Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Sanders Refuses To Concede To Clinton; Trump Comments Against Federal Judge In Trump University Case Turn Many GOP Leaders Against Him; France To Conduct Security Exercise In Lyon Tuesday; Former Stanford Swimmer Brock Turner's Rape Sentencing Prompts Widespread Outrage. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired June 07, 2016 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:27] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Hello; I'm Isha Sesay, in Los Angeles.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Vause. Our breaking news this hour: Hillary Clinton has the delegates needed to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination. She has 2384, putting her just over the top.
SESAY: It's an historic moment, as she would be the first female nominee of a major political party. This comes just before the final round of primary contests and a tough battle right here in California Tuesday for hundreds of delegates.
VAUSE: And sources tell CNN that President Barack Obama is ready to endorse Clinton. Despite all of that, she's still urging voters to head to the polls on Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY) DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: According to the news, we are on the brink of an historic, unprecedented moment; but we still have work to do, don't we? We have six elections tomorrow and we're going to fight hard for every single vote, especially right here in California.
[Cheering]
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Well, rival Bernie Sanders remains defiant, criticizing the delegate count process and he insists he is taking his fight all the way to the convention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT) DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And if we can't win here in California, win in South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, New Mexico, do well in New Jersey, we're going to go into that convention with enormous momentum.
[Cheering] (END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: And its campaign chaos on the Republican side. Details of a conference call were leaked, to where Donald Trump is heard urging supporters to step up attacks against a federal judge overseeing the Trump University case. Trump is refusing to back down on his calls for Judge Gonzalo Curiel to recuse himself because of his Mexican heritage.
VAUSE: Trump told staff and supporters to ignore a campaign memo telling them to dodge questions on the subject. Now, according to "Bloomberg Politics", he said this, "That's one of the reasons I want this call because you guys are getting sometimes stupid information from people that aren't so smart."
Joining us now, Conservative Analyst and Radio Talk Show Host on the (inaudible) Radio Network, Larry Elder.
SESAY: And, in Sacramento, California Democratic Strategist Kevin Chavetz. Gentlemen, welcome to you both.
LARRY ELDER, CONERVATIVE ANALYST AND RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Thank you.
VAUSE: In case you missed the point, Hillary Clinton tweeted this out a short time ago, in response to the news that she's got the nomination. "We're flattered, but we have primaries to win Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, New Jersey, South Dakota. Vote tomorrow!"
Kevin, really? What's the point here? Does she just want to bury Bernie Sanders or is this all about -- is she worried about something?
KEVIN CHAVETZ, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, via satellite: Well, look, history is repeating itself. Remember in 2008, Hillary Clinton beat Barack Obama in California when the nomination was virtually locked up at that time. So this is not unusual; a lot of people forget that. I think she wants to make sure she has a strong showing going into the convention. But she has to pay attention to Bernie Sanders and his supporters.
Look, when Bernie Sanders supporters hear superdelegates, what they're hearing is wait for your turn and they don't want to wait. I think that what Hillary Clinton has to do is embrace change and work with Bernie Sanders to make sure they bring the party together, and she can't do that if she doesn't have the right momentum going in.
SESAY: And, Larry, to bring you in here, the bottom line is, she may have that mind or that eye towards the Bernie Sanders supporters, because she doesn't want to initiate a backlash, but even as a Republican, I'm sure you can appreciate this moment of a woman leading a major party in this country.
LARRY ELDER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well absolutely; as a person who was born and raised in America, I'm proud of my country. I've always believed if you are a woman, Black person, Asian, Hispanic, whatever, if you have views that are consistent with the majority of the American people you are going to be elected. This is kind of an anti- climactic thing to me.
I remember when Obama got elected in 2008. There were front-page newspapers, "New York Times," "L.A. Times" where black parents were saying for the first time I can truly say that my kid can grow up and be anybody that he or she wants. I said to myself, if Obama had lost what would you have told them?
VAUSE: Right.
SESAY: Yes, and that's a valid point; but you can't turn - or one would argue, turning the negative away from the spotlight --
ELDER: It's not insignificant.
SESAY: Yes.
ELDER: It's a big deal, there's no question about that but, again, America has long been fair, open minded and for a qualified person, female or black, [00:05:01] he or she can, in fact, become president.
VAUSE: Okay, Bernie Sanders, he didn't talk about Hillary Clinton clinching the nomination tonight. Again, though, he went after her for her Wall Street ties. This is some of what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDERS: And one of the differences between Secretary Clinton and our campaign is, we don't have a Super PAC. We don't want a Super PAC.
[Cheering]
SANDERS: Our job is to take on Wall Street, not take Wall Street's money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Okay; so Kevin, at this point in the campaign, especially surely Sanders knows the numbers, he knows what's happened, isn't it time for him to back off? No one is saying get out of the race but maybe tone it down.
CHAVETZ: Well, look, he has a constituency and this is an historic time, not only because we have a woman who is leading nominee of a major political party, but it's a historic time because we have a reordering, a rethinking of American politics. The status quo, the party bosses, the so-called superdelegate mindset is really fast becoming a thing of the past. That's why you see Trump and Bernie Sanders getting some traction.
When Hillary Clinton thinks about bringing the party together and embracing change, she really needs to embrace a new mindset. These younger voters, the voters under 45, who are largely supporting Bernie Sanders, they don't want business as usual. I think when people start hammering in on the experience and knowing how to get things done, that is not the message for 2016. I think that Bernie Sanders knows that. He wants to go in there and affect the Democratic Party platform at the convention, and he wants to be a voice for voiceless, those people who are behind him. I think that the
Democratic Party leadership, if they really want to win, then they need to respect that as well.
SESAY: So, Kevin, am I right in saying you don't expect the Democratic Party leadership to, basically, go into overdrive, effectively from tomorrow or at least after tomorrow, to say, you know, not just tone it down but actually fall back, step out, this is it?
CHAVETZ: Well, look, I think Larry understands this having been around politics for many years.
ELDER: He's hilarious.
[Laughter]
CHAVETZ: I mean, the games are just beginning. After tomorrow there's going to be a lot of conversations. It has been reported the President has spoken to Bernie Sanders. At some point in time Bernie Sanders will speak with Secretary Clinton, but their substantive conversations won't take place until a lot of these other conversations are at hand; and it's clear
that Bernie Sanders is not going to go away quietly. He is not going to want to turn over his supporters without a real appreciation, understanding for the support he has and what they stand for.
I mean, people don't -- they have to come to grips with this Wall Street issue because that is something that's tapped into the core of the Democratic Party mindset of young voters. They have to come to grips with this idea of college education, that makes a lot of sense. I'm going to tell you, even Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have some agreements on this trade issue. From my point of view, real quickly, I've said this several times before. Isha and John, you know this; I think that she should step out there on issues like education and school choice, and Larry supports that stuff. I mean, why can't we build this new form of nationalism around that?
VAUSE: Okay, Kevin, we have got to move on. We've got to get to Donald Trump, very, very quickly.
ELDER: Maybe Larry can say something.
VAUSE: Exactly.
CHAVETZ: Sorry, Larry; sorry.
VAUSE: One of the (inaudible) -
ELDER: No problem.
VAUSE: -- Donald Trump, not one elected Republican official or Republican Party leader has come forward to defend Donald Trump and this dispute with the judge overseeing the lawsuit.
ELDER: Right. VAUSE: In fact, Michael Reagan, son of Ronald Reagan, tweeted this out today: "This most likely would be first time, if my father was alive, that he would not support the nominee of the GOP."
Larry, why does Trump keep digging in on this? why does he make this hole deeper?
ELDER: I think because he comes from this as a perspective as a businessman. He has gone after judges, gone after other litigants. The worst that could happen, if he were in business, is he would have a judge mad at him and a bunch of lawyers that made a lot of money. He's in politics right now. He ought to simply say, I'm sorry about referring to him as a Mexican.
The other part about whether he might have -- belong to an organization that has taken a position about immigration, those are legitimate reasons. However, his lawyers have not filed a motion for recusal.
VAUSE: Exactly.
ELDER: He's the one making all these arguments, because they know it wouldn't work.
SESAY: Yes; and Larry, we want to put up a tweet from the former California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. He tweeted a short time ago, his support for Judge Curiel, and said this: "Judge Curiel is an American hero who stood up to the Mexican Cartel. I was proud to appoint him when I was governor."
ELDER: Right.
SESAY: Where on earth does this leave GOP unity?
ELDER: I think that Donald Trump needs to start paying attention to what some of the other leaders are saying. I mean, you pointed out he has not [00:10:01] gotten backing from anybody. Paul Ryan has criticized the statement. Mitch McConnell has criticized the statement. Marco Rubio, who reluctantly came to his side, has criticized the statement. He needs, Donald Trump, to say I'm sorry, and show people he can be humble. This is a whole different ballgame now; this is politics, not a business.
VAUSE: And there is a lot of anger out there. There's a Democratic Congressman in Texas who wrote an open letter to Donald Trump that said, in part, "Mr. Trump, you are a racist. You can take your border wall and shove it up you're a**" -- you can read the rest. Then that congressman explained why he used such explicit language; listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. FILEMON VELA (D-TX): Well, I would have liked to have spoken in a much more diplomatic fashion, but I felt like I had to speak to Donald Trump in language that he understands.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Kevin, very quickly, if Donald Trump needs to reach out to Latinos and Hispanics, right now, it ain't working.
CHAVETZ: Well, temperance is the order of the day. I think Larry understand that as well. Look, I'm a practicing lawyer.
[Laughter]
CHAVETZ: I've been practicing for many years. I can tell you this, that Larry made an excellent point. The mere fact that Trump's lawyers in this lawsuit didn't file for recusal speaks volumes, because they know they can't file a frivolous claim because they could face sanctions. So I think that all people, reasonable minds, need to persuade Mr. Trump to back away and he has to exercise temperance if he wants to be the leader of the free world.
SESAY: No sign of temperance on the horizon though.
ELDER: The question is, does he want to win? I remember when Donald Trump criticized Bernie Sanders for taking the email issue off the table. he said, Bernie doesn't really want to win. The question is: Donald, do you want to win? If you really want to win, you can't keep these self-inflicted wounds. it doesn't make sense.
VAUSE: Okay; Larry, good to have you with us. Kevin, thanks for joining us there from Sacramento.
CHAVETZ: Thank you.
VAUSE: Great to have you with us.
SESAY: Now, turning away from U.S. politics for a moment. France will conduct a security exercise in Leon Tuesday to prepare for potential terror threats at the Euro 2016 Futbol Championship. ISIS has said it intends to attack the tournament which kicks off Friday.
VAUSE: France will deploy nearly 100,000 security forces to guard the event and match venues and fan zones. Millions of Futbol fans are expected at the tournament.
Ukraine says it detained a Frenchman who was planning attacks on the Euro 2016 championship. Authorities say he reached out to armed groups in eastern Ukraine and built up an arsenal of weapons and explosives.
SESAY: He was arrested in late May on the Polish border with Ukraine, as he tried to smuggle the weapons across. French authorities say they have not yet opened an investigation into the alleged terror plot. Frightening images there, as you take a look at all that fire power.
VAUSE: Absolutely; CNN Intelligence and Security Analyst Bob Baer is with us in Telluride, Colorado; and also here on the set we have former FBI Special Agent Steve Moore, and CNN Contributor. Guys, thank you for being with us.
SESAY: Yes. VAUSE: Steven, first to you: several million fans, 51 games, ten venues. ISIS wants to hit it. The police are exhausted because of the state of emergency. They have dealt with two terror attacks in just over the last year. On paper, this looks like a disaster waiting to happen; doesn't it?
STEVE MOORE, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT AND CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It does, but I don't think ISIS is this bold. They are somewhat risk averse, and I think the fact that they telegraphed that they're going to hit this target really means that they don't - you know, barking dogs don't bite. So I think what they have got here is they're trying to get as much mileage as they can out of the fear. So, I don't really think that they have it in them to hit.
SESAY: Bob to bring you in here, security for tournament is effectively a co-production involving numerous departments, private security companies and European police forces. Is that reassuring to you or a source of concern, the fact that there's so many different parties involved?
BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST, via satellite: well, I think the French are expecting something to happen. I mean, this guy in the Ukraine, it was a right-wing fanatic apparently. What we heard so far, I mean, he has nothing to do with Islam. In fact, he was claiming to launch these attacks against immigrants; but as President Hollande has said, you can not completely guard France 100-percent. All it takes is one person with a suicide vest to wreak havoc in France. I think that's, at the end of the day, what they are scared about as opposed to a Paris-like attack right now.
VAUSE: But, Bob, there is an intelligence that came out, I think back in April, that the same terror group which carried out the Paris attack, the Brussels attack had, in fact, considered an attack on the Euro 2016. So in all honesty there is a threat out there, ISIS and others, it has to be taken seriously, right?
BAER: Oh, I think you absolutely have to. I think it would be a miracle if the French don't get through this with some sort of incident occurring, simply because Euro 2016 is so important to France. France is under threat right now. The Islamic State, by the way, is losing ground. When the Islamic State loses ground, it strikes out externally.
[00:15:03] SESAY: Steve, you worked in operations many times. When you look at the situation here, with the Euro 2016 Tournament about to start, are there lessons to be learned from, say, the London Olympics in 2012? I mean, talk to me about what's going on behind the scenes.
MOORE: Certainly. From the L.A. Olympics in '84 all the way to the last Olympics in London we have learned as we went. There have been things that have been stopped before the Olympics started, and that is what we're pulling in -- or what they're pulling in for -- through all of this.
Bob is right. We can't rule out that somebody is going to try something and, frankly, having this event in France right now is like having a Christmas party in Raqqah. It was not ideal. Obviously it was planned five years ago, but you are in an area where there is proven terrorist infrastructure. Whether ISIS is bold enough to go against their risk aversion is what -- which is why we have to plan so, so, so well against it.
VAUSE: Bob, if it's not ISIS which is the threat, which clearly they are, but who else? What other groups could be planning something here?
BAER: Well, I think as Steve said, you have to plan for anything. You have al-Qaeda. You have various groups in Mali, for instance, that would like to strike the French. The whole sub-Saharan African terrorist group goes by various names, is capable of striking in France. Remember, it just -- the kind of crowds there, it doesn't take anything to sophisticated to cause a lot of casualties. You know, filtering every single suspect in France, the immigrant population is very large, the converts, there's a lot of them. When the French say they are worried, I believe them.
SESAY: Yes; and, Steve, quickly, last word to you. As Bob just said, it doesn't take a lot to cause a lot of chaos.
MOORE: Exactly.
SESAY: For authorities, this is not merely a case of preparing for an explosive attack. This is being prepared for anything and everything?
MOORE: You could have one person with a pistol come in at the wrong place at the wrong time and it would command headlines for days. So this is kind of a no lose situation and those lone wolf terrorists are the ones that are the wild card in this.
VAUSE: Obviously, we'll be following this story all week --
SESAY: Yes.
VAUSE: -- because everything kicks off on Friday, as we said. Steve, thanks for being with us. And, also, Bob Baer there in Telluride.
SESAY: Bob, thank you. Steve, always a pleasure.
MOORE: Thanks.
SESAY: Thanks, Gents.
VAUSE: Well, the Islamic holy month of fasting is under way against the backdrop of an ISIS call for lone wolf attacks.
SESAY: Ramadan is observed by Muslims around the world, but the holiday is especially difficult right now in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo. Thousands of residents are trapped there as fighting rages between the Syrian government forces and rebels.
VAUSE: We'll take a short break. When we come back, the attacks are relentless. Ahead we'll have the cost of driving ISIS out of Syria and Iraq. SESAY: Plus, outrage over the verdict in a rape case involving a former Stanford University student. He got just six months in jail. Now the judge is under fire.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SESAY: A slap on the wrist, that's what many are calling the six- month jail sentence given to a former Stanford University student in a rape case.
VAUSE: The star swimmer was found guilty of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on campus. The victim read a letter in court, describing in detail what she has gone through; it was an emotional letter. Earlier on CNN Ashleigh Banfield read out the entire letter, everything that was presented to the court, it ran 40 minutes. Had a very emotional response from online from a lot of people. Here is four minutes; stay with it because it's worth listening to everything. Here is Ashleigh Banfield.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST, "LEGAL VIEW": Your Honor, if it is all right for the majority of this statement, I would like to address the defendant directly.
You don't know me, but you've been inside me, and that's why we're here today. On January 17, 2015, it was a quiet Saturday night at home. I sat at the table with my younger sister, who was visiting for the weekend... it was my only night with her so I had nothing better to do, so why not, there's a dumb party ten minutes from my house, I would go. I made silly faces. I let my guard down, drank too much liquor, fast, not factoring in that my tolerance had significantly lowered since college.
The next thing I remember I was in a gurney, in a hallway. I had dried blood and bandages on the backs of my hands and elbow. A deputy explained I had been assaulted. When I was finally allowed to use the restroom, I pulled down my hospital pants that they'd given me and I went to pull down my underwear and I felt nothing. The thin piece of fabric, the only thing between my vagina and anything else was missing and everything inside me was silenced.
Then I felt pine needles scratching the back of my neck and I started pulling them out of my hair. I thought maybe the pine needles had fallen from a tree, onto my head. My brain was talking my gut into not collapsing. I was asked to sign papers that said "Rape Victim" and I thought, something has really happened.
My clothes were confiscated and I stood naked while the nurses held a ruler to various abrasions on my body and photographed them. The three of us worked to comb the pine needles out of my hair, and six hands to fill one paper bag. After a few hours of this they let me shower. I stood there, examining my body beneath the stream of water, and I decided I don't want my body anymore. I was terrified of it. I didn't know what had been in it. I wanted to take off my body like a jacket, and leave it at the hospital with everything else. On that morning, all that I was told was that I had been found behind a dumpster. One day I was at work, scrolling through the news on my phone, and I came across an article. In it I read and learned for the first time about how I was found unconscious, with my hair disheveled, long necklace wrapped around my neck, bra pulled out of my dress, dress pulled off, over my shoulders and pulled up above my waist, that I was butt naked all the way down to my boots, legs spread apart and had been penetrated by a foreign object by someone I did not recognize. I learned what happened to me the same time everyone else in the world learned what happened to me.
That's when the pine needles in my hair made sense. I thought there is no way this is going to trial. There were witnesses. There was dirt in my body. He's going to settle, formally, apologize, and we will both move on. Instead I was told he hired a powerful attorney, expert witnesses, private investigators who were going to try and find details about my personal life to use against me; find loopholes in my story to invalidate me and my sister, in order to show that this sexual assault was, in fact, a misunderstanding.
You have dragged me through this hell with you, dipped me back into that night again and again. You knocked down both our towers. I collapsed at the same time you did. Your damage was concrete, stripped of titles, degrees, [00:25:01] enrollment. My damage was internal, unseen. I carry it with me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Incredibly powerful.
VAUSE: And that went on for 40 minutes. If anybody saw it today, you would never forget it.
As anyone can imagine, this case is getting a lot of outrage.
SESAY: Yes.
VAUSE: So let's have a closer look.
SESAY: Yes.
VAUSE: Areva Martin is with us, a civil rights attorney.
SESAY: Areva, it's good to have you with us; it always is. Listen, the superior court judge in this case -- you heard that victim's impact statement.
AREVA MARTIN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Yes.
SESAY: But the superior court judge in this case said that in sentencing Brock Turner to the six months in jail was taking into account his age and his lack of criminal history. Bearing in mind this is a sexual assault case, did he follow the law because for most people --
MARTIN: I think it's a - SESAY: -- this is stunning.
MARTIN: -- total dereliction of his duties, and, you know, I'm on here a lot talking about the need to respect and be reverent to our system of justice and give respect to the judicial process, but the judge got it wrong. Categorically, unequivocally got this wrong.
To give this young man six months when he was convicted - so you talk about the powerful lawyer. The lawyer wasn't the problem in this case. the jury convicted him on three counts, three felonies.
VAUSE: They did their job.
MARTIN: They did their jobs. It was this judge that refused to recognize what had been done to this young woman. I hate to say it, because I don't want to infuse race into anything, but it just looked like white privilege to me. You've got an athlete. You've got a prestigious school; you have a family, obviously, that's well-heeled, and you get this guy with six-months. A slap on the wrist, a complete travesty of justice in this case.
VAUSE: Okay, sure. So it was -- 14 years is the maximum. Prosecutors asked for six years. The defense asked for four months.
MARTIN: Yes.
VAUSE: The probation department recommended a six-month sentence, and that's what he got. So if you are going to be angry, don't be just at the judge be angry at the probation department as well; right?
MARTIN: Absolutely. We've got to put this in the context of rape culture and what happens on college campuses. We know for the last couple of years we've seen so many of these cases. there was a case at Vanderbilt, just last year, where some football players were convicted, same thing, being intoxicated and having sex with a young lady who was intoxicated herself, and couldn't give consent.
In this case what I found galling was this was an athlete, and even his own teammate says, as a freshman he was given extensive training on what to do in these situations. The fact that -- what consent looks like. So this isn't a young man that can say he didn't know that you can't have sex with someone that is inebriated and then claim that she gave consent, which was what his defense was in this trial.
SESAY: Yes.
MARTIN: The jurors saw through that. They rejected that claim and they convicted him.
SESAY: Also galling to many is a letter Brock Turner's father wrote to the judge which says in part -- let's read this for you because it's stunning. This is what Mr. Turner said, Senior: "His life" - referencing his son - "will never be the one he dreamed about and worked so hard to achieve. That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action, out of his 20-plus years of life." Attempting to portray his son as the victim here; and what is also noteworthy, does not explicitly refer to the victim in this letter.
MARTIN: Or take responsibility for the actions of his son. It's not an action, it's a criminal offense that was committed by his son and he nor his son have ever stepped up and taken responsibility for that. The response to this dad's letter, his statement, was swift online. It was outrageous, as we would have and should have expected.
The fact that they will not accept that this woman's life was changed in this time period, she had no ability to consent. Her life is over, but we're concerned about how damaged the pro ath - or the would be professional athlete's life is and how devastating this is for him. That's what, I think, has to change in this whole concept of rape on college campuses. We have to recognize the women are the victims in these cases, not the guys who had promising careers and somehow because of choices they have made and they have been held accountable, that somehow they become the victim.
SESAY: And a point that she also made; just because she got intoxicated, that's not a crime.
MARTIN: That is not a crime, and you cannot give consent -- I need to say that over and over and over again. Someone that is inebriated cannot give consent. It's rape to have sex with someone who is unconscious.
VAUSE: Very quickly, can the prosecution appeal?
MARTIN: Prosecution cannot appeal. Double jeopardy, this is it.
VAUSE: Okay.
MARTIN: We can get rid of this judge though, and there's already a petition moving to have him removed from the bench; that is what we can do in a case like this.
VAUSE: Thanks, Areva.
SESAY: So good to have you with us; thank you.
VAUSE: Short break; when we come back, the U.S. insists it's not a combat mission but there are concerns about the risks to U.S. forces in the battle against ISIS.
[00:30:02] SESAY: And, she's funny, talented and smart, but there's so much more to her story. How this talk show host left millions of viewers speechless.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody; you are watching "CNN Newsroom" live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.
SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay. The breaking news: Hillary Clinton has enough delegates to secure the U.S. Democratic presidential nomination. This comes just before the last batch of primary contests. CNN has also learned that President Barack Obama is ready to endorse Clinton.
VAUSE: Her rival, Bernie Sanders, is criticizing the delegate count, suggesting nothing is final until the Democratic Convention in July.
SESAY: Turning now to the Middle East, and in Syria and Iraq, the fierce battle against ISIS shows no signs of easing.
VAUSE: U.S. troops aren't supposed to be involved in combat but CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr reports there's a growing risk in a number of operations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENATGON CORRESPONDENT: Navy fighter jets screaming off the deck of a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean, headed for ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq. The U.S. sending a message to a vital ally, Turkey; Washington will continue supporting Kurds fighting along the Syria/Turkey border. The top U.S. Commander, General Joseph Votel, making clear, simultaneous attacks will continue from U.S. aircraft and local forces on the ground. Votel is holding open the option, help Syrian fighters with more weapons and ammunition.
[00:35:01] GENERAL JOSEPH VOTEL, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: If I make a determination that we need to provide them equipment beyond what we're already providing them, then I will make that recommendation.
STARR: The first of 250 additional U.S. Special Operations Forces have now arrived in Syria. The Pentagon insists the mission is not combat, but
from Iraq to Syria, Somalia and Libya, U.S. troops are now facing growing danger as the Obama administration uses Special Operation Forces, like these, to advise and assist local forces.
These U.S. advisors were captured on video in northern Syria carrying grenade launchers and machine guns with noise suppressers.
In Syria's Manbij area, near Turkey, U.S. troops are also nearby advising in an increasingly brutal battle. The U.S. wants to close off this part of the Syria/Turkey border to keep foreign fighters from coming into Syria and also going back out, possibly able to reach Europe with new attacks.
But little the U.S. can do in Aleppo where humanitarian disaster is emerging. the Russians and Syrian regime pounding the city according to U.S. officials. Russia also backing Syrian forces near Raqqah, ISIS' capital, approaching from the South as U.S.-backed Syrian rebels push from the North; the U.S. so far not openly saying it would defense the rebels against Russian or Syrian forces.
PETER COOK, PRESS SECRETARY, THE PENTAGON: They know that the engagement they have with the United States, with the Coalition, is specific to the fight against ISIL. STARR: And in Fallujah, humanitarian and relief groups say they there may be as many as 50,000 Iraqis trapped in that city.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Time for a quick break now. Millions have watched her interview, one of Hollywood's biggest stars; how a speechless woman found her voice and confounded the experts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SESAY: Now to an extraordinary story of smashing through barriers and confounding the experts. Carly Fleischmann is a young woman with severe autism. The doctors call it non-verbal autism, which means she cannot speak in the traditional sense, but she has learned to communicate.
VAUSE: Here comes the part which many will find astounding. Carly wants to be a talk show host. Kind of like a runner without any legs wanting to run. She has actually no voice of her own, but she has found her voice. She interviewed one of Hollywood's biggest stars, Channing Tatum. The clip on YouTube has been watched now more than 3 million times.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLY FLEISCHMANN, HOST, "SPEECHLESS WITH CARLY FLEISCHMANN": If your daughter was able to date today, which one of your actor friends would you [00:40:01] forbid her from dating and why? I'm asking because I want to know who to stay away from in Hollywood or who I should be running towards. Laugh out loud.
[Laughter]
CHANNING TATUM, HOLLYWOOD ACTOR: This is so complicated to answer. It's so hard. Oh, man, I don't know. None of them; I wouldn't let her date any of them is the real answer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And Carly Fleishmann is with us now from Toronto. Carly, thank you for being with us. First up, congratulations on that interview with Channing Tatum. Most people would think having non- verbal autism would be a problem if you want to do a talk show, but it wasn't for you.
FLEISCHMANN: Thank you. I'm glad to be auditioning for your job. laugh out loud.
[Laughter]
VAUSE: I would like to talk about your interview though. I thought it was great. One of the really, really good things about it, you just went there with a lot of those questions like when you asked Channing about his days as a stripper. I want to play this soundbite from the interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FLEISCHMANN: I know you were a stripper growing up.
TATUM: Yes.
FLEISCHMANN: How many girls at the end of the night would take you home?
TATUM: How many? At the end of one night? Some nights were more than others.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You know, throughout this interview, you just seemed to get him to open up. How did you do it?
FLEISCHMAN: I had lots of fun doing it and I hope Channing did as well. My whole my life all I've known is challenges. People always use one word to define me. However, I have been diagnosed with automotorapraxia autism, fine motor delay, OCD, and worst of all, I'm a chronic sufferer of good looking syndrome. Laugh out loud. My point being is like everyone else in the world, I have my own challenges I need to overcome. Having Channing watch me overcome my challenges also allowed him to let me into his world.
VAUSE: Now millions of people have watched this interview, and most of the feedback has been essentially about your skills as an interviewer, what a great interview it was. Is that what you expected?
FLEISCHMANN: The biggest shock to me was watching and reading articles about me. They all started off the same young lady with autism interviews Channing, but as I read more into the articles, the label autism seems to be replaced with funny, talented, intellectual, smart and even great reporter, Carly Fleischmann. This made me realize for the first time that people didn't see me as a label; they saw me as a person.
VAUSE: Now Channing Tatum, he is a pretty big get. He is a huge celebrity. Any talk show host would be happy to have him. How did you land him for your show?
FLEISCHMANN: Was told a good reporter never reveals her secrets, especially when it comes to how she or he has landed a good guest. So all I can say is, unfortunately, I am going to have to remain speechless.
VAUSE: Fair enough. If you could interview anyone in the world right now, who would it be and why?
FLEISCHMAN: It would be my dream to have an interview with singers like Lady Gaga or Billy Joel at a piano. But top three would have to be Oprah and Ellen at the same time, talking about what makes a great talk show host; Taylor Swift, because I would love to know what's going on with her and boys. I can give her some tips, laugh out loud; and, finally, Barack Obama because who doesn't want to interview a president?
VAUSE: Exactly; everyone would love to sit down with Barack Obama, especially given this election campaign.
FLEISCHMANN: My dream is being an internet industry leader such as Hulu, Netflix, Crave TV, Crackle or even AppleTV realize that a show like mine can be a game changer. Who knows? Maybe an Oprah or an Ellen DeGeneres would want to sign me like Usher did Justin Bieber. One can only hope. What piece of advice do you have for me about being a journalist?
VAUSE: You know, I think just be honest. Just be yourself, be open and have fun.
FLEISCHMANN: Thank you for your time.
VAUSE: Hey, and thank you. It has been wonderful speaking with you. I wish you the very, very best of luck.
SESAY: Just remarkable.
VAUSE: You know, obviously, we gave Carly -
SESAY: Of course.
VAUSE: -- the questions ahead of time because she types everything into the computer and that's Siri's voice, which she uses to answer the questions. She didn't say a word. She didn't communicate with her parents until she was 11.
SESAY: Wow.
VAUSE: It was only when she was in pain and she actually found on a computer, she typed in the word pain and it came out with Siri's voice and her parents were astounded. Doctors were astounded. Ever since then she's had ups and downs, but she's gone from strength to strength.
SESAY: And she's not let the challenges hold her back.
VAUSE: And if anybody wants to talk about barriers to a career or jobs or troubles that they have, nothing.
SESAY: Always say, dream big.
VAUSE: Yes, go for it.
SESAY: Go for it. Thank you for watching "CNN Newsroom" live from Los Angeles; I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: I'm John Vause; "World Sport" is up next. Then we will be back with another hour of news from around the world. You are watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
("WORLD SPORT" AIRED)
