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U.S. Warns Americans About Traveling to Europe; ISIS Fights Back as Iraq Forces Surround Fallujah; Trump Launches All-Out Attack on the Media; Migrant Deaths Soar in Mediterranean Sea; Lifelong Republican Urging Others to Back Clinton; North Korea Endorses Trump; Identical Estonian Triplets Make a Run for Rio. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired June 01, 2016 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:10] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour a new warning about the terrorist threat in Europe just as the summer tourist season is heating up.
SESAY: Plus, shining a light on Europe's migrant crisis. The new photo advocates hope will capture the world's attention.
VAUSE: And Donald Trump ratchets up his fight with the U.S. media, even calling out one reporter as a sleaze.
SESAY: Hello, and thank you for joining us. I am Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: Great to have you with us. I'm John Vause. Another hour of NEWSROOM L.A. starts now.
The U.S. is warning Americans about the risk of potential terror attacks across Europe in the months ahead.
SESAY: There isn't a new specific threat, but the State Department notes some high-profile events coming up and is urging travelers to be on alert.
More from CNN's Elise Labott.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The last time the State Department issued a continent-wide travel warning for Europe was in late March after the Brussels attacks. But now the State Department is saying that with the large number of tourists traveling to Europe this summer, this presents a target of opportunity for terrorist groups like ISIS, who may be planning attacks at public locations, especially those that are hosting large events, where lots of tourists could be traveling.
Now they're singling out the European soccer championships in France and also the Tour de France in June and July. And they're also singling out the Catholic Church's Youth Day in Krakow, Poland in late July. Officials say they don't have any particular or credible information about plots at any of these events. But they say these are the kind of events that terrorists could be looking for where large amount of people are gathering.
And they're just calling for Americans to be vigilant, to make sure that they are aware of any security precautions and to just be aware of their surroundings. Officials say that they're not discouraging Americans from traveling to Europe. They just want them to be on alert.
Elise Labott, CNN, the State Department.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: In Syria deadly air strikes have hit the rebel-held city of Idlib. But it's not clear who's responsible.
VAUSE: And in Iraq military officials say ISIS is putting up a big fight as security forces try to retake Fallujah from the terror group.
CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Syria's youngest caught in the line of fire in Idlib. Rescue crews work desperately. A small body pulled from the wreckage. At least 23 people were killed in airstrikes, one hitting near a hospital. The Russians deny they conducted the strikes.
Across Syria and Iraq, civilians caught in the middle as ISIS tries to defend its turf. In Fallujah, the last major ISIS stronghold in Anbar Province, west of Baghdad, Iraqi forces are pushing from the south and east. Iranian-backed militias from the north. The U.N. says there are heavy civilian casualties as ISIS callously uses them for protection.
WILLIAM SPINDLER, UNHCR SPOKESPERSON: There are also reports of several hundred families being used as human shields by ISIL in the center of Fallujah.
STARR: Iraqi and militia forces not yet in the city center. There are thousands of booby traps and mines laid by ISIS.
CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: If they are being used as human shields as the U.N. reports indicates, that means that they have absolutely no way out. And they are going to be pawns in the struggle between ISIS and the Iraqi government as well as the Shia militias and it is going to be one of the worst scenes that we can possibly imagine.
STARR: It's significant the Iraqis are staying to fight in Fallujah, not running away as the battle intensifies.
STEVE WARREN, ANTI-ISIS COALITION SPOKESMAN: We think that the state of play is much improved from a year ago. You know, a year ago, here in Iraq, the barbarians were at the gate. Baghdad was actually threatened. And in theory, was in direct danger of being invaded by these animals that we call ISIL, now we have driven them back.
STARR: But from the top U.S. commander, continuing caution.
GEN. JOSEPH VOTEL, CENTCOM COMMANDER: I am being very pragmatic in this and I think we will continue to work through more obstacles, we'll continue to see some setbacks. But I think we'll also see some continued progress.
STARR (on camera): There is another complication. Iranian-backed Shia militias are also in the fight to retake Fallujah, a Sunni town. A lot of concern that sectarian violence could break out.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Well, here with us now is Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
VAUSE: Also a senior military analyst retired major general, James "Spider" Marks. He's with us from Phoenix, Arizona.
[01:05:06] General, first to you. Are you surprised by the resistance being shown here by ISIS fighters in Fallujah? Were you expecting this kind of resilience by, what, about 1,000 fighters there inside that city?
MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: John, not at all. ISIS has been in Fallujah for quite some time. The advantage goes to the defender. They've had all the time to prepare their defensive operations. They've had a lot of time to coalesce inside the city and to convince citizens and residents of Fallujah that they might want to side with ISIS as opposed to potentially be at the mercy of Shia militias.
So this is a Sunni location, and we have these kinds of actions that are taking place inside that city. So it's not surprising at all that ISIS has the ability to defend and defend quite well. And the report about using citizens inside Fallujah as human shields just really doubles the challenge. And the targeting by ISF, the Iraqi Security Forces, just makes it that much more difficult. It's going to take more time obviously as well.
VAUSE: As far as the Iraqi government is concerned, is the battle for Fallujah now more politically important than it is important from a military point of view?
MARKS: Well, clearly it is politically important. Let's make sure we're crystal clear on that. Warfare is politics by another means. They're all elements -- there are several elements of power and all of them can be used. Normally the element of power of choice is military.
There has to be an effort, a concerted effort. There has to be a victory on the part of the government of Baghdad that they can abide governance over their territory. What you have is ISIS roaming quite freely in very large swaths of Iraq, and it doesn't appear that they're going to be abated in any way. So this defense by ISIS inside Fallujah is extremely important that the ISF popular mobilization which Shia fights under the Iraqi flag, Sunni tribesmen and Shia militia, if there's some way that all this can come together, they might have some success inside Fallujah.
SESAY: Gayle, to bring you in here at this point. Great concern about the sectarian overtone here.
GAYLE TZEMACH LEMMON, SENIOR FELLOW, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Yes.
SESAY: You heard General Marks talking about that as Barbara Starr did in her report. Does Washington have any leverage here as the Shia militia are involved in this operation to take Fallujah in attempt to head off the fears of bloodbath.
LEMMON: Certainly there is some leverage. But this was always the conversation that people who had wanted the Status of Forces Agreement to be remaining in place or to be put into place right after at the end of what was supposed to be officially the end of combat operations in Iraq. That there would be a U.S. contingent that would stay, that there would be continuing American influence.
There has been rising concern within the Obama administration about the growing role of Iran when it comes to Iraq. But I think their decision was made early on in the whole Syria discussion to go with Iraq for strategy with the Obama administration and I think now we're seeing that you have some influence but certainly not what Washington would like.
SESAY: What comes next? Fallujah, let's say it is retaken.
LEMMON: Right.
SESAY: That is the expectation. What happens next in the city that is predominantly Sunni that has long had animosity, long resisted control from a Shia dominated government in Baghdad?
LEMMON: It's not just Fallujah, it is not just Iraq, it is not just Syria. All of these questions the what comes next. The question in every one of these places is central. And we don't know the answer. Governance has been a central issue in the entire conversation about Iraq. You know, could an Iraq -- could the Iraqi government really make people feel like they were part of a nation that inherited concerns that worried about it, and I don't think you have an answer that's convincingly yes right now. And that is a concern for lots of people.
VAUSE: Turning to General Marks very quickly.
General, obviously with the situation with human shields being used inside Fallujah and U.S.-led air strikes are being carried out as well, what is the potential exposure here for coalition forces, the U.S. and other allies? Should there be a bloodbath inside Fallujah? Where do U.S. soldiers and other coalition soldiers stand? MARKS: Well, that's a really good question. We've seen an
unbelievable level of atrocities that have taken place in combat most recently. Clearly at the hands of ISIS. And then efforts to try to resist ISIS in isolated pockets have achieved some degree of success. But your notion of a bloodbath inside Fallujah could in fact be a real outcome that sadly we might see.
I would tell you there would be resistance on the part of the U.S. forces to suddenly wade into a fight that they have heretofore agreed is not theirs to lead if in fact there was this incredible humanitarian disaster.
[01:10:08] And let's be frank. There has been an immense humanitarian disaster across -- across all of Iraq in a number of areas. And we haven't taken the lead on the ground. I don't know that a bloodbath as you call it in Fallujah would tip the scales and in terms of a humanitarian response we would then feel compelled to then take the lead and march in. I think we would probably be witness to a slaughter and it would be in immense proportions, and it would be a huge disaster for both Iraq and the United States and our presence in the region. And any effort to try to stabilize and move forward.
VAUSE: Wow. General Marks, thanks for being with us. Gayle, too.
SESAY: Thank you. Our thanks to you both.
MARKS: Sure.
VAUSE: OK. Well, police in Brazil have arrested two men suspected in the gang rape of a teenage girl. That's according to the government media. One of the men apparently turned himself in. Police are still looking for four others.
VAUSE: The girl's alleged attackers put video of the incident on Twitter, bragging that at least 30 men took part. Brazil's interim president has formed a special task force to fight violence against women. Crime is a major concern. Just two months ahead of the Summer Olympics there.
VAUSE: A German sailor says Brazil has yet another issue to overcome before August. A bay which is filled with trash, raw sewage and human remains.
SESAY: He says the filthy water left one of his fellow paralympic teammates needing weeks of medical care and must be cleaned for competition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEIKO KROGER, GERMAN SAILOR: Rio is a very large city, and most of the city, I think, they have no system where they collect trash and so all the favelas, they throw out of the window what they have and the wind and the rain washes all stuff down to the water. So it's there in bay.
There was an arm found floating around and so there are lots of animals and other things in this bay. So all you can imagine.
Eric Heil is one of my teammates of Sailing Team Germany and he is a 49'er Sailor, Olympic sailor. He got some of these bacteria in between his skin and his wet suit. It looked like something has drilled in his leg. It was a hole in his leg. And it was really deep. It was nearly that you can stick your finger inside.
It's strange because it's a nice sailing area but every time you get some water in your face, it feels like there's some alien enemy entering your face. So I keep my nose and my lips closed. And that's just -- I have a big fear that I get too much of this water inside. That's really strange. I mean, water is not our enemy normally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, these Olympic Games are going to be fun.
SESAY: Yes. Indeed.
Time for a quick break now. Still to come on NEWSROOM l L.A., a furious Donald Trump blasts the news media for scrutiny of his fundraiser for veterans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm not looking for credit. But what I don't want is when I raise millions of dollars have people say like this sleazy guy right over here from ABC. He's a sleaze in my book. You're a sleaze.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(SPORTS)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:17:35] SESAY: Hello, everyone. Donald Trump is on a fierce offensive against the media lashing out at journalists who have raised questions about his donations to veterans.
VAUSE: Mr. Trump singled out individual reporters during a combative news conference on Tuesday. Including our very own Jim Acosta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was supposed to be a day for Donald Trump to salute the nation's veterans and highlight the $5.6 million he's raised for their causes.
TRUMP: This is my check for a million dollars.
ACOSTA: Trump ticked off the more than 40 groups he claims are receiving donations, some in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, from the Fisher House Foundation to the Bob Woodruff Family Foundation and the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. But clearly furious after months of questions about exactly where the money is going, Trump engaged in some verbal combat of his own, against a target he has attacked before.
TRUMP: You know my opinion to the media, it's very low.
ACOSTA: The news media.
TRUMP: Instead of being thank you very much, Mr. Trump, or Trump did a good job, everyone said who got it, who got it, who got it, who got it, and you make me look very bad.
ACOSTA: So Trump took aim at the reporters asking the questions.
(On camera): To follow up on that, you keep calling us the dishonest press. It seems as though you're resistant to scrutiny, the kind of scrutiny that comes with running for president of the United States?
TRUMP: I like scrutiny, but, you know what? When I raise money --
ACOSTA: You raise money for veterans --
TRUMP: Excuse me. Excuse me. I have watched you on television. You're a real beauty. What I don't want is when I raise millions of dollars, have people say, like this sleazy guy right over here, from ABC. He's a sleaze in my book.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Trump went on to say he never wanted credit for helping veterans causes.
TRUMP: I didn't want credit for it. Now actually, though, what I got was worse than credit, because they were questioning me.
ACOSTA: But it was Trump who launched his fundraising drive as a major media event, rivaling a GOP debate in Iowa he was skipping.
TRUMP: We actually raised close to six, to be totally honest. But -- and I have to say, a lot more to come.
ACOSTA: The presumptive GOP nominee also fired off on the questions being raised about Trump University, the real estate school he founded that's being sued by former students who say it's nothing more than a fraud. Newly released documents in the case reveal some of the program's aggressive sales techniques, including a playbook that focused on how to market more expensive courses to students.
Trump has questioned the motives of the judge handling the case, noting his ethnicity.
TRUMP: So what happens is, the judge, who happens to be, we believe, Mexican, which is great. I think that's fine.
[01:20:02] ACOSTA: When asked why he highlighted the judge's heritage, Trump didn't answer the question.
(On camera): Why mention that the judge is Mexican? TRUMP: You know what, because I'm a man of principle, and most of the
people that took those courses have letters saying they thought it was great essentially.
ACOSTA: As Trump told reporters today, his combative style isn't about to change, even at White House press conferences.
TRUMP: It is going to be like this, David. If the press writes false stories, like they did with this --
ACOSTA (on camera): Trump also wrote off the odds of a third-party challenge in the upcoming general election, describing Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson as a fringe candidate.
Jim Acosta, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining us here now in Los Angeles, Ron Brownstein, CNN's senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic."
SESAY: And Dylan Byers, CNN senior reporter for media and politics.
Gentlemen, welcome. Ron, to start with you, in that media conference Donald Trump going on a tear calling the media dishonest and disgusting but still standing on that stage for 45 minutes and leading some to question was this true emotion, was it strategy, was he just trying to play the news cycle?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, for someone who dislikes the media as much as Donald Trump he has sure gotten a lot of mileage, hasn't he? Look, no, I think Donald Trump has had a strategy from the beginning of giving voice to kind of the deepest sentiments of the Republican base and going after all of the elements of society that they don't like.
You know, Alex Castellanos, I was talking to this spring, who was puzzling himself over why Donald Trump had maintained so much support among conservatives despite deviating from so much conservative orthodoxy. And his conclusion was, he goes to war with our enemies. He therefore becomes our champion. And that has continues.
The problem Donald Trump faces is a general election electorate is a very different place than a primary electorate and the questions about his temperament and whether what you saw today is what you want to see in a president yes, I think are one of the two or three biggest barriers he faces.
VAUSE: I just want, Dylan, to know, we've seen this from Donald Trump before whenever there's a big news story which comes out whether there's a dip in the polls, another scandal or some of that comes out, some revelation. Today it was about Trump University. We're not talking about that at all. We're talking about Trump going after the media. So is this a strategy do you think or is this just reporters getting under his skin? DYLAN BYERS, CNN SENIOR MEDIA AND POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, no, I do
think reporters get under his skin. I think it's very hard to look at today's press conference and deduce anything else from that. But I do think it's strategic. I do think he understands that if you have the Trump University documents coming out, if you have this issue of how much money he raised for veterans, that if you can make the story about Donald Trump versus the media you have won the news cycle.
My question is, you know, how many voters -- this goes back to what Ron was just talking about. How many voters are out there who are still on the fence about Donald Trump, who after 10 months of seeing all the things he's doing are still sort of thinking, well, you know, I just don't know --
(CROSSTALK)
BYERS: Who are those undecideds? And do they really need a news cycle where we are talking about Trump University or where we are talking about whether or not he may have even raised the money he raised for veterans had he not been pressured by the press in order to change their mind? Can he hold them at bay for six months by continuing to --
BROWNSTEIN: To your question I was talking to a Democratic pollster today about that question. How many undecided there really are. You know, the turning point in modern American politics was 2004 when George Bush for the first time spent as much money on mobilization as on persuasion. Their theory was there were not really as many as undecided voters as people thought and the key to winning a modern presidential election was to turn out more of the people who already agree with you and don't usually vote rather than spending millions and millions of dollars trying to convert that mythical swing voters.
David Plouffe and David Axelrod ran basically the same kind of campaign especially in 2012, more focus on persuasion -- I'm sorry, mobilization than persuasion. And I think most people expect that is what we have in this campaign. You have two candidates who have extraordinarily high negatives, extraordinarily high resistance among elements of the electorate, and the key is which side can turn out more of their core supporters.
The advantage the Democrats have is the underlying demography of the country continues to bend further in their direction every four years. And to reverse the decline in the wide share of the vote, which Donald Trump would probably need to do to win, would be to reverse 36 years of history because it's declined in every election since 1980 except one.
BYERS: I would just say, I mean, there are so many -- there are so many voters out there among the Democratic coalition, especially among minority groups, who have not yet turned out to vote who could very well turn out to vote in a general election. Who are those people who didn't turn out to vote for Trump in the primary who are going to turn out to vote for him in the general?
SESAY: Yes. I agree. VAUSE: Hillary Clinton obviously sees an issue with Trump and the
veterans. In fact the entire campaign does. Hillary Clinton was on CNN earlier going after Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's bragged for months about raising $6 million for veterans and donating a million dollars himself. But it took a reporter to shame him into actually making his contribution and getting the money to veterans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:25:04] VAUSE: OK. We also had, you know, a brief ad put out by the Clinton campaign on Twitter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: He's not a war hero.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is a war hero.
TRUMP: He's a war hero --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five and a half years as a POW.
TRUMP: He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured. OK? I hate to tell you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: This is billed as the big multipronged campaign to disrupt Donald Trump's big day with the news media, they're going to try and own it. Did it work, Dylan?
BYERS: No, I mean, look, again, he controlled the narrative. And in a way you look at the ad that they put out and it seems a little discordant with what the news story was today.
SESAY: Yes.
VAUSE: Yes.
BYERS: In many ways. She sort of had enough room to run just with the material she was handed today. But look, I think the message in both the ad and in what we saw in Donald Trump's press conference today are the same. Is he a steady hand? Is he the kind -- does he have the sort of temperament that you want as president of the United States? And she can put out all the ads she wants to for the next five or six months. A lot of this is going to be to the degree that he wants to be in front of the cameras he's going to be out there sort of hanging himself.
SESAY: You know, part of the challenge that Hillary Clinton faces is even when she tries to counterpunch and launch her attacks on Donald Trump she still finds herself on shaky ground. So one of the other narratives that emerged today is, well, she hasn't had a press conference in six months.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
SESAY: So, you know, who is she to talk?
BROWNSTEIN: I think they are really struggling to figure out how to engage in this race. I mean, since her victory in New York and then the ACELA primaries on April 26th it has seemed as though Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are the two people running for president. You turn on television, you know, Bernie Sanders is calling for political revolution, Donald Trump wants to build a wall, ban Muslim immigration and stick his thumb in the eye of the political establishment.
What is Hillary Clinton -- how is she defined at this point to the public? The one thing about all of kind of -- kind of the extreme behavior from Donald Trump is that this is a moment when people are looking for change. And one area where he has opened a consistent lead over Hillary Clinton is who would bring change to Washington? Her challenge as the "Washington Post" pointed out today is on the one end she wants to be steadier than Donald Trump but she cannot be just a continuation of the status quo at a time when 70 percent of the country is saying we're on the wrong track.
BYERS: Yes, I would say Donald Trump is owning the narrative on a day-to-day basis and there is this sort of concern I imagine when some Democrats -- where is Hillary Clinton? Why isn't she out there putting up a more robust sort of counter narrative to what Donald Trump is doing? And you're seeing signs of that, but I do wonder if she's playing a little bit of the long game.
BROWNSTEIN: Absolutely.
BYERS: You know, it's interesting, Bernie Sanders just the other night compared himself to the Golden State Warriors when thinking about how he could come back and win the California primary. You do sort of wonder if Hillary Clinton understands -- you know, how voters make up their minds, when they make up their minds, and she's waiting until after the conventions later in the game to come out like Steph Curry and prove that --
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: OK. We don't have a lot of time left but I really want to get to this. This is an odd praise indeed, an endorsement for Donald Trump all the way from Pyongyang. It was an op-ed in the DPRK today. Not entirely government sanctioned but of course nothing happens in North Korea without the government knowing about it. It reads in part, "The president that U.S. citizens must vote for is not that dull Hillary but Trump, who spoke of holding direct conversation with North Korea. Who knew that the slogan 'Yankee go home' would come true like this?"
You know, this has never happened before.
BROWNSTEIN: Putin, North Korea. SESAY: I know.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWNSTEIN: We're beginning to see a chorus. Look, you know what? What can you say about -- the North Korean endorsement is probably not up there on the list of ones you're going to be putting on television. Will they save a speaker slot for anyone from North Korea at the convention?
SESAY: We'll see.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
SESAY: Gentlemen, such a pleasure. Thank you.
VAUSE: OK. Thanks, guys.
SESAY: All right. Time for a quick break now. Many Republicans still are not sold on Donald Trump. After the break, why some say they'd rather vote for Hillary Clinton than cast a ballot for their party's presumptive nominee.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:30:00]
VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.
SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay. The headlines this hour.
(HEADLINES)
SESAY: Now migrant deaths in the Mediterranean Sea are soaring to staggering numbers. The U.N. says more than 2,500 people have drowned on the dangerous journey to Europe so far this year.
VAUSE: At least 880 migrants died in a series of shipwrecks last week alone.
SESAY: These migrant tragedies are captured in one powerful and heartbreaking photo. It is one that you may find terribly disturbing.
VAUSE: OK. A volunteer with the German humanitarian group Sea-Watch holding the lifeless body of a little baby. The infant was one of many people who drowned when a migrant boat capsized off the Libyan coast on Friday.
SESAY: Georgia Linardi joins us now. She is the legal adviser and external relations coordinator for Sea-Watch, that's the humanitarian organization that was out at sea that day.
And it was one of her colleagues that was cradling that baby in that image. Georgia, thank you so much for being with us. We just shared that
image with our viewers. And obviously it shows Martin, your colleague, cradling the drowned migrant baby.
You were actually on one of the ships when the child was pulled from the sea.
Can you tell us about what happened?
What did you actually see?
GEORGIA LINARDI, LEGAL ADVISER AND MISSION COORDINATOR FOR EXTERNAL RELATIONS, SEA-WATCH: So hello. Good evening, everybody.
So what happened is that we were on a mission for a couple of weeks. And it was very quiet the first week. Second week, we had this series of boats arriving, including a few shipwrecks, as you anticipated.
And in that morning, we were pretty busy because we were asked by the rescue coordination center in Rome to go attend other cases. And, on our way, we actually spotted ourselves rubber boat full of migrants.
We took everybody on board, almost 130 people. And then we were asked as well as all the other units and assets in the Central Mediterranean to go attend this shipwreck.
[01:35:00]
LINARDI: And once we got there, there were already four warships and an helicopter. The helicopter launched the alert because it detected roughly 350 people in the water.
And when we got there, we helped with our tender, little tender that we transported on board of our mother ship. And our crew helped many people getting on board of the life raft that the tender was towing.
And they got on board as well, a few people, on board of the tender, some of them something between life and death, not really reacting, unconscious, but still breathing. We don't know if they made it. But at least we took them out of the water.
But, for sure, we managed to rescue many people. And then, after that, we stayed on standby, on scene together with another warship. The others left to attend other cases. And then it was about the time to collect dead bodies.
So, at the beginning, we did not take part in this kind of operation. At some point, dead bodies started drifting toward our boats. There were already many when the crew, our tender crew approached. This is what they report.
And then, yes, at some point, they started drifting toward us, so we had to change course and go a little bit further.
The warship asked for our assistance to collect dead bodies. At the beginning, we did not intervene because we are a civilian organization. We have volunteers that are on board for two weeks and they are not trained for this.
But then when we saw -- when we saw that the situation was really bad and there was really a lot of people and the warship was really doing their best to try and find as many dead bodies as possible, but it was just too much work, then we had individual talks with our crew members.
And we gathered a crew of four people, including Martin then did, that went to collect the bodies.
Yes?
SESAY: So, Georgia, let me ask you this.
Why did you, as in Sea-Watch, decide to release the image of your colleague holding the baby?
LINARDI: So this is a good question because it has been very difficult for us because normally we have -- for example, we have always press on board. But we're always required an ethical use of the information. And we are always very cautious with releasing images showing the migrants, especially in difficult moments.
But then we realize that this is just the beginning of the season, let's say, and we expect the number to rise. And to see such tragedies happening, already now and in this amount, it's really preoccupying. So we would like the world to see what we had to see.
As I said before, we are a civilian organization. We're just European citizens. And as European citizens, we do not want to see this, never again. And we think that the whole world should see it to realize what's going on because finding --
SESAY: So --
LINARDI: Yes. Please.
SESAY: Your organization has been critical of the European Union response to this crisis. You guys are out there on the water. You've been out there for some weeks now.
What is it that you feel the European Union could be doing that they're failing to do from what you have seen?
LINARDI: Well, for sure this is something that has been happening for years by now. And the European Union together with the United Nations failed to enact an operation with a clear search-and-rescue mandate.
So there are a lot of warship in the Mediterranean Sea and many different operations but none of those operation has a search-and- rescue mandate. We have to recognize that the warships are doing a great job in engaging in rescue and doing their best to attend these cases, but they are not there to do so.
So we need first as an emergency response to the present situation, we need a European or international operation with a clear search-and- rescue mandate. And this is as a first immediate response.
And then, in terms of long-term policy, we need for sure to avoid that these people take the sea at all as a last chance to -- and the only chance to reach Europe. And the idea is to try and organize a way for legal entry, so safe passage for all these people.
Yes. Please?
SESAY: Georgia, we so appreciate you joining us and just sharing some of what you've seen --
[01:40:00]
SESAY: -- out there on the Mediterranean seas. We appreciate it. Thank you so much. And for all the work that Sea-Watch is doing. Thanks for joining us.
LINARDI: Thank you.
SESAY: Thanks for joining us.
LINARDI: Thank you.
VAUSE: And we will take a short break. When we come back, many Republicans still not sold on Donald Trump. Some say they'd rather vote for Hillary Clinton. Details in a moment.
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SESAY: Some Republicans are refusing to get on board with their party's presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.
VAUSE: And Kyung Lah -- Kyung Lah?
Kyung Lah, my goodness, explains why they're backing his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John and Isha, it's something that we first noticed on social media, Republicans for Hillary. But what began as something snarky on Twitter now has real Republicans embracing it.
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LAH: What happens to the Republican Party if Donald Trump becomes the president?
DOUG ELMETS, LIFELONG REPUBLICAN: That's a scary prospect.
LAH (voice-over): So scary to lifelong Republican Doug Elmets that he's left with only one choice.
ELMETS: It's going to be an easy vote. Four years of Hillary Clinton is better than one day of Donald Trump as president.
LAH: Have you ever voted for a Democrat?
ELMETS: Never. I've never voted for a Democrat in my entire life.
LAH (voice-over): This is more than the Never Trump or Stop Trump movement. Elmets, part of Republicans for Hillary, not just a Twitter hashtag. Elmets is actively urging prominent Republicans to vote for the Democrat.
LAH: Back when you had dark hair.
ELMETS: Yes, back when I had dark hair I was --
LAH (voice-over): A once unthinkable move for a man who worked for President Ronald Reagan through two terms, as a White House spokesman and then for the Department of Energy, a Republican operative through four presidential campaigns, a decades-long consultant to California's Republican Party.
ELMETS: I think Ronald Reagan would be astonished by what has happened.
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ELMETS: He's managed to hoodwink America into believing that he will lead this country through the fire. I think he will thrust us into the fire.
LAH: What has been the reaction among all of your Republican friends?
ELMETS: They think I've lost my mind.
LAH (voice-over): But he's not alone.
William Oeberdorff, one of the GOP's biggest money contributors, tells CNN if it is Trump versus Clinton and there's no viable third-party candidate, I will be voting for Hillary Clinton.
Those who disagree are letting Elmets have it. From voicemails ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're a disgusting pig.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't even believe you call yourself a decent Republican.
LAH (voice-over): -- to e-mails calling him a disgrace and a Socialist to simply, "Shame on you."
Other Republicans choosing a decidedly different path. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator Lindsey Graham thawing on Trump and Marco Rubio burying his hatchet with the man he once called a con artist.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLA.: I want to be helpful. I don't want to be harmful because I don't want Hillary Clinton to be president.
LAH (voice-over): But Trump's harm, argues Elmets, is already unfolding before the electorate.
ELMETS: These rallies are not a moment in time. If Donald Trump is elected president, you will see these things continue on four years beyond.
LAH: You believe you're in good company.
ELMETS: I believe I'm in great company. They're just afraid to say that they support Hillary Clinton. But I do think that either they will do it publicly at some point or they'll privately do it in the polling booth in November.
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LAH: Four recent national polls show that about 6 percent to 8 percent of self-described Republicans say that they will back Hillary Clinton. A 6 percent to 8 percent come November, if this is indeed a close race, is nothing to scoff at -- John, Isha.
VAUSE: That was Kyung Lah. And we thank her for that report.
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VAUSE: I share an office with her. I can't look at her tomorrow.
OK. We'll take a short break. We'll be back and better in a moment, hopefully.
SESAY: Fingers crossed.
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VAUSE: Stephen Hawking has spent his entire life unraveling the most baffling mysteries of the universe. But he admits he's stumped by Trump.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're a man who knows the universe well.
How do you explain the phenomenon of Donald Trump?
STEPHEN HAWKING, PHYSICIST: I can't. He is a demagogue who seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator. SESAY (voice-over): During an interview broadcast Tuesday, Hawking is also weighing in on the proposal to pull Britain out of the E.U. He hopes Britain votes to stay in the European Union in a referendum in three weeks.
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VAUSE: Trump isn't saying anything about his latest presidential endorsement.
SESAY: As CNN's Jeanne Moos reports, the unlikely praise comes from a news site controlled by North Korea.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You've got to hand it to Donald Trump.
What other American candidate gets a vote of confidence from North Korea, a country that releases a video showing its missiles striking Washington and now publishes an editorial in a state media outlet, calling The Donald "a wise politician, a far-sighted presidential candidate," and advising Americans not to vote for "that dull Hillary."
Trump at least has said he'd talk to North Korea, as Korea expert John Feffer put it.
JOHN FEFFER, DIRECTOR, FOREIGN POLICY: I would have to say that Donald Trump is the Dennis Rodman of American politics.
MOOS (voice-over): Prone to shake things up and make outlandish statements -- well, maybe not as outlandish as when Rodman praised Kim Jong-un.
DENNIS RODMAN, FORMER NBA STAR: He's a great guy. He's just a great guy.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC HOST: A great guy who puts 200,000 people in prison camps?
RODMAN: Well, you know, and guess what?
It's amazing how we do the same thing here.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: North Korean high-five.
MOOS (voice-over): The Donald's not high-fiving Kim Jong-un anytime soon.
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's like a maniac.
OK?
And you've got to give him credit.
How many young guys take over these tough generals?
It's incredible. He wiped out the uncle.
MOOS (voice-over): And speaking of wiping out --
TRUMP: I would get China to make that guy disappear in one form or another very quickly.
And let me tell you --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do you make him disappear?
Assassinate him?
-- TRUMP: -- let me just tell you -- no.
I've heard of worse things, frankly. I mean, this guy's a bad dude.
MOOS: But the one thing Trump and North Korea's leader do share: flamboyant hair.
JIMMY KIMMEL, ABC HOST: At least for the time being, the meeting of the two greatest adult male hairdos in the world will not take place. That said, but Kim Jong-un doesn't have time to meet with Donald Trump. He's too busy making North Korea great again.
MOOS (voice-over): Kim Jong un has been Photoshopped with Trump's hair. But at least we're not talking about little hands. We're talking about shaking not-so-little hair hands -- Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
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VAUSE: That's nice. Hands across the sea. Hair across the sea.
The upcoming Rio Olympics will be the first ever held in a South American city but that's just one of many things that could make the games unique.
SESAY: CNN's Rhiannon Jones explain.
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RHIANNON JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Being triple: these three sisters from Estonia hope to make history running in Rio this summer. With their blonde hair, blue eyes and matching outfits, it's easy to see Leila, Liina and Lily Luik are identical triplets.
There have been twins at the Olympics before but these marathon- running sisters aim to be the first set of triplets to compete in the games. LEILA LUIK, ESTONIAN RUNNER: We love dancing. We love swimming. And maybe that's why we love to be so active. That -- it pushed us to easily to professional sports.
JONES (voice-over): The triplets came to the sport late at 24. They're now 30. They train together regularly and say they root for each other in competition.
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LILY LUIK, ESTONIAN RUNNER: I am happy when my sisters are doing well and win some competitions. Then I'm also happy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's boring when you're alone. And when sisters are together I feel that I have more energy maybe and support each other.
JONES (voice-over): And when asked if they expect to medal --
LIINA LUIK, ESTONIAN RUNNER: We would love that. It's like our dream also.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. But we know that we have to be in reality and we know that it's very hard to compete against being on Ethiopian runners.
JONES (voice-over): Regardless, this trio to Rio says their goal is to finish together, set personal bests and end the race with a smile -- Rhiannon Jones, CNN.
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SESAY: Wishing them the very best.
VAUSE: What if they come one, two, three?
That will be confusing.
SESAY: And it'll also be quite uncomfortable at home.
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SESAY: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: And I'm John Vause. The news continues next with Rosemary Church now with 100 percent less Errol Barnett. Stay with us.
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