years later, lured to Japan by a fake modeling agency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASTIDAS: What I didn't know is that I was being sold to the highest bidder. And I get bought by a very prominent person and I become his property. It was hell. It was hell.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: The abuses suffered in her younger years might have broken most people. But it lit a fire inside Bastidas to do things others might think impossible.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD RILEY, iEMPHATIZE FOUNDER & PRESIDENT: The next thing I know, she's on the phone with me going "I want to do something big for human trafficking, and to face this in my own life and to make it an anthem for other survivors."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: In 2014, Bastidas sent out to break the Guinness record for the world's longest triathlon. Over the course of several months, she ran, biked, and swam more than 3700 miles, traveling from Cancun, Mexico to Washington, D.C., following a known route of human trafficking victims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RILEY: Norma is one of the fiercest women I've ever met.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: Together with the anti-trafficking organization, iEmpathize, Norma's story is now the subject of a documentary called "Be Relentless."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RILEY: After all of this from Cancun to Mexico City to D.C., she did her final leg, all through the night, 24 hours straight, almost 100 miles, and I think what she was trying to tell everyone was sometimes you have to face new challenges, even when you've conquered old ones.
BASTIDAS: Human trafficking is what happened to you, it's not who you are. Every single time we doubt that a victim has potential, we are saying because of what happened, it's your fault. And that's so wrong. We can prove that we can overcome anything. We're here. We're standing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: And that may be the greatest ending of all.
[03:35:00] Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.
BARNETT: So inspirational.
CHURCH: She's amazing.
BARNETT: Definitely. Now the next part of our Freedom Project series, you'll meet a young woman who fell victim to slavery without even realizing it was happening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you ever think to yourself, this is not normal, they're treating me as a slave?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (TRANSLATED): No, I saw that as you give me work and you give me a roof over my head. I didn't think of it as slavery.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As the workload increased the amount of food she was allowed to eat decreased. Finally, she says, when she felt she could no longer take more beatings or humiliation, things got much worse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: This time tomorrow, her harrowing journey and her brave escape. It's all part of the Freedom Project series, surviving to thriving, only here on CNN.
Well, the U.S. State Department has some urgent advice for would-be travelers. Don't go to North Korea. They've told all Americans in unusually blunt terms to avoid the hermit kingdom.
BARNETT: Now this comes as the U.S. and its allies further prepare their defenses in case North Korea launches an attack.
Now Chicago's O'Hare International Airport is always busy, right? But the lines have never looked quite like this. We'll explain what's causing this bottleneck.
CHURCH: Plus, South Africa's first gay Rugby Club is shattering the sport's stereotypes. What they're doing to break down barriers and draw fans to their matches. That's coming up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Unusually long security lines are frustrating airline passengers across the U.S. Chicago's O'Hare Airport is getting some of the worst of it. Travelers trying to get through there are waiting for hours in the transportation security line.
Some 450 people missed their flights on Sunday alone. Employees say that's a high total for an entire week.
[03:40:03] BARNETT: And this is scary for those of us who is still need to travel or are possibly traveling right now. Many people have to sleep in cots. They've got nowhere else to go.
Lawmakers are urging airlines to get rid of checked bag fees to try and speed things alone. But for now passengers have no choice but to tough it out.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's not enough lanes open right now, obviously, if there's people backed up to almost the doors.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were just in security for almost two hours, and runs for the gate. And it was three minutes shy of the door closing. So we got a hotel in our back and hopefully...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got here about three, two and a half hours early and it still wasn't enough time. I had to go back to my friend's place and try it again this morning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: You'd be pretty angry with that, wouldn't you?
BARNETT: Oh, yes.
CHURCH: The TSA says it hopes to add nearly 800 new officers by this summer, but the union that represent TSA employees says they need 6,000 new employees to handle the demands.
BARNETT: That is just incredible.
Now May is starting off to a sizzling start across the Middle East's summer-like heat baked the region.
Our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now from the International Weather Center as we discussed this can possibly be deadly.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely.
BARNETT: But in full that is uncomfortable and a horrible situation for them.
JAVAHERI: It is. It's too early. You know, summer doesn't even start for six weeks. Typically it's not the beginning of summer that's the hottest time of the year, it's the middle of July, about three to four weeks after that.
So, and of course we're talking in the middle of May right now. We're seeing mid-summer temperatures, and that's a big time concern. You get these multiple days, multiple weeks and the longevity of that weighs on the people that are exposed to the elements.
And of course a lot of these places air conditioning is not available. So, it makes them very dangerous as well.
So, we'll show you what happened here. Because these temperatures, we're talking 15 to 20 degrees above what is normal. Take it to Middle East. If Errol lived in Abu Dhabi and Rosemary has lived in places like Australia where temperatures get very hot sometime in the offseason.
But when you look at what has transpired in Basra which is in southern Iraq right there, where temperatures made it up to 47 degrees Celsius, that's 117 Fahrenheit on Monday afternoon, 37 Celsius or 99 Fahrenheit is what is normal.
So, yes, you sit around 100 degrees in the month of May that's normal, but 117 is certainly is astonishing. And you take a look at places like Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Temperatures into the mid-40s Celsius. It's 108, 109 Fahrenheit. Same story out of Abadan in Iran.
So, this pattern really an incredible pattern. And you notice the forecast it wants to cool it off and it goes right back up again to record territory. And of course, this is not out of the ordinary of what's happened in recent days.
The month of April, on the 28th of April, actually, Baghdad made it up to 42 Celsius, 107 Fahrenheit. That in fact was the single hottest April temperature that ever observed. The previous record was sitting at 39.
And take you towards India because it is widespread even out of the Middle East. If you take a look this is a roadside pool stand. A gentleman trying to make a living selling what would be a popular item, doing hard work, pumping it more heavy there as he's selling in these extreme temperatures.
But on Monday, NASA released information saying that now we are going on 12 consecutive months where the months, respective months is the hottest single month on record. So, April 2016, the hottest April ever observed. Go all the way back towards May of 2015. Each one of these months circled, hottest month ever observed since 1880.
That's an incredible pattern. Of course when you take a look at the year 2015, which was easily the hottest year ever observed. Look at 2016, look at how it is running away from these numbers.
And what's really concerning is when you look outside of just the temperatures, we know carbon dioxide levels, of course the greenhouse gas it traps heat that leads to these warmer temperatures.
For the first time ever they are sitting above 400 hundred parts per million. That's a number that 400 parts per million as scientists have always said if you get to that level, it is a bad place to be. We never thought we'd get above 350. It's just about a decade ago.
Now it looks like even when the seasonal variations are in place and that number comes down it would fail to drop below 400. And that's a scary, scary thought just to see that in place there with.
BARNETT: That is sobering stuff, Pedram.
CHURCH: Yes.
BARNETT: But we're thrill to know. Thanks a lot.
JAVAHERI: Thanks for having me.
CHURCH: Thank you.
Well, in sports-crazed South Africa, rugby equals manliness. But now the country's first gay Rugby club is challenging stereotypes with a new campaign.
CNN's David McKenzie has the story.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In South Africa, rugby has always been for manner. Rough translation, for real men.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of us that plays are gay. To be openly gay in the environment could have been I think something that can just a settle hostile environment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZIE: The Jozi Cats is Africa's first Gay rugby club.
And they've put on their provocative campaign. Posing for the camera. And using the very slurs they've heard on the playing field, to break down barriers and to recruit new players.
[03:45:08] It gets down right cheeky.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The great thing about this rugby team is whether you're gay, straight or bisexual; you can be just yourself and play in our rugby team.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZIE: Gay rugby is big with the World Cup and more than 70 teams globally, but not here in rugby powerhouse South Africa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS VERRIJDT, HVAS HEAD: Why are we still having conversations 20 years into -- 22 years into our democracy when we're still talking about inclusion in sport.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZIE: Even after tonight's loss, still reason to celebrate. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the roughest, toughest looking fairy I've
seen in a while.
MCKENZIE: Jozi Cats say it's high time for African rugby's coming out party.
CHURCH: And we are joined now by David McKenzie live from Johannesburg. So, David, give us an idea of just how big gay rugby is globally.
MCKENZIE: Well, it's become very big, Rosemary. Gay and inclusive rugby as I said in that report, there's some 70 teams around the world, particularly in the U.S. and U.K. They compete at the Bingham Cup, which is their equivalent of the World Cup which happens next week in the U.S.
It's really a way, say these players, to have a safe, inclusive environment to play the sport that they love, because still, there is this sense that homophobia is rife within organized sport.
Both the very sort of dangerous kind and the kind of players that I speak who talked about that kind of jocular humor that they find that makes people who might not be secure in their sexual orientation, somewhat uncomfortable. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Incredible. All right. David McKenzie joining us there from Johannesburg. Thanks so much for that great report. I appreciate it.
BARNETT: Now the International Space Station hits a cosmic milestone. Just ahead, we'll talk with a national who's been on the Space Station about what makes this achievement so remarkable.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JAVAHERI: It's time for Weather Watch across the America. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with you.
Watching the pattern around the Central United States right now with the thunderstorm have been really roaring the last couple of days across this region and the rainfall really becomes the prominent story the next couple of days.
Look at northern Texas, City of Dallas under the bull's eye here for upwards of a quarter of a meter of rainfall. This is going through Friday, so you know the rainfall amounts across Texas really going to be the highlight zone as far as what is expected across the area.
You notice the Tuesday forecast keeps the severe weather in place, shifts the energy a little farther to the south as far as the most active weather is concerned, around San Antonio onto Austin.
The other big story is going to be a warming trend. The U.S. capital is going to begin to see those temps rise pretty significantly the next couple of days, up to 22 degrees by Friday afternoon.
Here in around Charlotte into the mid-20s, Atlanta wants to warm up before it cools off a little bit. No complaints around this parts when you talk about a typically being well-above those temps into this early into the month of May.
But here's what's going on around the national picture. We know Denver on the cooler side there at 9 degrees. How about San Francisco, a little blustery, but a 26-degree afternoon. Certainly a beautiful perspective across that region.
On California and to the south we go around Kingston, Jamaica, blustery conditions is expected, 33 degrees. Belize City also looking at 33. It should be a little dry across that region.
The area with wet weather I think Southern Venezuela looking at some thunderstorms in the afternoon.
[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: You are looking at a historic launch in November of 1998, a Russian rocket took what would become the very first piece of the International Space Station up into orbit.
Seventeen and a half years later, the Space Station has hit a cosmic milestone, completing its 100,000 orbit around the earth Monday.
BARNETT: Now that is over 2.6 billion miles traveled or 4 billion kilometers. What does that mean? Well, that's equal trips between Earth and Mars. And what was initially just a single piece is now bigger than a football field.
CHURCH: For more on this milestone in space, we are joined by Leroy Chiao, he is a retired astronaut and former commander on the International Space Station.
BARNETT: Leroy, welcome. Thanks so much for being with us down here on earth. It's great to see you. And we should note -- you know, you are one of the more than 200 astronauts and cosmonauts from what, 18 nations. You've had the privilege of being aboard the International Space Station.
I'm just wondering in what ways did working there, we know you have to train for such a long time. But once you worked there, did it change your world view at all?
LEROY CHIAO, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Well, absolutely. I mean, before my space station flight I'd flown three shuttle missions. The shuttle missions were 10 to 14 days in duration.
On my space station flight, I went six and a half months or 193 days. So it was a totally different experience, and it really does make you think about what's important. It's, you know, looking down at the earth. It's just a fantastic experience. And 100,000 orbits, that's quite the milestone.
CHURCH: It certainly is. It's very impressive. And Leroy, when you look at that milestone, do you wonder and dream where this all may go? What do you see as the ultimate goal here? CHIAO: Well, I mean, Space Station is really a stepping stone towards
our next big goal, which is to get human beings onto the surface of Mars. And the reason the Space Station works like is because, you know, it actually turns out that space is not very friendly to living systems to biological systems from the earth.
The biggest technical challenge is biomedical, how to keep the astronauts healthy on the way to and back from Mars as well as on the stay on the surface. I mean, there are a lot of different things that occurred to the human body in space.
But most importantly, once you get be on the earth by its interior you're exposed to a lot more radiation than you're near or here on earth or even in the lower orbit on space station.
So, Space Station is a key steppingstone, a key proving ground to these biomedical countermeasures so we have to develop before we can safely send astronauts to Mars.
BARNETT: And it took billions of dollars and years of research to get to this point. I mean, we're seeing some of the nice pictures, but there is so much that comes out of missions like this.
How do you make the case, though, that it's worth it for countries to fund such an expensive endeavor? Not just, you know, the Space Station, but a controversial mission to Mars, for example, which some people don't think is what we should be doing?
CHIAO: Well, I mean, bottom line is we, as human beings as a species we love to explore. I mean, that's we are, it's part of the human experience. I mean, whether it's the top of large mountaintops or down to the depths of the seas or out into space. I mean, that's just who we are.
And we identify with putting humans out on the pointing end of the atmosphere and whether that's going into lower orbit, to the moon or to Mars. I mean, we just keep pushing farther and farther.
And so, to the people who say it's not worth it. I mean, the fact is we spend less than one half of one percent of the U.S. budget on space exploration, on NASA.
And, you know, that's such a small amount of the return that we get off of it, not just in technical setoff but in, you know, things that is less tangible like national prestige and inspiring the next generation, those are things that are just totally, you know, invaluable. It's worth it.
CHURCH: Right. Yes, firing back at the critics there. Leroy Chiao, a retired astronaut and former commander on the International Space Station.
[03:55:01] Thank you so much for joining us.
CHIAO: Yes. My pleasure.
BARNETT: Thanks, Leroy.
CHIAO: You bet.
BARNETT: Now one more quick story for you. The Berlin mall is usually a shopper's paradise in Germany, but it became much more than that on Monday.
CHURCH: A thousand musicians gathered at the mall to play in a symphonic flash mob. Many from the German symphonic orchestra, but many other amateur musicians joined in as well.
Music scores were available, were download ahead of the event. And all ages and levels of musicianship were encouraged to participate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I look at the people that came, that it's nice that children come and older people come, and there are many generations together. And I think it's a nice opportunity to make many generations work together on something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: The musicians played for about 1500 spectators in what an orchestra spokesperson called an overwhelming success. How cool it is to stumble onto that.
CHURCH: Yes. Fantastic. So many people. And thanks for watching CNN. I'm Rosemary Church.
BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. Please connect with us on Twitter anytime. We have a face swap surprise there for you right now. Early Start is next for those of you in the States.
CHURCH: And for everyone else, stay tuned for another edition of CNN Newsroom live from London with our Max Foster.
Have a great day.
BARNETT: See you.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
