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Australia's Election too Close to Call; Nigel Farage Steps Down as UKIP Leader; Death Toll Now 200 In Baghdad Terror Attack; Rio Mayor Addresses Fears Over Security, Zika Ahead of Rio Games; Massive Flooding in Pakistan; Identity of Dhaka Gunmen Surprise Residents; Japanese Business Scale Back in Bangladesh. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired July 04, 2016 - 8:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[08:00:28] ANDREW STEVENS, HOST: I'm Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong. Welcome to News Stream.

At least 200 people are dead after a horrific suicide bombing in Baghdad, one of a series of terror attacks around the world claimed by

ISIS.

Over a week after winning the biggest political victory of his life, leading Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage quits as leader of UKIP.

And Australia's election is too close to call. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's coalition now in danger of losing its majority.

Bloodshed in the holiest month of the Muslim calendar. It was only a few weeks ago that ISIS rallied followers to launch attacks during Ramadan.

And now, we're gradually seeing the results of that deadly call. A suicide car bombing in the heart of Iraq killing at least 200 people, and a

massacre in Bangladesh targeting foreigners, both claimed by ISIS.

It was also blamed for last week's deadly attack in Istanbul. All these come as the group struggles in its own battlefields with ISIS rapidly

losing ground to Iraqi troops.

Well, we're going to begin now in Baghdad where Ben Wedeman is following developments there. And Ben, even by the grim standard of bomb

attacks in Iraq, this was a very, very heavy loss of life. And the death toll could rise still, correct?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Andrew. This is a capital that is fairly well accustomed to bloodshed, but this is

a level that even Baghdad is reeling from. What we've seen is that the death toll according to the Iraqi police is at least 200, and just as many

are wounded. But they expect that number to go up.

And the problem is complicated by the fact that so many people were simply burned beyond recognition, that they have a hard time identifying

the dead. In fact, of the bodies they were able to recover, 81 of them are burned beyond recognition.

Now, just awhile ago I spoke to a woman here, who her son went missing on Saturday night. She knew that he had come to this neighborhood, the

neighborhood of Qaradad (ph) to go shopping for clothing, that's the last she's heard from him. She went to the hospitals

all over Baghdad. She went to the morgue, and just awhile ago she was here looking, asking anybody who might have seen him, any trace of him, but

nothing.

And we've seen that kind of scene repeated over and over again. People coming here, desperate for any hint, any clue to where their loved

ones are. But at this point, they're usually leaving here in tears with no information whatsoever -- Andrew.

STEVENS: And, Ben, this is one of several attacks in Baghdad in recent weeks aimed at the Shia community. How real, then, is the danger of

widespread retaliation against the Sunni minority? I mean the prospect of another civil war, basically?

WEDEMAN: Well, we haven't seen that quite yet. I mean, I think people are still reeling from this massive death toll. But, certainly,

we've seen in the past that that sort of thing happened. But, so far I think people are, as I said, they're just so shocked by this happening.

And of course, what we've also seen during the battle of Fallujah and as the war against ISIS continues, it's important to keep in mind, it's

not just Shia who are fighting ISIS, it's Sunni, as well. I saw them out in Fallujah, I've seen them in Ramadi. So there is a groundswell of anger

and hatred and resentment against ISIS itself, not necessarily focused on the Sunni community, which it must be pointed out, by and large, is hardly

supportive of ISIS.

And certainly even though this is a predominantly Shia neighborhood, the people who were shopping here were a typical mix of Baghdad residents.

There were Christians, there were Sunni Muslims, there were Shia Muslims. So it appears that the high death toll is being shared, the pain is being

shared by all the communities in Iraq -- Andrew.

[08:05:14] STEVENS: Ben, thank you very much for that. Ben Wedeman joining us live from

Baghdad.

Well, police are now saying that two of the people injured in the siege in Bangladesh are

suspects. They're in hospital and are to be interrogated when they recover.

CNN has confirmed the identity of one of those attackers. His father recognized his son

from photos of the attackers released by ISIS. He says his son left home in February and has been missing ever since. He says there was no sign

that his son was becoming radicalized.

WEDEMAN: Well, the attack targeted a cafe popular with foreigners. Seven Japanese nationals were among those 20 hostages killed. Now, several

Japanese companies have suspended dealings with Bangladesh. CNN's Matt Rivers is in Tokyo with the latest on the wide-ranging effect of this

attack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the families of the victims involved in this attack from Japan are in Bangladesh at this point, and we

now know that all of these families have visited the hospital in Dhaka to see for the first time the remains of their loved ones that were killed in

this attack. We also know that vice foreign minister from Japan, and a team of terrorism experts who were

already on the ground in Bangladesh as a part of this investigation were also with the families at some point today.

As for a time frame on when those family members can bring the bodies of these victims home, that is still uncertain at this point.

But we are learning more about these victims. They were all there, as a part of a traffic relief project, sponsored by a Japanese governmental

agency here. They were trying to alleviate traffic issues in the city of Dhaka. They were there just doing good work making people's lives

hopefully a little bit easier.

There was one 32-year-old man part of that group. He was killed in this attack. His father and his grandmother spoke about him here in Japan

yesterday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He was very proud of his work, as he could work hard for the country in development. Everybody

loved him. He is a good man.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): He was a very, very good boy. I really hoped the news was wrong, but now I cannot do anything.

RIVERS: And so the human toll of this event just absolutely tragic, but there are other implications here, as well. The economic realities,

for example, companies perhaps afraid to do business in the near term in Bangladesh, so take Uniqlo, for example, the major Japanese clothing maker

told CNN earlier today that they will no longer engaging in anything but the absolute most necessary business trips to Bangladesh. They are scaling

back their business trips to the country out of an abundance of caution, safety concerns.

Other companies doing the exact same thing here in Japan -- Toshiba, Mitsubishi Motors, Obayashi Corporation, a very large construction firm,

and Maruha Nichiro, a very big fishing firm.

And so the human toll of this event cannot be overstated, incredibly tragic. But there is also an economic toll if these companies do not feel

it's safe to do business in Bangladesh, as they seem to feel right now, the reverberations from this attack could be even wider than perhaps we had previously imagined.

Matt Rivers, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDOETAPE)

STEVENS: It was only days ago the world was stunned when 44 people in Istanbul were killed by terrorists. And the attack at the city's main

airport bore all the hallmarks of ISIS.

Well, the terror group has not yet claimed responsibility, but Turkish authorities firmly believe ISIS was behind those bombings. They detained

27 people, including three foreigners, after a series of raids across the country.

Well, Turkish media also reports the arrest of two suspected ISIS militants at Ataturk airport,

very site of last week's atrocity.

CNN's senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir is following all aspects of the terror investigation and joins us now live from Istanbul.

And what do we know, first of all, Nima, about the two people who have been taken in by the

Turkish authorities?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Turkey semi- official news agency has released information that one of them was traveling on a Ukrainian residency permit and that the other one was

traveling on also an identity permit from the Northern Caucus region.

This came as they were apprehended, apparently, with a number of multiple identities on them and what the news agency is calling, quote,

"military items."

Of course, where there is no direct link as stated by this news agency, but given that Akhmed Chatayev, who is himself from the Northern

Caucuses, is believed to have been involved in a key role, as he is, within ISIS' war ministry, there's always going to be lot of concern around these

flights that arrive from Ukraine. And in a broader sense a lot of concern around these central Asian suspects that are coming through Istanbul

airport.

And I have to tell you, Andrew, 16 more of those 27 that you mentioned had been arrested, are

due to appear in front of Turkish magistrates. Again, we've already had 13 charged with belonging to a terror group. And they will stand trial, and

at least 16 were waiting to hear whether or not there will be charges brought against them.

What has unfolded in the days since Turkeys attack has only heightened fears here. While they are following the threads of this investigation,

they're also having to try and prevent what could potentially be out there still, Andrew.

STEVENS: OK. Nima, thank you for that. Nima Elbagir joining us live from Istanbul.

Now, while ISIS has been beaten back within its self-proclaimed caliphate, it continues to inspire those who carry out terror attacks

around the world.

I'm joined now by our international diplomatic correspondent Nic Robertson for more on how this terror group is now evolving.

Nic, this surge of attacks we've seen in Iraq, other parts of the Middle East, Turkey, and now

Bangladesh, I mean, when you look at that, it's just a reaction to losing ground on the home battle front in Syria and Iraq or is this something

else?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are a number of things going on here. They are losing ground. There's no doubt

about that. And one of their strategies, because they're losing ground and personnel, is to try to attract more recruits to come to

Iraq and Syria.

But at the same time of losing territory there, they still want to project themselves as the

number one global jihadists. Their aims in other parts of the world are still to try and take and hold territory, whereas al Qaeda used to just try

to have terrorist actions.

So, I think what we're seeing partly from ISIS at the moment, they've been sowing the seeds to

gain support of other jihadist groups around the world, whether it's been in Bangladesh, or whether it's been in Uzbekistan, or the Russian Caucasus.

They've been trying to win over their support and over the last couple of years they've had those groups -- some of those groups

pledge allegiance. Some, for instance, if you take the Bangladesh situation, some of the jihadists there have pledged allegiance to al Qaeda

and some of them have pledged allegiance to ISIS. There was an ISIS recruiter picked up in Dhaka, Bangladesh two summers ago trying to recruit

young Bangladeshis to go and join their fight in Iraq and Syria.

But what we're seeing is a growth of their organizations, and structures, and support networks in these other countries that have pledged

with these organizations in other countries that have pledged allegiance, and a growing of the experience and expertise.

If you look at what ISIS, again, using Bangladesh as the example, has claimed there. Last year they claimed to have shot dead an Italian aid

worker in September. In October, they claimed to have shot and killed a Japanese businessman and a number of other attacks and killings subsequent

to that. So, what you're seeing is a growth at the organization. The latest attack there was more

sophisticated.

So, in essence, ISIS has tried to recruit, it's tried to grow these networks and these networks are

maturing, and they're maturing to take part in, if you will, bigger, more spectacular acts of terrorism.

So I think that's part of what we're seeing, as well at the same time losing ground in their home territory.

But I think these things are happening in parallel, Andrew?

STEVENS: So, talking about the recruiting process, we're being told taht one of the gunman in

Dhaka, he was a 19-year-old boy, described as kind and loving by his father, something of a loner, upper middle class family, very, very

supportive we're told. How does ISIS appeal to someone like that? Is this sort of -- who are they actually targeting in their recruitment drive?

ROBERTSON: Well, they've been playing on their fundamental religious beliefs that they would have a duty to Islam in itself, and if there are

foreigners who are killing Muslims in other parts of the world, then they have a duty to support those Muslims.

It's not untypical for people, you know, to a better education, of a lesser education, but even people of a better education with an

inquisitive mind who perhaps don't feel that they fit in, a bit of a loner, is the picture that's painted. That is not atypical at all.

And again we've heard from the father saying that for four months he disappeared. I mean, this is typical of al Qaeda in its recruitment days.

It would take recruits, bring them into us with a small group of friends, wean them away from their families, tell them in the end that their

families were on a deviant path, keep them away from their families. Their families would have no influence on them, and then continue to radicalize

them in that environment.

And that very much fits the profile here. So all these elements with this particular individual, again, they fit the profile. But the core of

it is, ISIS will play on their belief that they have to support and stand up for their brother Muslims. That's one of their core calls, if you will.

[08:15:20] STEVENS: OK, Nic, thank you very much. Nic Robertson joining us with

the very latest on how ISIS is continuing to spread its tentacles across the world.

Now, a suicide bomber blew himself up near the American consulate in Jeddah. Saudi state-run media report police became suspicious after seeing

the man wandering around the parking lot.

When they approached him, he set off what appeared to be an explosive belt. The Saudi news agency says two officers were slightly injured.

Authorities destroyed three devices in the bomber's car in a controlled explosion.

He says he did his part, and now he's bowing out. Why Nigel Farage is stepping down as head of the UK Independence Party.

And too close to call: two days after Australia's federal election, the vote is right down the middle, and it could be some time before we know

who will actually run the country. We've got the very latest just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEVENS: Heading towards 20 past 8:00 here in Hong Kong, that's the view across Victoria

Harbor to a lit-up city.

Now, the key voice behind the Brexit movement says that he's ready to move on. Nigel Farage has announced that he's stepping down as leader of

the UK Independence Party, UKIP. Farage says his goal was to get Britain out of the European Union, not to become a career politician.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, MPs vote in the first round of the Conservative Party leadership race. Five candidates are vying to replace David Cameron.

Let's get an update now on all these developments. Isa Soares joins us from outside 10 Downing Street.

Isa, let's start with Nigel Farage. He says his job is done and he's moving on. Does anyone absolutely believe that?

ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, oh, I don't think many do believe that, but some people will be very happy to see him go.

That's another question all entirely.

But Andrew, he was a man -- of course, he was the architect of the Brexit move. He was the one that was going up and down this country with a

big slogan, basically we want our country back. Now he's saying actually I just want time off. I just want to have time to myself.

So many people quite surprised that he decided to step down, but some are saying this may be a political move now.

Behind the scenes, there's speculation that perhaps he may get together with Andrea, and

perhaps make -- pull the strings behind there with (inaudible). Or perhaps he may be looking further down the line in his own political career.

He did say -- (inaudible) did say when he was speaking out today, she said she had no allegiances whatsoever to UKIP party. But the reality is

that many people are quite angry at the fact that he pushed the country to Brexit and now he just passing the poisoned chalice to someone else --

Andrew.

[08:20:13] STEVENS: Well, certainly not the first person to have done that in the last few days of extraordinary developments, Isa.

Let's move on to the Tory Party race for the new leadership. Five candidates now. How are they stacking up?

SOARES: Well, Andrew, it looks like it's going to be two women, really, going head-to-head. We have Theresa May, many of you know, but she

said that she was the one who said, look, Brexit is Brexit. She's in charge of the home office. She's steady. She's got a

controlled hand. And some people perhaps say she's probably a bit boring.

And then on the other side you've also got Andrea Leadsom. She has been -- she worked in the city for 20-something years. She doesn't have

much experience in terms of MP, but she came out today laying out her store for what she thought was important. And she said

look, there will be no free movement. That is clear. Very different from what we've been hearing from Theresa May trying to get some sort of

negotiation on free movement.

But she also spoke directly to EU residents, living here. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREA LEADSOM, CONSERVATIVE PARTY LEADERSHIP CANDIDATE: Today, to guaranteeing the rights of our EU friends who've already come here to live

and work. We must give them certainty. There is no way they will be bargaining chips in our negotiations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Now, she joins Michael Gove and Liam Fox who in the last hour said, and I'm quoting here, there is no place for free movement. The

public said they wanted out, and a Brexit is, in fact, a Brexit.

So you have three candidates there pushing -- the ones who are pushing for a Brexit saying no move on the free movement.

And on the other side you've got Theresa May who's trying to guarantee the position of Europeans, but said calling for reforms when it comes to

free movement. So really, Andrew, the divisions lines at the fault line being very clear indeed.

STEVENS: Well, just on or around that point, Isa, we're more than a week now since the vote has been -- has come and gone. And we continually

hear promises made during the campaign by the Brexiteers, which are no longer or never have been valid. And on a Monday

after the weekend newspapers have been analyzing the very latest, is there a sense that Brits are becoming angry about being duped into a Brexit

leave?

SOARES: Oh, without a doubt. Without a doubt. Of course we're in London, and a very different feel from the rest of the country, especially

as we see the really we've had, the main Brexit people stepping down. We've got obviously -- we've still got a lot of divisions in the country,

but people feel look we were duped, we were lied to, and now we're hearing very different signals from different leaders.

I think that's why we're hearing from Andrea Leadsom as well as Liam Fox, very clear lines in terms of what they have to vote for.

That's why Michael Gove has said, Andrew, in the last 24 hours, basically, that if you put a vote towards Theresa May, that really is --

it's a remain through the back door.

But you speak to people up and down the country, those who were voting -- those who were

protesting here, rallying here at the weekend, they're extremely angry, extremely angry that the country

has got to this place, to this situation, extremely angry at the fact that they don't know what's going to happen to their future, their children's

futures, and more importantly they feel the politicians have lied to them and they haven't been clear from day one.

The people that voted didn't vote for what really they should be voting for, which is not so much European immigration, but wider questions

over immigration. So, lots of anger. It's still subsiding slightly, but I think people are now coming to terms that really this is a future long-

term, that's a problem.

STEVENS: Indeed. Isa, thank you so much for that. Isa Soares, giving some much-needed

analysis from outside Number Ten.

Right now, I should say, Australia is in political limbo. Two days after its federal election, there's still no clear winner. The man you see

on the far left here, is Malcolm Turnbull. He is the prime minister. His conservative coalition is in danger now of losing its majority courtesy of

a swing to the opposition that Labour Party and rival Bill Shorten.

Well, neither party has won enough seats in parliament to govern outright. And so far it seems the only certainty is we won't have a result

right away. The vote count is on hold until Tuesday.

A little earlier, I spoke with the Sydney Morning Herald Newspaper's chief political correspondent James Massola. And I asked him how Australia

has once again found itself in such a political mess.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[08:25:05] JAMES MASSOLA, SYDNEY MORNING HERALD NEWSPAPER: look, several reasons. turnbull has been riding high in the polls soon after

coming to power, replacing Tony Abbott. He saw his popularity sliding. He saw an opportunity to reset the political debate, and numbers in the upper

house, senate in Australia by being decisive and by calling a double dissolution election. But this has backfired fairly

spectacularly in his face.

He ran a small target campaign. He's lost at least 12 to 14 seats. He will struggle to command a majority in the lower house and the Senate

is now wide open. All sorts of minor parties, with competing agendas, have been elected it seems in the last couple of days.

STEVENS: Is there an element here of a rejection of the status quo like we've seen in the Brexit vote, ike we're seeing in the rise of Donald

Trump?

MASSOLA: Look, I think that's very much what happened here. I think voters throughout the developed western countries are rejecting the sort

of duopoly that has prevailed since the end of the Second World War, if not earlier in many cases.

People are disaffected with politics as usual. They fear the impact of globalization, of the offshoring jobs, these sorts of things. And

they're saying no we want things to be different politically in our communities, in our cities, and that I think certainly has played in

the vote here in Australia.

STEVENS: What's the likely outcome then, James? And what's it going to mean for the Australian economy?

MASSOLA: Look, the likely out come, the best case scenario, I think, for Malcolm Turnbull is perhaps 76, perhaps 77 seats, which is the slimmest

of majorities in the lower house, allowing him to form government. Just as likely is a hung parliament. The main opposition, the parliamentary Labour

Party probably can't, almost certainly can't come out in a majority. They may command a minority government.

And as I said earlier, the outcome in the senate is anyone's guess.

This is a disaster for anyone who believes, and all the ratings agencies have said this is a necessity, that there must be serious

structural repair to the Australian budget.

Now Australia's debt-to-GDP ratio is low compared to other countries in the OECD, but it is

rising. The trajectory is not promising, it's, you know, set to peak I think in the mid-20 percent range. At the moment it's around 18 percent.

What this will mean is that it will be difficult for any tough decisions to get through the parliament, to actually bring the budget back

under control.

STEVENS: And finally, this is the fifth leader we'll have seen -- actually the sixth leader we'll have seen since 2010. Why has Australian

politics become just so unstable?

MASSOLA: That's the million dollar question. You know, after twelve years of John Howard, who was not loved by everyone, but was respected by

everyone, we're now in this really febrile period where essentially Australian politics, I believe, is failing Australian voters, and the

response has been a, you know -- it looks like a second minority government, if not a bare majority for Turnbull.

Why that is is complex. How this is to be reset I think remains to be seen.

But I think we're in for another period of at least this term of parliament, instability in

Australia politics and that's not good for the economy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: And it still could be quite some time before we actually find out what the result is.

That was the Sydney Morning Herald's chief political reporter James Massola on the results, or lack thereof, from that knife-edge election.

Now coming up after the break, more on the Bangladesh terror siege investigation, and this 18-year-old whose own father guided him as one of

the attackers.

And officials in Pakistan are trying to find dozens of people who went missing in deadly monsoon flooding at the weekend. We've got an update on

that relentless rain just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:32:47] STEVENS: Now we're learning much more about both the victims and the suspects involved in Friday's massacre in the Bangladesh

capital. Let's go to CNN's Alexandra Field now with the latest from Dhaka.

And Alex, you've been able to speak to the father of one of the gunmen. What have you learned?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, this is a father who is in shock. And first and foremost, he wanted to express his grief and his

condolences for families of all of the victims, the 22 people who died that night when police clashed with these attackers.

The attackers have been identified by authorities in Bangladesh as all being Bangladeshi. Among them, five militants who were already known to

authorities, but whom authorities were not able to track down.

We all know -- we also now know that these were men who ranged between the ages of 18 and their mid-20s. They're being called middle to upper

class and highly educated.

And, Andrew, I spoke to the father of the youngest attacker, an 18- year-old, Samir Mubashir (ph). His father says that his son had gone missing from the family home here in Dhaka four months ago. They had had

no word from him. And he didn't learn that his son was part of this attack until he

saw pictures that had been posted by ISIS. What he saw was his son's face, mostly covered, but he said he recognized his boy's mouth, his cheeks, his

jaw, the hands that were gripping a gun.

Police now they that they have two people who are in custody. One of them has been identified

as the sole surviving attacker, who battled with police, who's been hospitalized now because of his injuries, but because of the extent of

those injuries hasn't been able to talk to investigators.

There's also a second suspect, police are saying, who is also injured in the cafe that night, but Andrew, there's no word on who that person is.

STEVENS: All right, Alex, thank you very much for that.

Alexandra Field live from Dhaka.

In northern Pakistan, and India, floods have killed more than 60 people and destroyed buildings and homes. The water's also washing away a

Pakistani mosque at the weekend, killing at least 16 worshipers.

Well, rescuers are out looking for several people who are still missing, but more monsoon rain is on the way.

In India, the heavy rain has triggered landslides, burying roads and making rescue efforts even more difficult.

Let's get now to our meteorologist Chad Myers with an update. What's it looking like, Chad?

[08:35:10] CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Andrew, you know we expect and hope for monsoon every year to make crops and plants and all that in

this area. But when you get one storm that parks itself over the higher elevations of northern Pakistan, that's when you begin to see the

flooding. And we saw it all weekend long.

It was just to the south of Islamabad. Because the monsoon has now made its way up here, on the northern sections, north of Karachi, up here,

the monsoon is already there. The rain has already started, and it will rain for many, many days on end now.

We had rain in the northern mountains, and all of a sudden it came down one river valley.

Let me show you this river valley, and I'll get back to this map in a second. India, Pakistan, Islamabad right up there. I'm going to drive you

in right here to the areas here. Notice the topography. It's rough. All of a sudden, you put rain on top of these higher mountains, and then the

rain has to come down into these valleys. It gets funneled like pouring water into a

funnel. It just goes up on the sides.

You put all that water down into the river valley and the water goes up.

So it rained up here, got into the valley, and all of a sudden, it had to go down the mountain, and it went down straight down into these valleys,

and that's why we had such devastating flooding here across this area the past couple of days.

So here we go right here. Here's where we have the forecast for the next, about 48 hours or so. It will continue to rain across parts of

India. It will still be hot, we expect that. But it's the heat index now, that you have to look at. 45 is the heat index in Islamabad, 46 in New

Delhi.

Now this tells you that there's humidity, and there's heat. And when that happens, and when you're talking about the sun coming down, the

moisture being over it, and then you get the winds coming in, the monsoon season gets here, and as it moves on up you get this differential heating

of the sea and the land, and all of a sudden, the showers, and the storms pop up like they did, and we expect this. All that people can do is kind

of get out of the way of those river valleys and go up the mountains when it rains just above you. The water's going to go up and the river valleys

are going to flood -- Andrew?

STEVENS: Indeed. Yes, that's good advice.

Chad, thanks very much for that.

Now once so close to the pinnacle of power in China, this man has been sentenced to life in prison. Ling Jihua was convicted of accepting

millions of dollars worth of bribes, abusing his power, and stealing state secrets. For years, he was a top aide to a former president, Ju Jintao.

But Ling's political fortunes fell in 2012 when reports emerged that his only son died in a car crash driving a Ferrari. Well, he was demoted

shortly after and then stripped of his official titles in 2014.

The Zika virus, political turmoil, and constant reports of violent crime, plaguing the city of Rio de Janeiro ahead of the Olympic Games just

next month. The city's mayor addresses some of those concerns to CNN just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEVENS: Welcome back. The mayor of Rio de Janeiro has lashed out at state officials saying they've failed to police violent crime ahead of next

month's Olympic Games.

Well, Rio has had a series of negative headlines, including an Australian Paralympic athlete who was robbed at gunpoint, and reports that

at least 20 armed men broke into a hospital to free a major drug dealer.

Well, Rio's mayor sat down with our Shasta Darlington and says that he's grateful that security will be handled at the national level.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[08:40:21] EDUARDO PAES, RIO DE JANEIRO MAYOR: Fortunately, this is not going to happen on the game. There's going to be the national force

here, the army, the navy, everyone's going to be here. So, as you know, this is not a city responsibility in Brazil, it's a state-level responsibility. I think they do a terrible job on

security, they did a terrible job before the games and after the games.

Fortunately, they're not going to be the ones responsible for security during the games.

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think you raise a valid point. There's also the question of residents. Police aren't

getting paid. Crime is rising. Do you worry that your citizens, that your -- especially the most vulnerable, could be abandoned during the Olympic

Games when everybody is taking care of the tourists?

PAES: I'm not worried about them being abandoned on the games time, I'm worried about them being abandoned every day, in their everyday life.

So, this is the most serious issue in Rio, and the state level is doing a terrible job there.

I mean, it has completely been failing. And its work of police, of taking care of security in the states.

DARLINGTON: One of the big problems has been Zika. Athletes have been canceling. Do you think you might be underestimating the impact that

the fear over the Zika virus is going to have on the games?

PAES: I don't think so, actually. What's happening is exactly to the contrary. I mean, people are overestimating what could happen. I mean at

this time in Rio, if you're American, please don't go to Florida. You got more cases of Zika in Florida than what we have now in Rio. I'm not saying

there's not a problem. It is a problem that we have to face. But as we always said, especially during this time of the year, it's wintertime in

Brazil, in Rio, so, the weather gets better. So the spread of the mosquito it gets better, so we don't have much case of Zika now.

DARLINGTON: I live here in Brazil. I live in Rio. I'm rooting for these Olympics to work, but it just seems like every time something can go

wrong it does and even more how are you going to even get people excited about these games?

PAES: These are the kind of problems that you face in the U.S. I mean, it was a kid in the lake in Disneyland -- in Disney World and the

crocodile comes and eats the kid. You know, there's a crazy American guy that goes into a gay disco and shoots I don't know, 40 people.

I mean problems happens everywhere. Obviously, when you become and Olympic city these problems, you know, they rise.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: Certainly no shortage of problems, either.

That was the mayor of Rio de Janeiro speaking with our Shasta Darlington addressing some of those concerns so many have had ahead of the

Olympics which start next month.

And that's News Stream. I'm Andrew Stevens. Thanks for joining us. Don't go anywhere. World Sport with Christina Macfarlane is just ahead.

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