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New Video Shows Different Angle of Sterling's Death; Sorrowful Blair Defends Iraq War Decision; Clinton Slams Trump's Business Record; Iraqis React to Chilcot Report; Father of British Fallen Soldier Reacts to Chilcot Report; ISIS Threatens Olympic Games; Typhoon Headed for Taiwan; FOX CEO Sued for Sexual Harassment. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired July 07, 2016 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(HEADLINES)
[02:01:01] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers from around the world.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Vause. This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.
We begin with the latest deadly police shooting which is causing outrage across the U.S. It was recorded on camera. The Justice Department is leading the investigation into exactly what happened to 37-year-old Alton Sterling. He was killed outside a convenience store Tuesday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, during an encounter with two white policemen.
VAUSE: Protests have been largely peaceful with vigils and memorials. Civic leaders and Sterling's family say they will keep trying to find the truth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We going to make sure they don't ever -- another brother. And it's going to stop today. We're going to make sure of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want justice. That's all we actually want is justice. Justice. Because it really hit home. It hit home, you know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: There were protests in other cities, as well. This one in Ferguson, Missouri, a city rocked by violence after police killed an unarmed black teenager in 2014. In Philadelphia, police arrested about a dozen people when they blocked highway traffic to protest Sterling's death.
SESAY: Back in Baton Rouge, our cameras captured this touching moment, Cameron, on of Sterling's children, 15-year-old, Cameron, looking at a photo of his dad in front of a mural painted when he died.
VAUSE: Meanwhile, CNN has obtained new video of Sterling's death.
And a warning, it is graphic and it is disturbing.
SESAY: Martin Savidge walks us through it from Baton Rouge.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New video obtained by CNN begins with the two responding officers and 37-year-old Alton Sterling already struggling on the ground. Shouts and then shots are heard.
(GUNFIRE)
SAVIDGE: The camera jerks away and then returns, showing one officer lying on the ground beside a sprawling Sterling. Another officer reaches down and takes an object out of Sterling's pocket. Witnesses later say that object was a gun.
Another video circulated on social media is 13 seconds longer and starts earlier with the two Baton Rouge officers confronting a man in the red shirt later identified as Sterling. One of the officers pulls him over the hood of a car and pins him to the ground. A second officer attempts to assist in restraining Sterling. Seconds later, someone shouts about a gun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A gun.
SAVIDGE: One of the officers appears to draw his weapon. Both videos offer only a fracture of the tragedy and don't tell the whole story.
DISPATCHER (voice-over): Suspicious, 2100 (INAUDIBLE)
SAVIDGE: Before the videos, radio transmissions obtained by CNN show police were dispatched to the convenience store after an anonymous 911 call reported a man threatening with a gun.
DISPATCHER (voice-over): He pulled a gun. The complainant told him he couldn't be around there.
SAVIDGE: The convenience store owner where the shooting occurred says he let Sterling sell C.D.s in front of the store and never had any problems.
Abdullah Muflahi (ph) was at his store when police arrived.
ABDULLAH MUFLAHI (ph), CONVENIENCE STORE OWNER: They slammed him on top of the car, the silver car out here.
SAVIDGE: Muflahi (ph) says the officers used a stun gun on Sterling and tackled him, then came the gunshots.
MUFLAHI (ph): (INAUDIBLE).
SAVIDGE: After the shooting, radio recordings captured the frantic officer calls.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER (voice-over): Shots fired, shots fired.
DISPATCHER (voice-over): Shots fired North Foster. 2100 North Foster, Fairfield.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER (voice-over): Both officers, OK. Suspect is down.
SAVIDGE: Sterling died on the scene. According to the coroner, cause of death was due to multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and back.
Police have identified the two officers as Blane Salomoni and Howie Lake II, who have a combined seven years on the force. Both officers are now on administrative leave.
As video spread of Sterling's death spread on social media, it sparked outrage.
(SHOUTING)
[02:05:12] SAVIDGE: Amidst fears the demonstrations could grow large and violent, the U.S. Justice Department says it is taking the lead into the investigation into the officers' actions while Louisiana's governor is calling for calm.
JOHN BEL EDWARDS, (D), LOUISIANA GOVERNOR: And I'm surging everyone to remain peaceful. One thing is for sure, another violent actor or destruction of property is not the answer.
SAVIDGE: While videos of Sterling's shooting have caused anger in many, it caused heartbreak with Sterling's family, something painfully evident as the mother of Sterling's son spoke at a news conference with the teen by her side.
QUINYETTA MCMILLON, MOTHER OF STERLING'S SON: He is 15 years old. He had to watch this as it was put all over the outlets. And everything that was possible to be shown.
(CRYING)
SAVIDGE (on camera): The involvement of federal investigators was something the public wanted, but they admit it's just the beginning.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thank you, Martin.
We are following a developing story out of Bangladesh where gunmen have opened fire on a prayer congregation, about 100,000 people northeast of Dhaka. Authorities say at least one police officer is dead, several others are hurt.
SESAY: This happened as people were gathering to celebrate a Muslim holiday and comes less than a week after 23 people were killed on a raid in a cafe in Dhaka.
VAUSE: A seven-year long inquiry has reached some scathing conclusions about Britain's decision to go to war in Iraq in 2003. It accuses the government of rushing into the conflict without exhausting diplomatic efforts and without fully considering the aftermath.
SESAY: The Chilcot Report says then-Prime Minister Tony Blair's decision to invade was based on flawed intelligence and in his interest in protecting the U.K.'s relationship with the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN CHILCOT, BRITISH PRIVY COUNSELOR: Despite explicit warnings, the consequences of the invasion were underestimated. The planning and preparations for Iraq after Saddam Hussein were wholly inadequate. The government failed to achieve its stated objects.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: 179 British troops were killed during the war between 2003 and 2009. Most were in the southern city of Basra.
SESAY: Tony Blair spent nearly two hours in front of reporters defending, explaining and even apologizing.
VAUSE: CNN's international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): He seemed raw.
TONY BLAIR, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I express more sorrow, regret, and apology than you may ever know or can believe.
ROBERTSON: In this room, at this moment, it felt like history was being made. Tony Blair knew his audience, knew he was fighting for his legacy.
BLAIR: It's claimed by some that by removing Saddam we caused the terrorism today in the Middle East and it would have been better to have left him in power. I profoundly disagree.
ROBERTSON: Just hours after Britain's biggest Iraq war inquiry fingered Blair for overestimating his ability to influence American decision making, not engaging with his cabinet on key decisions, going to war on faulty intelligence, not exhausting diplomacy. He was on the offensive.
BLAIR: It was the hardest, most momentous, most agonizing decision I took in my 10 years as British prime minister. For that decision today I accept full responsibility without exception and without excuse.
And all we are asking for in this second resolution is the clear ultimatum that if Saddam carries on not cooperating, then force should be used.
ROBERTSON: It all seems so long ago. Blair, younger, but just as passionate.
(SHOUTING)
ROBERTSON: Back then, an equally passionate, close to a million Brits, on the streets opposing war. Today, the legacy, 179 servicemen and women killed, thousands injured.
Some families not buying Blair's pleas.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If there was one terrorist in this world that the world needs to be aware of and his name is Tony Blair. The world's worst.
(APPLAUSE)
BLAIR: I come to the legality.
ROBERTSON: For almost two hours, Blair talked, just him, the nation's top political hacks, and a camera.
[02:10:04] BLAIR: I can look not just at the families of this country and the nation in the eye and say I did not mislead this country. I made the decision on good the faith with the information I had at the time.
ROBERTSON: The problem, he admits now, the intelligence information was flawed.
But remember this, he says:
BLAIR: When you go through the report, there were no lies, there was no deceit, no deception, but there was a decision.
ROBERTSON: That's the legacy he wants, not a war criminal.
BLAIR: I think I'm -- that's enough. Thank you.
ROBERTSON: Questions answered, raw emotion gone. Simply warn out. Job done.
(voice-over): It's the day Tony Blair always knew would come, face the music, face the questions. But even as he leaves here, he knows it's far from done. The questions about the Iraq war and his role will dog him for the rest of his life.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: We're joined now by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and author of "Ashley's War, The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield." Gayle, thanks for being with us.
I want to start with a statement we have from George W. Bush. Apparently, he has not read the report but a spokesman released this statement on his behalf. I reads, in part, "Despite the intelligence, failures and other mistakes he has acknowledged previously, President Bush continues to believe the whole world is better off without Saddam how sane in power."
SESAY: Yeah, well, Gayle, at the same time, I want you to take a listen to what Donald Trump has had to say about Saddam Hussein. He takes a slightly different view. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: I said bad guy, really bad guy, but he was good at one thing, he killed terrorists. Next day, Donald Trump loves Saddam Hussein. I don't love Saddam Hussein. I hate Saddam Hussein. But he was damned good at killing terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: So, Gayle, George W. Bush, Donald Trump, who is right?
GAYLE TZEMACH LEMMON, SENIOR FELLOW, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS & AUTHOR: I think in honor of the former prime minister, Tony Blair, I'm going to go for the third way here and talk about the fact that I think the most powerful thing is that we're still re-litigating the Iraq war. We're still looking at what happened, how did we get there, because the heartbreak, the loss, the carnage that has ensued since then is something that has reshaped foreign policies on both sides of the Atlantic.
VAUSE: Because there is a theory that if Saddam Hussein was still in power in Iraq, Gadhafi was still in Libya, Mubarak still in Egypt, the world, at least that part of the world would be a much more stable art.
TZEMACH LEMMON: Yeah. I hesitate a little bit about dictator nostalgia that I think a lot of people have engaged in. A lot of people, I think, have air brushed pre-2003 Iraq. Certainly, Westerners who didn't live under Saddam Hussein have been very quick in recent days to find the better parts of the regime. Iraqis will tell you what was the reality of that life.
But there is a question of stability and how do you bring it back to the region. What is fascinating to me is the containment failed in Iraq, right, the invasion happened, and yet, containment was the policy in Syria as we watch everything basically go up in flames and 400,000 people dead, half the country displaced.
VAUSE: One of the key findings of the report was that planning for post-war Iraq was wholly inadequate. I was in Basra days after the invasion. Basra was under British control. This is part of the report which I filed from the hospital in Basra. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE (voice-over): The hospital is short on everything from water to electricity, which runs tore just a few hours a day. It's the best their old generator can do. Normally, they could admit 700 patients. Right now, there are just 80. The rest are treated and sent home.
But worst of all, they say, are the looters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They want us to get out and to steal something.
VAUSE (on camera): Anything?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. We are present here just to protect the hospital.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Yeah. What really struck me in Basra at the time was there was no planning for medical supply, there were no planning for medical supplies, no engineers, no planning for governance. How much of that lack of planning, which was across Iraq, led to the instability in the years to come and what's happening now?
TZEMACH LEMMON: Well, and I think there are two separate issues. I think wholly inadequate is a diplomatic term in this construct because it doesn't begin to describe the lack of planning that was happening on the ground and the lack of governance that immediately -- that vacuum that immediately ensued, without supplies, without enough care for people who needed it. That is a separate issue from the invasion. The invasion we can continue to discuss, right? But either way, however you felt about the invasion, once you were there, where was the planning? Where was the government structures to be set up? And I think we are still feeling the ghost of the Iraq war hanging over every foreign policy decision made on both sides of the Atlantic right now.
VAUSE: Gayle, thank you.
SESAY: Always appreciate it. Thank you.
TZEMACH LEMMON: Thank you.
SESAY: Well, U.S. President Barack Obama is leaving 3,000 more troops in Afghanistan than he originally planned.
[02:15:13] VAUSE: Mr. Obama says the security situation remains precarious. Troop levels will be kept to 8,400 by the end of his term.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good morning, everybody.
The narrow missions assigned to our forces will not change. They remain focused on supporting Afghan forces and going after terrorists. But maintaining our forces at this specific level, based on our assessment of the security conditions and the strength of Afghan forces, will allow us to continue to provide tailored support to help Afghan forces continue to improve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Well, currently, there are about 9,800 American troops in Afghanistan. Future plans for America's longest war will fall to President Obama's successor.
VAUSE: The third president to deal with Afghanistan.
Hillary Clinton hammers Donald Trump as she tries to move past her e- mail problems. Why she went to Atlantic City to attack Donald Trump's business record is just ahead.
SESAY: Plus, Trump boasted a big win when it came to his Atlantic City casino, but it was another story for investors and the city.
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(SPORTS REPORT)
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[02:20:09] SESAY: Hello, everyone. The field of Conservative candidates running for Britain's prime minister will be down to two on Thursday.
VAUSE: Then there was two. Home Secretary Theresa May, seen on the left, Junior Energy Minister Andrea Ledsome are the two front runners. Justice Secretary Michael Gove, he is in third place. Ultimately, though, 150,000 Conservative members will decide on a replacement for David Cameron when the party meets in September.
SESAY: Hillary Clinton will not face criminal charges of her use of private e-mail servers during her time as secretary of state.
VAUSE: And hours from now, FBI Director James Comey will testify before a congressional committee about the decision not to recommend charges.
SESAY: The U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch accepted the recommendation and closed the year-long investigation into the matter. Lynch will testify before the committee next week.
VAUSE: Secretary Clinton, though, isn't talking publicly about the FBI investigation. She's focusing, instead, on her rival, Donald Trump.
SESAY: On Wednesday, she stood in front of the shuttered Trump Plaza Casino in Atlantic City as she slammed his business record.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: He intentionally ran up huge amounts of debt on his companies, hundreds of millions of dollars. He borrowed at high interest rates even after promising regulators that he wouldn't. What came next? He defaulted on those loans, didn't pay them back, and in the end, he bankrupted his companies not once, not twice, but four times.
He doesn't default and go bankrupt as a last resort. He does it over and over again on purpose, even though he knows he will leave others empty handed while he keeps the plane, the helicopter, the penthouse. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Hillary Clinton there.
She's not the only one taking a close look at Trump's performance in business.
SESAY: Jessica Schneider takes a deeper look into how Trump rolled the dice on Atlantic City.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: Here goes nothing.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With one rub of the genie's lamp, Donald Trump becomes the self-proclaimed king of Atlantic City.
(MUSIC)
SCHNEIDER: It was April 1990, when Trump opened his third casino in Atlantic City, the Trump Taj Mahal, to extravagant fanfare and his signature bravado.
TRUMP: They talked about a million dollars a day. I think we've done that in the first few hours.
SCHNEIDER: But within days, Trump's new trophy was tarnished. It almost immediately began losing money. But you wouldn't have known it from what Trump said publicly.
He talked to Larry King less than three weeks after the opening.
TRUMP: We broke the record. We're seeing numbers nobody has ever seen before. It's a great building.
SCHNEIDER: Trump's boast didn't stop the alarm bells from sounding at the New Jersey Control Commission. In the summer of 1990, the commission issued an intern report flagging the fact that several of Trump's Atlantic City casinos were generating an insufficient level of cash flow, pushing the Trump Organization toward complete financial collapse. TIM O'BRIEN, AUTHOR: He didn't run a company that served Atlantic
City well. He didn't run a company that served investors well. He didn't run a company that served its employees well. He left a lot of damage in his wake.
SCHNEIDER: Tim O'Brien documented the financial woes for years as a reporter for the "New York Times."
O'BRIEN: The reality is he got too big to fail and Atlantic City couldn't afford to let him run aground. Because he had gotten control of such a big part of the market.
SCHNEIDER: The financial fallout was felt throughout Trump's properties. The casino owed $29 million to bondholders in 1990, and as the deadline on that debt approached, gaming officials expressed concern to the Casino Control Commission about a ripple effect. The commission considered pulling Trump's gaming license but feared an industry-wide collapse. The Casino Commission, instead, approved ads 65 million bailout, the money coming from nine banks. It also put a strict limit on Trump's personal spending, budgeting him $450,000 a month for the first year, with decreasing amounts for the next five years.
Ever the outward optimist, Donald Trump touted the bailout as a win.
TRUMP: We had a great victory. I'm happy as hell.
SCHNEIDER: But the casino lamented the position it was forced into.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you have those casinos going out, eventually, some of those people will locate to other casinos, but not the entire workforce, which then costs a drain economically on Atlantic City.
SCHNEIDER: In 1991, one year after it opened, the Taj Mahal filed for bankruptcy. Trump's other properties in Atlantic City followed suit. But despite those failures, some still credit Donald Trump for infusing Atlantic City with the energy to make it the east coast gambling destination in the 90s.
Augie Renna says Trump's early days were the best days here. Renna spent four years working at the Trump Plaza, working as the head of player development.
[02:25:10] AUGIE RENNA, FORMER TRUMP EMPLOYEE: He was an excellent leader, an excellent boss. He picks the very best, most knowledgeable, most talented people.
SCHNEIDER: And Donald Trump defends his bullish business ways.
TRUMP: I had the good sense, and I've gotten a lot of credit in the financial pages. Seven years ago, I left Atlantic City before it totally cratered. And I made a lot of money in Atlantic City and I'm very proud of it.
SCHNEIDER: Trump is standing by those words, saying, "Bankruptcy is effective and a commonly used practice." Jessica Schneider, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Donald Trump is firing back and tweeting an image many are calling anti-Semitic. At a rally in Ohio on Wednesday, he blamed the media for bringing it all up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It's a star. Have you all seen this? It's a star. It actually looks like a sheriff's star. But I don't know. And behind it, they had money. Oh, but there's money behind it. So actually, they're racially profiling. They're profiling. Not us. Because why are they bringing this up? Why do they bring it up? I said you shouldn't have taken it down. They took the star down. I said, too bad. You should have left it up. I would have rather defended it. Just leave it up. And say, no, that's not the Star of David. That's just a star. And talk about Corrupt Hillary, Corrupt Hillary. But she sent it out. She said, oh, this is a star. She's the one that started the dialogue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Just like the stars they had it out with.
Donald Trump is also defending this online. On Twitter he used the reference to a Disney movie to make his point. He tweeted this out, "Where is the outrage for this Disney book? Is this the Star of David, also? Dishonest media, #frozen."
Coming up next for our viewers in Asia, "State of the Race" with Kate Bolduan.
SESAY: Next here on NEWSROOM, L.A., more of the damning report that has Tony Blair coming under fire under Britain's role in the Iraq War. We'll get reaction from the family of a U.K. soldier.
VAUSE: Also, one of the most powerful men in U.S. media and Republican politics is facing a sexual harassment lawsuit. What a former anchor claims the head of FOX News told her in a private meeting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:30:27] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.
SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay.
The headlines this hour --
(HEADLINES)
SESAY: A British inquiry into the 2003 Iraq war says the decision to invade was based on flawed intelligence at a time when Saddam Hussein posed no imminent threat. The Chilcot Report is highly critical of Prime Minister Tony Blair. He says he's sorry, but believes he made the right decision.
VAUSE: Iraqi leaders say the Chilcot Report is an internal matter for Britain. They have bigger issues to deal with. Since British troops pulled out in 2011, Iraqis have been fighting and dying every day, and now the war is with ISIS.
Besides that, basic public services like electricity and water are still unreliable. Law and order are on short supply and millions of people have been made homeless. Many Iraqis blame Tony Blair and George Bush for the turmoil in their country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): They should definitely be held responsible. Any person who makes bad judgments should be held accountable for their responsibilities, either for their religious mistakes or human mistakes. Everyone should be held responsible for their good deeds or bad mistakes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): What Tony Blair did with his coalition with America and other partners in Iraq was a great mistake and a mark of shame on humanity. And the results we are witnessing on the ground in Iraq from killing and displacement and the entry of Daesh to the land of Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: To the loved one of the 179 soldiers who died in the Iraq War, the Chilcot inquiry's final report is deeply personal.
Peter Greely lost his son early in the conflict, as he tells, Isa Soares, this report brings a small measure of justice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Peter Greely has waited seven long years for this moment.
PETER GREELY, FATHER OF FALLEN BRITISH SOLDIER: It goes to show that it's true that he did mislead at the time.
SOARES: Now, with the Chilcot Report in hand --
GREELY: He could have had that on his vehicle and we would not have gotten killed.
SOARES: He says he can breathe a little easier.
GREELY: I've always said Tony Blair is a war criminal.
SOARES: What he feels is an anger and disdain. After all, Tony Blair was the man who sent his 28-year-old son, Lance Corporal Sean Greely, to war. A radio systems operator, Sean died in a traffic accident in Kuwait in 2003 because, his father says, his land rover wasn't equipped properly.
GREELY: They were driving in rocky desert and they hit a dip in the road which would have been shown up by the headlights had they been (INAUDIBLE). The land rover turned over and Sean was thrown out.
SOARES: It's this memory of how his son died that Peter has had to live with for 13 years.
He's been comforted by the letters he's received from his son's colleagues.
GREELY: We got a letter from a lad who served with him, and this said Sean really looked up to me. He said, I'm on my first time away from home, sometimes I end up sitting in the cot and crying. He said Sean got me through all that.
SOARES: In this father's eyes, Sean was a gentle giant. His life was taken away by a man who sent soldiers to war unnecessarily.
(on camera): Peter, let me tell you what Tony Blair said. "The decision I took I took with good faith and what I believed to be in the best interest of the country." Do you truly believe that?
GREELY: I don't believe that at all. No. If that had been the case, then he would have agreed 12 months to go to war.
SOARES: Now that this report is out, you've been waiting for seven years, can you look to the future?
GREELY: This report is the future. Eventually, after what it said, that that suit can go no further. Hopefully, that will get resolved in court and in prison.
[02:30:12] SOARES (voice-over): In the meantime, Sean's father refuses to come to hate.
GREELY: I don't hate Tony Blair because hate is an emotion that if you go with it, it will actually destroy you.
SOARES: Isa Soares, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: OK. Well, the Olympic Games now less than a month away and Rio is stepping up security.
SESAY: The country is on high alert after an ISIS fighter claimed Brazil would be a terror target.
Nick Paton Walsh was there as Brazilian Special Forces practiced some intense drills.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rio dealing with the unthinkable, a terror attack on the subway. Brazilian Special Forces move in.
(SHOUTING)
PATON WALSH: The gunman taken down.
(SHOUTING)
PATON WALSH: This drill bolstered by training from French SWAT team specialists --
(SHOUTING)
PATON WALSH: -- and a little drama.
(on camera): They're hoping this won't happen, but preparing in case it does. The threat against the Brazilian Olympics always hanging somewhat in the background.
(voice-over): On display for the media to show that a country with virtually no history of dealing with terrorism, is vigilant enough to hold safe games.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is not a specific threat and you have to prepare for a great specter of threats.
PATON WALSH (on camera): Screening the names of people who bought tickets?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Always, always. Not just us. We have the relation with the other countries. They are helping us about this. They are screening the name, screening the people who are visiting.
PATON WALSH: This is a contradiction here in Rio with just weeks ago until South America's first Olympics. One Western counterterrorism official told me, yes, the games are a potential target because they are a huge international sporting event, and ISIS do have foreign fighters still on the loose. But at the same time, also maybe they're not. Brazil lacks the extremist networks the terrorists rely upon to launch such an attack.
(voice-over): There has been one odd threat, however. One French ISIS fighter tweeting after the Paris attacks that Brazil was next. Several ISIS fighters seen in their propaganda speak Portuguese and launched a television channel in that language spoken in Brazil.
Brazil's intelligence agency said in April the threat and the number of Brazilians influenced by ISIS ideology have increased in recent months while insisting the games were not threatened.
A country struggling a difficult balance between vigilance and a warm welcome headed into the unknown.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come, a former FOX News anchor is suing the network's powerful CEO, claiming she lost her job because she refused his sexual advances.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:41:26] SESAY: Hello, everyone. Taiwan is preparing for a super typhoon heading right now to the island's eastern coast. It is set to make landfall early Friday morning local time.
VAUSE: It's already almost as strong as last year's super typhoon.
Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us.
It seems like this is a bit of a shifting target as to when it actually makes landfall.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. We think sometime late tonight, maybe early tomorrow morning. Less than 10 hours is what I'm establishing. Ask just the presentation continues to blow me away as far as the organization of the storm, the pinwheel eye to it, the incredible sheer strength of it. You look at the largest and strongest storms ever to make landfall comes into the top of the charts, 305 kilometer per hour winds, 298 KPH. And we have Super Typhoon Joan. When you get to this category, you're talking about an entirely different beast of stories. Inside Taiwan, you know it could impact frequently. Category four or a category five, this would be number 19 when it makes landfall late tonight and early tomorrow morning. The initial land here is going to be the devastating because the winds are expected to remain as strong as they are. We think tomorrow night, about 7.1 million people in the metro area. Millions of people live along the coastline there. But, again, the storm will be significantly weaker. We're watching carefully. Notice this right here approaching the top of the charts, that's about 300 to 400 millimeters of rainfall. That would be the initial yeah of impact and the secondary impact will be eastern China tomorrow night. That would bring an additional 200 to 300 millimeters on the coastline. Any careful rainfall here is going to be catastrophic for portions of China.
I want to lay the land for you out of Taiwan. It's an extremely mountainous area. In fact, highest density of tall mountains anywhere on either. But the coastline areas, one of those communities I think could be in path of direct landfall across this region, about 70,000 or so people. When you get to this low lying areas, where the mountains are behind you, not only are you susceptible to storm surge, to flash flooding, the mountain communities will be susceptible to land slides, as well. So we'll watch this carefully over the overnight hours because, of course, happening in the dark hours, definitely not a good time, either -- guys?
VAUSE: An anxious couple of days ahead.
Thanks, Pedram. SESAY: Pedram, thank you. Always appreciate it.
Former FOX News anchor is suing the network's CEO. Gretchen Carlson claims she lost her job last month after refusing sexual advances from her boss. In the lawsuit, Carlson says Roger Ailes once asked her to turn around so he could see her posterior. Carlson also claims Ailes told her she would be better off if they had a sexual relationship.
VAUSE: Ailes says this is retaliation because he did not renew Carlson's contract. He went on to say, quote, "This defamatory lawsuit is not only offensive, it is wholly without merit, and will be defended vigorously."
Ashley Cullins is a staff reporter for the "Hollywood Reporter." She joins us here now in Los Angeles.
OK. So this is a bombshell, really, in so many ways, because if you look at the history of FOX News, it's like a bunker mentality. People don't often says bad words about him. To have a lawsuit like this, I guess the assumption is she must have some good evidence.
[02:45:30] ASHLEY CULLINS, STAFF REPORTER, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: She must. I mean, it's not easy for somebody to make an accusation like this in any workplace, especially when you add in that this is her boss. Not just her supervisor, but like "the boss."
(CROSSTALK)
CULLINS: Yeah.
VAUSE: Yeah.
CULLINS: And so I -- I would imagine that she would have to have something in her pocket to come forward and say something like this and be so public about it. They didn't quietly file this lawsuit. They filed the lawsuit and then they got a press release.
SESAY: And you spoke to her lawyer. What did they say about the strategy at work here, the fact that they're only naming Roger Ailes in this lawsuit?
CULLINS: I called to Carlson's lawyer, Nancy Smith, out of New Jersey. She's a well regarded litigator. She said they went after Ailes because that's who Carlson's beef is with right now. As far as she knows, he was acting on his own. FOX didn't know about it. FOX didn't approve his behavior. And until she has a reason to believe otherwise, they're staying out of it for now. But they he did say if FOX News were to come forward and say, hey, we support in guy, we're in his corner, that they would evaluate their options.
SESAY: So it's not an indictment right now. This is about Roger Ailes' behavior.
CULLINS: Exactly.
VAUSE: So we're hearing also from the law firm that I think at least 10 other women have contacted Carlson's lawyer to talk about their treatment by Ailes.
CULLINS: Yes. When I talked to her earlier today, she said they had been getting e-mails constantly from women across the country who said that they had experienced similar things with Roger Ailes. So they should have no shortage of witnesses as this moves forward.
SESAY: And what are we hearing from the parent company? What is their stance in all of this? I mean, any indications that they won't stand by their man?
CULLINS: They're investigating it. They're taking it seriously. They're looking at things internally, so tensions could be high between the Murdochs and Roger Ailes as this moves forward.
VAUSE: How does this end well for anybody?
CULLINS: It doesn't. The only way it can end not horribly is if they settle it and settle it fast and everybody walks away from this with just the damage that has been done so far.
(CROSSTALK)
SESAY: Any understand occasion that that is likely to happen? Roger Ailes, it seems unlikely.
VAUSE: If he settles, that's an assumption that something may have happened.
CULLINS: It's typically some kind of a statement they work out where neither one admits that they were wrong, but they come to an agreement that has made everybody happy.
VAUSE: And we've seen around the world, a lot of people in the U.S. know about Roger Ailes. A lot of people elsewhere may have heard the name, but never hear about how big this guy is in television, especially at FOX.
CULLINS: He's the guy. FOX News viewers are loyal and enthusiastic. And he is the guy who has been running the show forever, it seems like. So he's basically -- although he's not actually on camera, he's the face of this network.
SESAY: And to that end, do you get a sense that it will damage the brand that is FOX News channel or are people able to separate the two?
CULLINS: It kind of remain to be seen whether it will damage the FOX News brand or Gretchen Carlson's brand or both. People are heated. Twitter is a nasty place today.
VAUSE: Not kidding.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: OK. Ashley, thank you for that. Thank you for walking us through it. It will be an interesting lawsuit to watch. Thank you.
CULLINS: Thank you.
SESAY: A quick break now. Next on CNN, why Wales is going on with their head held high despite a loss against Portugal in the 2016 Euro semifinals.
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(WEATHER REPORT)
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[02:53:07] VAUSE: State media is reporting that football legend Messi and his father will appeal their sentences after they were found guilty of tax fraud.
SESAY: They were each sentenced to 21 months in jail. With no criminal record, they will stay outside prison on probation. They were also ordered to pay $2.3 million fine.
VAUSE: He made more than $81 million last year. Forbes ranked him the world's second-highest paid athlete.
SESAY: Trump change.
VAUSE: He can afford it.
SESAY: He can.
In the world of football, Portugal is heading to the Euro 2016 final after winning 2-0 against Wales.
VAUSE: Portugal last reached the final in 2004.
Kate Riley has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: It was the first semi final of the European championships in France. And the latest chapter in the incredible and historic journey of the Welsh national team. On Wednesday, Chris Colemen's men taking on Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in what was Wales first ever semifinal after a major tournament. Spain didn't apply to their opponents, though. And it would be Portugal who would take the lead after a goalless first half just five minutes into the second half, that man, Cristiano Ronaldo, and three minutes later, Nani (ph) made it two. 2-0 Portugal to reach the final. It's the first time Portugal have won a match in 19 minutes in these championships. Ronaldo is now level with Platini for most goals in Euro history with nine. Now he will be absolutely desperate to ensure his country go one better on home soil.
Earlier, we got the thoughts of CNN analyst, Owen Hargreaves.
OWEN HARGREAVES, CNN SPORT ANALYST: That's one of the reasons he's one of the best we've ever seen in the game. And I think rising to the occasion, scoring one goal and creating another. And Cristiano is one of the best in the world. I think the one piece of the puzzle is a championship. With the pain of the 2004 final against Greece, this is going to mean so much more to him to try to win a title with Portugal, finally.
[02:55:28] RILEY: Ronaldo and Cole will face the winner of Thursday's semi final matchup between Germany and the host nation, France.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Thanks to Kate there.
VAUSE: I feel sorry for Wales.
SESAY: Yeah.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: Good to see you.
I'm John Vause.
Stay with us. Rosemary Church is up next.
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