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France Launches Successful Start To The 2016 Euro Football Tourney; Muhammad Ali Gets A Final Goodbye; Hillary Clinton Gets Support Of Democratic Party Behind Her; Top Republicans Unleash New Criticism On Donald Trump. Aried 2-2:30a ET
Aired June 11, 2016 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:10]
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NATALIE ALLEN, HOST: France launches a successful start to the 2016 Euro football tournament, muting fears over security concerns and labor strikes.
Muhammad Ali gets a final good-bye. Mourners gather in the boxer's hometown to hold a funeral service fit for a legendary champion.
And Hillary Clinton gets the support of the Democratic Party behind her while top Republican leaders unleash new criticism on Donald Trump.
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ALLEN: It is all ahead here on "CNN Newsroom" we're live in Atlanta. Thank you for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.
French football fans are celebrating after the host nation won the opening round of Euro 2016.
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ALLEN: France beat Romania 2-1 in the national stadium just outside Paris. 80,000 fans went through multiple security checkpoints to attend the match amid fears the month-long football championship could be a target for terrorists. As our Alex Thomas explains the win is a much need good news for France.
ALEX THOMAS: A perfect start, both for the tournament organizers and for the host nation. Away from the pitch, a huge security operation seemed to go without a hitch. On the pitch, France survived a few nervy moments to secure a win in their opening game against Romania here at the Stade de France.
It was France who took the lead through Olivier Giroud, they were pegged back when Romania scored a penalty. And Dimitri Payet who has been outstanding for English Premier League side, West Ham all season, scored an absolutely scorching winning goal hit into the top corner.
But Payet admitted there were real nerves within the Le Bleu side. And France manager Didier Deschamps said afterwards that some of the star names particularly Paul Pogba had disappointed.
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THOMAS: Nonetheless, a win for France. They put a smile back on the face of a nation who has endured negative headlines and the long list of problems isn't over. Reports of violence between rival sets of fans in Marseille and the police there ahead of the Marquis game on day two of 2016 when England take on Russia.
Alex Thomas, CNN, Paris, France
ALLEN: A little more now on the trouble in Marseille that Alex just mentioned.
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ALLEN: French police using tear gas broke up the scuffles Friday between the English and Russian fans after they reportedly taunted each other. Tens of thousands of fans from both countries are in Marseille, and more than 1,000 police officers are also there.
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ALLEN: Fans in & loved ones have said their last good-byes to the greatest. Muhammad Ali was buried in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky Friday.
[Chanting] Ali! Ali! Ali! Ali!
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ALLEN: Ali's body was driven through the streets he grew up in. People chanted his name as they threw flowers on his hearse. Thousands attended the public service that followed. People started lining up days ago to get their tickets.
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ALLEN: The service reminded everyone of the positive impact of Ali's life and how people loved him. Our Scott McLean has an inside look.
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SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It started with an Islamic chant. But the memorial service for Muhammad Ali was not just Islamic. The speakers and preachers came from across the religious spectrum, and the guests came from all corners of the world to remember the greatest.
BILLY CRYSTAL, ACTOR: He did things nobody would do. He predicted the round he would knock somebody out in, and then he would do it. He was funny. He was beautiful. He was the most perfect athlete he ever saw. And those were his own words.
MCLEAN: Reporter: thousands lined the streets of Louisville for the funeral procession that ended at the cemetery where he was laid to rest. And there were no barriers. Fans freely placed their hands on his hearse, flew flowers and chanted.
[Chanting] Ali! Ali!
MCLEAN: Inside the arena that hosted the service Ali's family and friends said that's exactly how the heavyweight champ would have wanted people to come together. Peacefully.
LONNIE ALI, MUHAMMAD ALI'S WIDOW: He wanted us to use his life and his death as a teaching moment for young people, for his country and for the world.
RASHEDA ALI-WALSH, MUHAMMAD ALI's DAUGHTER: We love you so much, daddy. Until we meet again, fly, butterfly, fly.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER, U.S. PRESIDENT: We should honor him by letting our gifts go among the world as he did. God bless you, my friend. Go in peace.
MCLEAN: In Louisville, Kentucky I'm Scott McLean.
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ALLEN: And one of the people who spoke at the memorial is a 19-year- old university student and former member of the Muhammad Ali Center Council of Students. Natasha Mundkur says she was bullied when she was younger and even called a terrorist. In her eulogy she said Ali's confidence and courage inspired her.
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NATASHA MUNDKUR, MEMBER OF MUHAMMAD ALI CENTER: So let me tell you a story about a man. A man who refused to believe that reality was a limitation to achieve the impossible. A man who once reached up through the pages of a textbook and touched the heart of an 8-year-old girl whose reflection of herself mirrored those who could not see past the color of her skin.
But instead of drawing on that pain from a distorted reality she found strength. Just as this man did when he stood tall in the face of pelting rain and shouted, "I am the disturbance in the sea of your complacency, and I will never stop shaking your waves."
And his voice echoed through hers, through mine. And she picked up the rocks that were thrown at her and she threw them back with a voice so powerful that it turned all the pain that she had faced in her life into strength and tenacity. And now that 8-year-old girl stands before you to tell you that Ali's cry still shakes these waves today. [ applause ] that we are to find strength in our identities, whether we are black or white or Asian or Hispanic, LGBT, disabled, or able bodied, , Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, or Christian. His cry represents those who have not been heard and invalidates the idea that we are to be conformed to one normative standard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say it, girl. [ applause ] (END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: How impressive. 19-year-old Natasha Mundkur.
In other news we're following, as Israel mourns the victims of Wednesday's terror attack in Tel Aviv, an extraordinary story is emerging about an off-duty police officer who helped capture, by accident, one of the suspects.
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Four people were killed in the mass shooting at an open air market. Police say two Palestinians wearing business suits opened fire randomly. We're now learning that one of those suspects slipped away after the attack, mistaken for a terrified civilian, he was invited inside a nearby home.
Here's CNN's Erin McLaughlin.
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chilling surveillance footage shows the moment two Palestinian gunmen storm a busy shopping mall in Tel Aviv. They'd illegally crossed from the West Bank into Israel. You see them shoot people at point-blank range, then run away.
Police fire at one of the suspects but the other escapes. He blends in with the crowd. People were running for their lives. A group of terrified witnesses raced down this way. A couple offered up their nearby apartment for shelter. The husband, an off-duty police officer grabbed his gun and raced back to the mall to help leaving his wife behind with the group. Neither of them knew they just welcomed one of the gunmen into their home.
Ovri Hertetz-Grady tells Israeli Channel 10 when the group arrived from the scene, the suspect was sitting on her doorstep.
OVRI HERTETZ-GRADY, WITNESS: (As translated) You see a man in such stress. He is hardly standing, hardly breathing what - you won't let him in and give him a glass of water? There's a terrorist outside.
MCLAUGHLIN: When her husband went back to the mall, he saw the other suspect in police custody. He realized the man he just allowed into his home was wearing the exact same thing.
HERTETZ-GRADY: (As translated) He told us these were the longest 20 seconds of his life. He was sure he would open up the door and find us all dead on the floor.
MCLAUGHLIN: Her husband entered the apartment and arrested him. Hertetz-Grady says at that point the suspect was unarmed. His motives for entering the home unclear, and we don't know what he planned to do next.
Erin McLaughlin, CNN, Tel Aviv.
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ALLEN: A shooting at a major U.S. airport.
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ALLEN: Next, hear why police say they fired on a man outside the baggage claim area.
Also, Donald Trump is no stranger to attacks, but now top leaders from his own party are criticizing his own comments. That's coming up.
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ALLEN: Police in Dallas, Texas say they had to shoot a man outside the Love Field Airport after a domestic disturbance.
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Get down! [ gunfire ]
ALLEN: You can hear the gunshots and a man yelling "get down" on this video. This video police say the suspect rushed at the officer. According to the assistant police chief it all started with the man throwing large landscaping rocks at the mother of his children. She was unhurt. No word on the suspect's condition.
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ALLEN: We know that Donald Trump is no stranger to attacking others or being attacked. But some of the strongest criticism against the Republican front-runner is now coming from leaders of his own party. Here's our Sunlen Serfaty with the story.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I happen to be Presbyterian. And -- there's about three of you out there, I think.
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump taking a gentler approach while making a play for social conservatives and evangelicals key to turning out the vote for him in November. And after causing a firestorm over his statements about Judge Gonzalo Curiel's ethnicity, today Trump used a teleprompter to deliver a carefully worded message.
TRUMP: No one should be judged by their race or their color and the color of their skin should not be judged that way. And right now we have a very divided nation. We're going to bring our nation together.
SERFATY: This comes as the presumptive GOP nominee is facing intense pressure. Public rebukes and private scoldings from party leaders having to speak out against their nominee.
REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), HOUSE SPEAKER: That comment is beyond the pale.
SERFATY: House Speaker Paul Ryan revealing he spoke to Trump about the comments by phone on Wednesday, telling ABC -- RYAN: I've explained exactly what I thought about that comment. I said
it publicly and I said it privately.
SERFATY: And senate majority leader Mitch McConnell also is weighing in. Speaking openly about Trump's shortcomings and how a running mate will need to compensate for his lack of knowledge.
MITCH MCCONNELL, U.S. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: He needs somebody highly experienced and very knowledgeable because it's pretty obvious he doesn't know a lot about the issues.
SERFATY: Trump is focusing much of his fire on the presumptive Democratic nominee.
TRUMP: Hillary Clinton has jeopardized, totally jeopardized national security by putting her e-mails on a private server, all to hide her corrupt dealings.
SERFATY: This as he faces incoming from other Democrats.
ELIZABETH WARRREN, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRAT: Donald Trump is a loud, nasty, thin-skinned fraud.
SERFATY: Senator Elizabeth Warren delivering a full-scale takedown of Trump Thursday night.
WARREN: Trump tells everyone who will listen that he is a great businessman. But let's be honest. He is just a guy who inherited a fortune and kept it rolling along by cheating people.
[02:15:12]
SERFATY: Warren is stepping up as the Democrats' de facto attack dog, effective in baiting Trump. And Trump took to twitter to fire back at warren. Using his branded nickname of her, "Pocahontas is at it again. Goofy Elizabeth Warren one of the least productive U.S. Senators has a nasty mouth. Hope she is VP choice." Prompting a Hillary Clinton-like rebuttal from warren. "No, seriously, delete your account."
Even President Obama jumping into the fray, poking fun at Trump for late-night laughs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you been watching all the election coverage this week about Donald Trump
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, but I have been watching my new favorite show, orange is not the new black
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ALLEN: What, a comment there. Sunlen Serfaty reporting and President Obama coming through there.
Another key Republican figure is strongly condemning Trump. Former U.S. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is hosting his private retreat with Republican donors, and in a CNN exclusive Romney says a credible Republican alternative to Trump is unlikely but warns that electing Trump as president would be dangerous for the United States.
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MITT ROMNEY, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think there's anything I'm looking for from Mr. Trump to give him my support. He's demonstrated who he is. And I have decided that a person of that nature should not be the one who, if you will, becomes the example for coming generations or the example of America to the world.
Look, I don't want to see trickle down racism. I don't want to see a President of the United States saying things which change the character of the generations of Americans that are following. Presidents have an impact on the nature of our nation. And trickle down racism, trickle down bigotry, and trickle down misogyny, all these things are extraordinarily dangerous to the heart and character of America.
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ALLEN: Mitt Romney there. Trump's rival Hillary Clinton is focusing her energy on the general election.
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ALLEN: Clinton is expected to raise $1 billion for her White House run. She kicked things off on Friday by briefing 80 of her top fund- raisers at her home in Washington. Clinton has reached a new agreement with the Democratic Party to start raising cash for the election and the party's convention.
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ALLEN: The U.S. says morale among ISIS fighters is plummeting with the terror group under fierce attack in three countries -- Iraq, Syria, and Libya and losing ground fast.
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ALLEN: Here's CNN's Jonathan Mann.
JONATHAN MANN, HOST "POLITICAL MANN": Start with the only major city held by is outside of Syria and Iraq. It's been surrounded according to Libyan militia forces. But Brett McGurk, the U.S. Special envoy in the fight against ISIS, says the fall of Sirte isn't imminent.
BRETT MCGURK, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY: We've been able to control Sirte by force. But once you have a credible force on the ground that moves against them, there is a chance they could crack pretty quickly but i don't think we're there yet.
MANN: In Syria the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic forces have circled the ISIS held town of Monbij in a bid to cut off the Islamic state's last remaining access to the Turkish border. McGurk says that will make it harder for ISIS terrorists to hit Europe.
MCGURK: Monbij is where we believe the Paris attackers, the Brussels attackers, they all kind of pulsed through this area from Raqqah up to Monbij and now up to the capitals where they organized their attack.
MANN: In a separate offensive Syrian government troops backed by Russian forces are advancing through Raqqah province toward the de facto capital of is, Raqqah City. And in Iraq a combination of Iraqi military, police, Shia-led popular mobilization units and Sunni fighters have been closing in on the ISIS stronghold of Fallujah.
MCGURK: This will take weeks. It's not going to be fast. Again, they have to go block by block clearing IEDs.
MANN: McGurk estimates ISIS has shrunk from a high of 31,000 fighters to now between 19,000 and 25,000.
MCGURK: The morale now compared to where it was even four or five months ago is plummeting. We're seeing them execute their own fighters on the battlefield. We're seeing them unable to move fighters around the battlefield. And we're seeing recruits fall off precipitously.
MANN: The U.S. assessment, ISIS is on the defensive in three countries and under severe stress from within.
Jonathan Mann, CNN.
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ALLEN: Coming up here, we head to Brazil to test what some call the new Uber of the beach.
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ALLEN: The rainy season is on in east Asia, and Derek's here to tell us about some problems.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is. Unfortunately, it's brought too much rain too quickly. We're talking about an area called Guizhou Province.
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VAN DAM: This is just outside of Guangdong province north and west of Hong Gong. Look at the flooding visuals and landslides and the mudslides in this region. It's a very mountainous part of southwestern China. The rain water swollen local rivers to dangerous levels. Rains triggering those landslides that have damaged several rural roads causing economic losses.
Get a load of this, Natalie estimated at around 10 million Yuan. You can see the swollen rivers thanks to the excessive rain. Now, the east-Asia rainy season, that typically picks up in May and lasts right through June and July period. And you can actually see where it's currently positioned. There's Hong Kong, there's Taipei. We have additional rain in this forecast for southwestern China all the way to the east coast of China. That means the potential for flooding continues with landslides and mudslides certainly a factor as well.
Look at the rainfall totals over the past 24 hours, Macau 90 millimeters. Even southern Taiwan experiencing heavy rain over, 150 millimeters in a 24-hour period. Beijing to the north also had a freak rainstorm that even brought hailstones the size of a walnut just about 24 hours ago. That also led to some flooding into the China -- into China's capital.
Now, let's talk about another part of the world that's also dealing with extreme flooding at the moment and this is the capital of Ghana over west Africa. They have received over 150 millimeters just in a 24-hour period. Mind you about 140 millimeters of that fell in about three hours' time and it led to scenes just like this.
I want to show you some of the visuals coming out of the capital city of Ghana and I got a phone call from one of my best friends who happens to coincidentally live in this particular city, and he said Derek, take a look at social media, the flooding pictures are incredible here. And the situation has really spelled out quite nicely with this video.
This is one of the main thoroughfares or highways through the Accra downtown region and the heavy rainfall and flooding constricted the traffic to one lane. Now, traffic's already bad in Accra. Now put in flood waters like this and you've got yourself a major problem, major delays, and a lot of people there. The locals talk about how the infrastructure just cannot handle the excessive rain that comes typically about this time of year.
Now, this is the rainy season. As I mentioned, they typically receive about 221 millimeters in the month of June. I talked about that. We received a significant portion of that in just 24 hours if not three hours. And it's all because of this inner tropical convergence zone.
We've got the convergence of the trade winds. That allows for uplift. Thunderstorms develop. We get these tropical disturbance that move from east to west, and that continues to bring the rain along the coast of Nigeria, Ghana, all the way to Senegal. You can see them on the satellite loop across that region. And guess what, there's more rain in this forecast, Natalie. So mudslides and more extreme flooding possible across west Africa.
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ALLEN: All right, Derek. Thank you.
Well for those of you planning to catch some sun between Olympic events in Rio this summer, you're lucky if you're doing that. A Brazilian entrepreneur says she has just the thing. A new app that lets beachgoers order anything they want, all from the comfort of their beach chair. Here's Shasta Darlington.
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SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Out here on Rio's beaches you can find almost anything under the sun. Chilled drums of iced tea, a brand new bikini, or a rented beach chair that comes with Wi-Fi.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just on vacations here and I came here just because they have Wi-Fi.
DARLINGTON: Now there's a new app that puts it all at your fingertips. Napraya, or on the beach. Order what you need, and vendors bring the items to you. It's the Uber of Rio's white sands, according to founder Carol Marchins.
"Everybody wants to adapt to this new tendency", she says, "improving sales and service based on user feedback." Beach vendors get a free phone, a 4g plan, and intensive training on how to take advantage of all the new data. It's not hard, he says. "I think in a day or even an hour you can figure it out." Beachgoers can sign up with a credit card. No more lost coins, also making it safer for both buyers and sellers after a rash of beach robberies.
400 vendors are ling up to join, just in time for the 2016 Olympic Games. "Everything's available in English and Spanish," she says. "And by the Olympics we hope to have French and Italian and if everything works out even Mandarin."
Of course, we figure we have to try it out. How about an umbrella, beach chair, and coconut water? That would be just a few clicks. And now look what I get to do for the rest of the day. And it's tasty.
Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.
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ALLEN: How about that one? That is pretty good entrepreneurship there on the beach.
One more for you; do as I say, not as I do. That may very well be Kim Jong Un's philosophy on cigarette smoking.
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ALLEN: Just after North Korea launched an anti-smoking campaign, this picture emerged on state media showing the supreme leader holding a lit cigarette. North Korea has been urging its cigarettes to kick the habit, running T.V. ads that stress the dangers of smoking. It's also requiring cigarette makers to put warnings on packages.
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ALLEN: That's "CNN Newsroom" I'm Natalie Allen. Our top stories are right after a short break.
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