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Real Madrid Celebrates Champions League Win; 6-year-old Refugee Boy Dying of Muscular Dystrophy; Violent Scuffles at Australia Immigration Rally; Zoo Team Shoots Gorilla That Grabbed Child; American Jailed in Congo; Warring Sides of UK Referendum Debate Brexit; Bernie Sanders Battles for California; Obama's Post- Presidential Residence; Aging U.S. Railways in Disrepair, Poor Condition; War Veteran Builds Greenhouse to Help Communities; "Top Gear" Back With New Team. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired May 29, 2016 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:11] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Celebrating a record-setting victory. Real Madrid after winning the most important prize in European football.
Zika sparks a medical disagreement. The World Health Organization pushes back against dozens of doctors who are pleading to hold off on the Olympic Games.
And clashing over immigration. Violence erupts between two rival protest groups in Australia.
Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm George Howell. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
They did it again. Real Madrid and their fans basking in the glory of the club's 11th Champions League title.
"We are the champions of the world." Crowds waited all night to see the heroes lift that coveted trophy. The stars paraded the prize through the heart of the city. But all of Madrid is not celebrating. Real beat cross-town rival Atletico Madrid on penalty kicks in the final.
"WORLD SPORT's" Alex Thomas is live in Madrid and joins us now to talk more about the celebrations there. What's it like?
ALEX THOMAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: George, hi, good morning from Madrid, in Spain, where the authorities are getting pretty used to clearing up after a party. They had to do it twice now in the last three years and as I speak around the Cibeles Fountain behind me, you can see that the scaffolding is being packed away and they're clearing up the sort of ticker tape style streamers that were released and seemed to have gone everywhere this morning.
As I walk through my hotel about 15 minutes away to come here to broadcast to you, you could feel the pavement sticky with overnight alcohol and other less pleasant liquid through the night before. We've all been through the streets where there's been a massive party. We know what it's like. It smelt. It reeked. But hey, the Real Madrid fans clearly had a good time.
Around 30,000 or so gathering here in the early hours of the morning. The match finishing before midnight local time but they stayed all through the night to wait for the team to fly back from Milan, here to their home city. The team coming on a coach here, parading the Champions League trophy.
Everyone was having a good time, even our cameraman, Alfonso, got up on the stage. The DJ stopped and said, hey, you're on CNN, and they all went wild. I think they cheered just about anybody. The bar Atletico were doing the course. Their bitter rivals who they beat in the final.
So how did they do it? Well, it was a bit of a mirror image of the final two years ago where Real had led most of the game. Sorry, Atletico led most of the game, and Real got a late goal. This time, it was Atletico leading for most of the final. Real equalized near the end. Half an hour of extra time, you need no further goals, so Real Madrid won in the penalty shootout. Misery for Atletico boss Diego Simeone.
That club still has never won European club football's biggest competition. Real had won it a record extending 11 times. And their coach Zinedine Zidane is the seventh now to win it as both a player and a coach. The first French coach ever to lift the title, we're told. And this is what both managers had to say afterwards.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZINEDINE ZIDANE, REAL MADRID COACH (Through Translator): Since I am a positive man, I have a such a fantastic team that has worked very hard, the message is this, we have worked. We have fought for it. And when you have players of such great talent, then you can manage something great like what we have achieved tonight.
DIEGO SIMEONE, ATLETICO MADRID COACH (Through Translator): What is clear for me is that no one ever remembers who came second. To lose two finals is a failure and I need to accept this moment, licking my wounds at home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS: Despite the defeat, Diego Simeone is still revered by Atletico Madrid fans, yet he wouldn't pledge his future to the club next season. He's clearly going to have to reflect on his future as the sun comes in and out here in Madrid. It was pretty miserable last night. It could be a sunny day here. Certainly sunny for Real Madrid.
Zinedine Zidane surely will continue as coach now. He only came in halfway through the season after the previous coach, Rafael Benitez, was deemed a failure and left the club. So the future is bright for Zidane. Already he was a legendary player. Now achieving much as a coach it seems as well.
There will be more official celebrations here in Madrid on Sunday with another trophy parade ending up at their Bernabeu Stadium that had 80,000 fans in it last night, George. And that isn't even where the game was being played. They were just there to watch the match on big screens and celebrate with one another.
HOWELL: Alex, hopefully you get sun and hey, watch your step out there on the streets of Madrid.
Alex Thomas, thank you so much.
Talking the Olympics now. The World Health Organization says the games should go on. The WHO was responding to an open letter from a group of doctors who said the upcoming Rio Olympics should be moved or delayed because of the Zika virus.
[05:05:10] Brazil has been the epicenter of that outbreak. The WHO says it has a good understanding of the virus at this point and the health risks associated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. BRUCE AYLWARD, EXEC. DIR., OUTBREAKS AND HEALTH EMERGENCIES, WHO: WHO's response to the concern about the timing of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro is that based on a very careful risk assessment and all the information we've gathered so far about this disease, these games should go ahead as planned and we should continue to work to make sure they're safe as possible.
If there should be something spectacularly new in terms of the kind of disease it caused in the adult population, the consequences, then you have to do a reassessment of the overall risks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: Olympic officials in Brazil say they will continue to follow the WHO's guidance and that there are no plans to postpone or relocate the games.
The Russian Olympic Committee says that some of its athletes may have tested positive for doping. On Friday, the International Committee announced 23 samples from the 2012 London Games tested positive. Russian Olympic officials say eight of those belonged to Russian athletes from three different sports. No names have been released at this point. 14 Russians also failed doping tests retroactively that were conducted on samples from the 2008 Beijing Games.
On to Iraq now. Pro-government fighters say they have found underground tunnels built by ISIS on the outskirts of Fallujah. Those fighters are from the popular mobilization units. Mostly Shiite paramilitary groups formed to fight ISIS. They say the tunnels were used by ISIS to approach and escape from the front lines. Iraq has been engaged in this operation to retake Fallujah for the past week now.
Migrants by the thousands are still being pulled from unsafe boats in the Mediterranean. The Italian Navy is bringing hundreds of those migrants back to port along with several of the bodies of those who did not survive. The Italian Coast Guard said Saturday it rescued almost 2,000 people within 24 hours. It says, in all, this past week, some 14,000 people were saved from flimsy overloaded boats at sea. Still there are fears that possibly hundreds more migrants may have drowned.
Across the Mediterranean a family living in a refugee camp waits for a little boy to die. He has an incurable disease that would be treatable if only he were living in a different situation.
CNN's Atika Shubert has this exclusive report for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Alyaman Daar is 6 years old. He cannot swallow food. He breathes with difficulty. He has advanced muscular dystrophy.
Zaher Sahloul is a Syrian doctor treating Alyaman, but this is no hospital room. This is a tent at a makeshift camp inside a highway petrol station in Greece.
ZAHER SAHLOUL, SYRIAN DOCTOR: He's clearly dehydrated. If he is in a place where -- with good access to health care, he would -- should receive IV fluid, should receive oxygen. He may need to be on a ventilator.
SHUBERT: He sleeps all day. His mother, Johaina, must wake him to feed him like a baby bird.
(On camera): His father just showed me this photo taken 10 months ago before they came here, and in that time, as you can see, he's deteriorated very quickly. He's not eating any food and the only way to feed him is with a syringe feeding him milk.
(Voice-over): Johaina and Wasel Daar have three children. At home in Deir ez-Zor, Syria, they could bring Alyaman to a hospital for therapy. But then the war came. Fighting closed off access to the hospitals and the family fled on foot, by car, by boat, but after three months of waiting at refugee camps in Greece, doctors say it's too late.
(On camera): So how are you preparing yourself for the possibility that he may not survive?
(Voice-over): She answers, "It comes from God so we must accept it. But now I worry about my daughter. I don't want her to suffer like her brother."
One-year-old Bisan is now showing similar symptoms. She can no longer crawl and her tiny hands can barely grasp his father's finger. Her older sister, 3-and-a-half-year-old Lyan, has no symptoms so far. There is no cure for muscular dystrophy. It's a genetic disorder that causes weakness and eventually loss of muscle mass. But regular therapy and medication can ease symptoms and prolong life. But that is medical care that Alyaman's parents can only dream of. [05:10:04] Johaina is clearly overwhelmed and she begins to cry. "I
wish I could have found access to proper medical care for my son, but being here in this tent, his health has only gotten worse." She clings to the hope that the family will be allowed to find a home in Europe before it's too late.
Atika Shubert, CNN, at the Eko refugee camp, near Idomeni, Greece.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Since Atika filed that report for us, the family has been granted emergency medical admission to Switzerland. His doctor says his condition may improve but he remains terminally ill.
Tempers rose over a hot-button issue. The issue of immigration in Melbourne, Australia as rival groups of demonstrators clash in the streets, dozens of police tried to keep anti-racism and anti- immigration protesters apart but they kept finding ways to get back at each other and scuffle.
Sky News reporter Jackson Williams has this story from Australia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JACKSON WILLIAMS, SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA: Police knew rival protest groups would be gathering here, two groups with very differing views on multiculturalism. Police say the violence here today wasn't isolated to one group. They have condemned all involved.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am really disappointed. I think that Coburg is a fantastic place to be. We worked really closely with the council. And I think that some of those arrangements made this not as bad as it could have been. Unfortunately, we are starting to see more and more of these protests in the street.
WILLIAMS: Seven people were arrested here, five for their behavior while two others were arrested for possessing weapons. Police say only three people received minor injuries. And they say that is a reflection of their preparation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We did have a large number of resources today and that was as a result of the planning. So as predicted, we were able to deal with the violence as it occurred. And more importantly, we were flexible enough in our deployment.
WILLIAMS: The local Greens candidate was due to speak at the No Racism in Moreland rally. She pulled out, citing safety fears. Her party's leader, Richard Di Natale, says the violence is unacceptable.
Police will set up a task force to investigate today's event. They say the violence is simply unacceptable. And all those responsible will be brought to justice.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: That was Jackson William of Sky News Australia reporting for us.
And in Germany, a politician known for speaking out against immigration is facing some backlash from anti-fascists and angry activists threw chocolate cake at the chairwoman of an opposition group -- look at that. Ouch, it's not a good look. That happened at a meeting on Saturday. The politician has been criticized for her anti-migrant comments in the past saying Germany should limit the number of refugees that it lets into its country.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Still ahead, lightning strikes in France and German, injured more than a dozen people including children.
Plus, a U.S. zookeeper fatally shot one of their gorillas at a zoo on Saturday. Why they had to when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:16:00] HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell. At least 14 people were injured by lightning strikes in France and Germany. Eight children and three adults were hurt when lightning hit a park in Paris. Three of the children suffered life-threatening injuries, two others are listed in critical condition.
And in Western Germany, lightning hit a youth football match. Three adults were severely injured there and 29 children sent to a hospital as a precaution.
Let's bring in our meteorologist Karen Maginnis at the International Weather Center to talk about how dangerous it can be when lightning, you know, is out there. Don't get under trees for this one.
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Exactly. And this is kind of the situation that we like to revisit all the time because sometimes people forget that to stand under a tree -- a tree is actually conducting the lightning. So very dangerous situation. You need to take cover inside of a building and we actually had a report of a possible fatality in Poland due to lightning as well. So it was scattered all across Europe.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MAGINNIS: Back to you, George.
HOWELL: Looks like it will be a soaker. Karen, thank you very much.
A U.S. zoo response team shot and killed one of their gorillas on Saturday. The team acted after the animal grabbed the child who had slipped into its enclosure. The zoo says that the boy was in a life- threatening situation.
Angela Ingram has the story from CNN affiliate WKRC in Ohio.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANGELA INGRAM, WKRC REPORTER: Three gorillas were in their habitat this afternoon when a 4-year-old boy climbed through a small opening and fell roughly 10 feet into the enclosure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a lot of panic. We heard some gorillas.
INGRAM: This is older video of the gorillas. Harambe, a male that just turned 17 years old yesterday, according to the zoo's Web site, picked up the boy who was splashing in the mote. A family that witnessed it called it horrific. They asked us not to show their faces.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was being dragged by the gorilla and then the gorilla took him to one end of the -- his habitat and the little boy started screaming again and the gorilla dragged him back again.
INGRAM: The zoo's dangerous animal response team weighed options to save the boy.
[05:20:04] Zoo workers say Harambe weighed more than 400 pounds and while he was not attacking the boy, he could have easily killed the small child. While the team was working to stop the threat, families nearby were wondering what was going on.
PATRICIA HARVEY, ZOO VISITOR: We loved the zoo. It's very friendly and everything is beautiful here but when you see something like that and then you have the disappointment because what do you say to your grandchildren?
INGRAM: Medics say the incident lasted 10 to 15 minutes. While zoo workers removed two other gorillas, Harambe still had a grip on the boy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was down and witnessed him being thrown in the air and the gorilla climbed up the ladder with him.
INGRAM: Ultimately, the team shot and killed Harambe. The zoo said it had to be done to save the boy's life.
THANE MAYNARD, DIRECTOR, CINCINNATI ZOO: It's a sad day all the way around. The right choice was made. It was a difficult choice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: That was Angela Ingram reporting for us from our affiliate WKRC in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The leaders of France and Germany are marking the 100th anniversary of the longest battle of World War I. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande there to lay wreaths at a war cemetery in northeastern France near what was the battlefield of Verdun. Hundreds of thousands of French and German soldiers died during 10 months of fighting there in 1916. Both leaders have said that the joint remembrance reflects the close ties that now exist between both Germany and France.
You're looking again at live images as this happens. Listen in.
French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel coming together to remember two countries that fought together in war.
A U.S. citizen working as a security adviser in the Democratic Republic of Congo is behind bars facing allegations of being a mercenary. But U.S. officials say he's just caught up in the middle of a political power struggle and wrongly accused.
CNN's Jonathan Mann has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN MANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): American contractor Darryl Lewis was doing his job. He and three others were hired to provide security advice to DRC opposition candidate, Moise Katumbi, ahead of a highly volatile presidential run. Without warning, police raided a Katumbi rally on April 24th, firing tear gas and ammunition into the crowd.
The Jones Group International says three of its contractors managed to escape. Darryl Lewis did not. He was arrested. And despite not being formally charged with a crime, remains behind bars in Kinshasa.
Katumbi is seen as the most viable candidate to unseat current president Joseph Kabila, who's constitutionally barred from running again but far from eager to relinquish power. Several weeks after the rally, the Kabila government arrested and charged Katumbi with hiring mercenaries in a plot to overthrow the president, a move critics see as a ploy to postpone elections scheduled for November and extend his presidency.
MATEBA LUHUNGA, CIVIL SOCIETY ACTIVIST (Through Translator): What is going on is that this is a political trial, that's all, in order to block a candidate who was expressing himself, a candidate who wants to prepare for November 19th this year so he may present himself for the elections and may get the people's vote.
MANN: The DRC's justice minister says Darryl Lewis, who was not armed at the time of his arrest and was in the country on a legal work visa, is one of those mercenaries. The U.S. State Department adamantly refutes the claim in a statement to CNN.
"We are concerned that the Minister of Justice is using the case of a detained American to manufacture claims of USA mercenaries in the DRC. We have no reason to believe such claims. We are aware of the detention of American citizen Darryl Lewis, who was working in Katanga province as a private security advisor. Again, we have no reason to believe claims of mercenary activity by U.S. citizens in the DRC."
The DRC embassy in Washington has not returned our calls for comment. And Lewis remains a political pawn in a country marred by corruption with a president who doesn't want to give way.
Jonathan Mann, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Iran has opened the first session of its new parliament. Members were sworn in on Saturday with top government officials attending the ceremony. President Hassan Rouhani addressed the session, saying the country is aiming for 8 percent economic growth.
[05:25:05] 60 percent of the new parliament are first timers and will serve on through May 2020.
The British will head to the polls on June 23rd to vote on whether or not to stay in the European Union. Both -- two British members of the European parliament are on warring sides of this debate and they are making their case for and against the Brexit.
We hear more now from our reporter Erin McLaughlin.
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union? The answer to that question rests with the British people but will no doubt have a huge impact here, the heart of the European capital. We're here to put that to two British members of the European parliament on opposite sides of the debate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CAMPBELL BANNERMAN, BRITISH MEMBER, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: I want the U.K. to leave the European Union in order to take back control of our own country.
RICHARD HOWITT, BRITISH MEMBER, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: And I think Britain should remain in the European Union because all of our history has been about engagement in Europe to end war, to promote peace, and to promote prosperity for our people.
MCLAUGHLIN (on camera): This is the European Commission, the executive arm of the E.U. where legislation is proposed and enforced. So what does that mean to you?
CAMPBELL BANNERMAN: To me, this is unaccountable, undemocratic, and this is where the power is. It's not with our Westminster parliament anymore. It's here.
HOWITT: They're professional civil servants doing a very important job. And the French, the Germans, the Spanish, the Italians, they're proud of their countries. They control their destinies. They don't think that the people inside that building a threat, and neither do I, from Great Britain.
MCLAUGHLIN: The European Council set the political direction for the E.U., includes heads of state or government from 23 member states. Are you concerned about the influence here waning? Are you worried about the E.U. without the U.K.?
HOWITT: For the United States, it's been very good to have Britain on the inside of the European Union because on an issue like the invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions on Russia we've helped bolster the European position. CAMPBELL BANNERMAN: The point is we're not leaving Europe. A lot of
people equate the E.U. with Europe. It's not. We're not leaving Europe.
MCLAUGHLIN: Do you think this council is important?
CAMPBELL BANNERMAN: It's important to the European Union. Friendly relations will continue but just in a different way.
MCLAUGHLIN: The European parliament is one of the largest lawmaking bodies in the world. How important is Europe to the British identity?
HOWITT: I'm English, but I'm also from the United Kingdom. I'm a European. And I'm a citizen of the world. And I don't see these as competing identities.
CAMPBELL BANNERMAN: This is all about creating a super state, and I think it's either we stay in the super state or we leave, we get back our sovereignty and run our own country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: You can find out more about the U.K. referendum and the fight over Brexit on our Web site, that is at CNN.com/ukreferendum.
The battle for California is on and Democrat Bernie Sanders says he's in it to win it. We will take you to the Golden State coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:31:30] HOWELL: Welcome back to our viewers around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. It is good to have you with us. I'm George Howell with the headlines we're following for you this hour.
Real Madrid and their fans, they are celebrating after the club won the Championship League final, the 11th time to do so in their history. Real beat Atletico on penalty kicks by three after 1-1 draw and extra time. The Madrid clubs also faced each other two years ago in the Championship League final. Real won that match as well.
The World Health Organization says it conducted a very careful risk assessment and determined the Rio Olympics should go on. It responded to an open letter from a group of doctors who say the Zika epidemic poses too great a risk to public health. Brazil has been the epicenter of the Zika outbreak.
Lightning strikes in France and Germany. Injured at least 14 people on Saturday. Eight children and three adults were hurt, some critically, when lightning struck a park in Paris. n western Germany, three adults were severely injured when lightning
hit a local football match there.
America's choice 2016, Bernie Sanders is battling it out for California. Ahead of that state's primary on June 7th and despite trailing far behind Hillary Clinton in the number of delegates, the Vermont senator says the Democratic nomination, it is still his for the taking.
CNN's Dan Simon has more from California.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bernie Sanders doesn't seem to care that Hillary Clinton has what appears to be an insurmountable lead when it comes to the delegate math. He is campaigning hard in California. He had this event at Santa Barbara City College. He has a few others today.
He is calling California the most important battle in this primary season. Right now, the polls, show a statistical dead heat. Secretary Clinton's lead has now essentially vanished.
Now one of the lines that seem to draw the biggest applause had to do with Donald Trump. As we know, Bernie Sanders challenged Donald Trump to a debate. Trump seemed open to it, then changed his mind. This is what Sanders had to say.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump initially said, yes, then he said, no. Then he said yes, then he said no. So I think for a guy who changes his position so many times, I would hope he would change it one more time and say yes.
SIMON: Now if somehow Sanders can win the primary on June 7th in California, it will certainly strengthen his argument that superdelegates should come over to his side. Of course, that is a farfetched scenario. The more realistic scenario is that it would give him more leverage when it comes to the party's platform at the convention in Philadelphia.
Dan Simon, CNN, Santa Barbara, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: While Republicans and Democrats don't pick their presidential nominees until July, the Libertarian Party is picking its standard bearer later Sunday. It's holding its national convention in Orlando, Florida.
Third parties have rarely done well in U.S. presidential elections but a recent poll shows nearly half of registered voters say they would consider a third party candidate over the current candidates, Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.
Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson said that he is ready to take on Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[05:35:01] GARY JOHNSON, LIBERTARIAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You know, I really don't even want to comment on Donald Trump. I really don't. I really think that when Donald Trump talks about deporting 11 million illegal immigrants, that's just wrong. When he talks about building a fence across the border, that's just wrong. When he talks about killing the families of Muslim terrorists that is just wrong.
When he talks about free market but he's going to force Apple to make their iPads and iPhones in the United States, that's just wrong. When he talks about a 35 percent tariff, that's just wrong. When he says he's going to bring back water boarding or torture or whatever, whatever he's taking, that's just wrong. He's just wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: As a Libertarian nominee back in 2012, Johnson netted less than 1 percent of the popular vote and that was the party's second strongest showing ever.
Washington's most famous family will soon be packing up and saying so long to the White House. So where will the Obamas call home once the president leaves office?
Our Brian Todd looks into it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It may be about as close to feeling like you live in the White House as a former president can get. A grand foyer with marble flooring, a gourmet kitchen with hardwood floors and six-burner stove, an expansive fenced-in backyard.
This swanky multimillion dollar mansion in one of Washington's most desired neighborhoods may be the post-presidential home of Barack and Michelle Obama. Tonight, neither the first couple nor the White House will confirm if the Obamas have signed the lease on this nine-bedroom, eight-and-a-half bath brick Tudor.
(On camera): But sources tell CNN they have settled on a home in Washington's upscale Kalorama neighborhood.
(Voice-over): The president has said they'll stay in Washington for a couple years after leaving the White House to accommodate his younger daughter.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because transferring someone in the middle of high school would really be tough.
TODD: The house was sold in 2014 for more than $5 million and it's now owned by Joel Lockhart, who was White House press secretary under Bill Clinton. Lockhart wouldn't comment on the reports first made by "Politico" that he is leasing to the Obamas for an estimated rental price of $22,000 a month, but experts say it's the kind of property a president would want.
Woodrow Wilson lived in this neighborhood. Hillary Clinton owns a house nearby. The house also has an au pair suite, which could accommodate Marion Robinson, Michelle Obama's mother. She's lived with the family at the White House. But there are some features that may have to change in order for the Secret Service to continue to protect Mr. Obama. ANTHONY CHAPA, FORMER SECRET SERVICE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: The doors
would probably be made into a bulletproof door, just as if it were an embassy. And the glass, the glass presents a problem, and one way of addressing it is putting ballistic panes behind the architecture that's here.
TODD: Former Secret Service official Anthony Chapa once protected former Vice President Al Gore who live nearby. He says Secret Service officers will be posted outside this house, sometimes even in the wooded area across the street. Other adjustments?
(On camera): Even these are a big security issue, right?
CHAPA: It presents a challenge, that's for sure, because what is under it. It says sewer. You know, where does the sewer flow? And the fact that it's right in front of the door. So an evaluation will be made, do we need to open these and inspect them, shut down, do we weld them shut, or maybe we work with the city to move this.
TODD (voice-over): Even the neighbors will come under the security umbrella.
CHAPA: We would actually need to know who is sleeping in these bedrooms up here.
TODD (on camera): Why? The neighbors? Why?
CHAPA: The neighbors. Well, we want to know what is going on in those rooms. Want to inform them and want to inform us. You know, they're going to be witnesses to those things.
TODD (voice-over): The Secret Service won't comment on whether it's studying how to protect this house or how much it would cost the taxpayers.
(On camera): Other than the obvious luxury, residents here say they like this area because it's convenient to other parts of the city and because it's quiet. One neighbor says the president should be welcome here as long as he doesn't get too rowdy.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: There are growing concerns about the conditions of aging U.S. railways. Officials say they are not being maintained or upgraded and as Rene Marsh reports, that can have fatal consequences.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Deep inside the 106-year-old Hudson River tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey, the concrete is cracked and crumbling. And after super storm Sandy flooded the tunnel, the situation became urgent.
JOSEPH H. BOARDMAN, AMTRAK CEO: The salt is eating away at the concrete. It's eating away at the rails. It's eating away at the cables that go through here for power.
MARSH: Amtrak's CEO Joe Boardman calls it one of the most glaring examples of aging railroad infrastructure in the United States.
BOARDMAN: This is the busiest corridor in the western hemisphere. We got here because we didn't maintain our infrastructure.
MARSH: Every day about 230,000 riders pass through it. The tunnel has been plagued by power failures. The power cables are 80 years old, causing shutdowns and massive delays for days. The repair backlog for 450 miles of rail from Boston to Washington, D.C. alone is $20 billion.
[05:40:05] Aging infrastructure has also contributed to deadly derailments.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Notify Amtrak to shut down the entire northeast corridor.
MARSH: In May 2015, Amtrak 188 traveling more than two times the 50- mile-per-hour speed limit jumped the tracks in Philadelphia. Eight people were killed and more than 200 injured. Thousands of miles of railway lacked technology called positive train control that can automatically slow speeding trains.
(On camera): Why has the industry as a whole taken so long to put that technology in place?
BOARDMAN: It's really rather takes time to make sure that works right.
MARSH (voice-over): Across the country, 30 freight and passenger train accidents, 69 deaths and more than 1200 injuries, could have been prevented had that technology been in place. But it's not just safety, it's speed.
In Japan, bullet trains are capable of going almost 200 miles per hour. That speed would cut a six-hour Amtrak ride down to two and a half. The fastest train in the U.S. can go 150 miles per hour, but usually travels at half that.
BOARDMAN: We can have that kind of service along this corridor, but you'd be talking $151 billion.
ANTHONY FOXX, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: You want to be able to show the benefit of the dollar you invested.
MARSH: Anthony Foxx heads the Department of Transportation.
FOXX: I think members of Congress struggle because they actually require a longer than a political term to take root.
MARSH: But for the busiest strip of track in the western hemisphere, speed takes the backseat to the urgent need to stop the crumbling.
(On camera): Amtrak does frequent inspections of track and the tunnels just to maintain safety. It relies heavily on the federal government for funds. It gets about $1.6 billion per year. But you heard in the piece the backlog of repairs is $20 billion. So it is not enough what they are getting from the federal government.
China's government, on the other hand, in comparison spends $128 billion last year on its rail infrastructure.
Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Rene, thank you.
A combat veteran has taken on a new mission to drop food for communities in need instead of dropping bombs. How he went from fighting to now farming next.
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[05:45:55] HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell.
A war veteran has turned from fighting to now farming. Working to build portable greenhouses to help communities that are in crisis and he's helping other veterans along the way.
CNN Money's Cristina Alesci has this story for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE HANES, U.S. MARINE CORPS VETERAN: I think that war is the most horrendous invention mankind has ever come up with.
CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mike Hanes is a decorated combat vet. A former reconnaissance Marine who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. But since he's come back to the U.S., he's taken on a new mission.
(On camera): You weren't thinking about farming.
HANES: I wasn't thinking about farming. I was just thinking -- I was really questioning what was going on with warfare in itself. We kind of have a predominant mentality right now that we're going to drop bombs and that's going to solve the problem. So instead of making things worse, instead of dropping bombs, then how about let's drop some food. You know, let's give people the tools that they need to rebuild their community.
ALESCI (voice-over): One solution he says is a Helical Outpost. A hydroponic green house and power station. It's wired with satellite Internet access and it filters 2,000 gallons of water a day. Basically an industrial sized Swiss Army knife.
Dylan Ratigan helped start Helical. You might recognize him from TV.
(On camera): Where did the idea come from? DYLAN RATIGAN, CO-FOUNDER, HELICAL SYSTEMS: This is an idea that was
brought to me by people like Mike Hanes, combat veterans who I'd say, what does the world need, and they have this sort of militaristic world view of this integrated equipment functionality and they say, we don't just need a power station. We don't just need a communications hub. We don't just need a farm. We need all of those things working in an ecosystem that can then build capital and people.
ALESCI (voice-over): And Helical says you can drop an outpost in the middle of nowhere.
(On camera): Who came up with the idea of putting it in a shipping container?
HANES: In the Marine Corps, we unpack those things, pack them, unpack them, pack them, unpack, pack them, day in and day out. So the shipping container was definitely the ideal shell for this thing to work. You can push these out of airplanes and parachute them in pretty much anywhere in the world.
ALESCI: You're going all around the world.
RATIGAN: The international application at its best is areas that are in crisis, but have yet to go to conflict. So think Turkey. Think Nigeria. Think Kenya. Any place that has limited penetration of basic resources.
ALESCI (voice-over): The only obstacle to shipping outposts everywhere? Funding.
RATIGAN: The financing challenge, which we're making progress on. The nice thing is this thing makes money. It's like you're financing a farm that has a cash stream on the back end of it.
ALESCI: Right now only one outpost has been sold. Will farm 65 miles outside of Washington, D.C. Its mission? To train returning soldiers for cutting-edge agricultural jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the jeep of greenhouses. This row of nursery, and we can see it in the back there, is the spring and Asian mix.
ALESCI: Ned is one of a dozen veterans already trained on the technology. For Helical, that's just the start.
HANES: When combat veterans are coming from a scenario of death, pain, destruction, to get back into working with plants, you kind of shift to becoming a creator and a nurturer. It's more of a healing thing as well. So it's a positive win-win all the way around.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Very cool. That was CNN Money's Cristina Alesci reporting for us.
It is one of the most watched TV shows and racing back to the airways. We'll have the new specks on "Top Gear" coming up.
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[05:53:22] HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell.
One of the world's most watched programs the BBC's "Top Gear" will return to the airwaves Sunday. The show was forced to revamp after a scandal with presenter Jeremy Clarkson but the new team of presenters are not without their own controversies.
Our Phil Black has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The world is about to find out what the BBC has done to one of the planet's most watched programs.
"Top Gear" is back. This is just a taste.
It looks the same. Fast cars, silly stunts, all beautifully shot. But the faces are new. If you're one of the show's 350 million viewers or even if you're not, you probably know why the lineup change was necessary. Last year, presenter Jeremy Clarkson got a little punchy with a producer after a long day at work so the BBC sacked him. Co-presenters James May and Richard Hammond decided to walk away, too. And ever since, the BBC has been working to save one its most lucrative brands.
MATT LE BLANC, ACTOR: No, no. It's like car tinder. She's hot.
BLACK: They made a big international hire, Matt Le Blanc, the former "Friends" star and self-confessed petro head.
LE BLANC: How far is Glasgow?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not that far.
BLACK: Le Blanc and British broadcaster, Chris Evans, will co-host. There's is a new wider team of presenters, too. And the Stig is, well, still the Stig.
CHRIS EVANS, HOST, TOP GEAR: We know that within 72 hours of the first show being broadcast, it will have been seen in 83 countries on six continents.
[05:55:06] So it's a pretty big audition for us. And we're going to have to wait and see.
BLACK: Chris Evans has become a regular target for Britain's tabloid press since signing on to the show. Reports have accused him of bullying, ranting, and other unstable behavior. Forcing out senior star and feuding with Le Blanc.
Evans, Le Blanc, the show, the BBC say that's all nonsense. And Evans says he has a lot of respect for Le Blanc's car cred. EVANS: He loves cars. You know, he can fix a car, he can put a car,
and he can strip the car engine and put it back together almost blindfolded. And he's a brilliant driver.
BLACK: Meanwhile, Clarkson, May and Hammond are beavering away on their new project on the streaming service, Amazon Prime. Their few promotions so far have focused on the search for the show's name.
JEREMY CLARKSON, FORMER PRESENTER, "TOP GEAR": The show I think will sit on the Internet, like, and this is what I'm suggesting for the name, a Small Puddle of Excellence.
BLACK: They eventually settled on "The Grand Tour." Its premier is still months away. Long before then, "Top Gear" fans would have declared judgment on whether the new version of their beloved show is firing on all cylinders.
Phil Black, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell at the CNN center in Atlanta. "BEST OF QUEST" starts in a moment. Thank you for watching CNN, the world's news leader.
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