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David Cameron to Step Down as UK Prime Minister Today; Two Trains Collide in Italy; President Obama's Powerful Tribute to Slain Dallas Officers; China Rejects Tribunal's Ruling on South China Sea; South Korea Announces Sites for Missile Defense Program; Bernie Sanders Endorses Hillary Clinton; Ryan Defends Trump Support In CNN Town Hall; Dutch Woman Escapes From ISIS-Held Area In Iraq; Food Shortage Worsens In Venezuela; FBI Closes Case On D.B. Cooper Skyjacking Mystery. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired July 13, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:02:16] MICHAEL HOMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone. I'm Michael Homes and this is your road to Rio updates.

The world's fastest man gets the green light to compete in Rio. Usain Bolt has officially been named to the Jamaican Olympic Team. And indeed hamstring kept him from officially qualifying for the squad but his medical exemption is now approved and Bolt will be able to defend his titles in the 100 and 200 meters.

Continued reassurance from Brazil officials that the Zika virus will not be a threat in Rio, well, not much of one, the country's health minister said on Tuesday, the chance of being infected with Zika during the Olympics is less one in half a million. Experts agree that the Zika threat is declining but say there is still a risk -- about a 160,000 Brazilians have contracted Zika so far this year.

And we're literally on the road to Rio with the opening of the new Transolympica, the 26 kilometer expressway linking the Barra and Deodoro Olympic zones exclusively for athletes, spectators and Olympic workers. Fifty five thousand vehicles expected to use the road each day during the games.

And Rio's mayor looking forward to the Olympics, but admits in the new interview, he also can't wait for them to be over after years of preparation, Mayor Eduardo Paes says after the Olympics, he plans to "Get very drunk, listen to samba and celebrate." Sounds like a plan.

That's your road to Rio update. I'm Michael Holmes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: ... still even on this final occasion, Isha. But say, it's also reading Theresa May's day, although David Cameron will go through these final motions.

As you're saying, first female Prime Minister for 26 years facing the most daunting tasks probably any prime ministers has faced and peace on Russia.

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, daunting indeed. And one of our first tasks will be picking a new cabinet. What are the expectations there? What kind of shape do we expect that to take?

OAKLEY: We're certainly expecting to see more women in top jobs. That signal is coming very clearly from her camp. I think one of the key things will be what happens to George Osborne, who has been very much associated with David Cameron in reforming the British economy with transitive, the exchequer.

George Osborne is one of the big beasts of British politics. But he signaled that he'd be quite happy to go to the foreign office. But if he were to go to the foreign office and Theresa May as expected would have put Philip Hammond in the treasury as the new chancellor. Then, that would be the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the Chancellor, all people who voted for remain. That will create suspicions among those who voted for Britain to leave the European Union.

[02:05:10] All the divisions are still there and there's a lot of suspicion between the two sides. So, I think it may be we see a disappearance of George Osborne all together because almost any other job in government would be a demotion for him, Isha.

SESAY: As you talk about those divisions Robin, I've got to ask you on the eve of a new era, or hours away of a new era of a new political era, what's the mood like there in the U.K. right now as Britain welcomes in its second female prime minister?

OAKLEY: I think nervous expectancy. Theresa May does have a reputation, as I was saying in the package earlier of a pretty steely resolve but she's very much the cat who walks alone. And incidentally, the one thing she will inherit in Downing Street is Larry the Cat from David Cameron.

She's a little bit of an unknown quantity but she is a decision maker. And she's, you know, she's pretty tough. So, I think people will also see her as almost in the perfect position to be a remain prime minister. And although she voted for Britain to remain on the European Union, she was not up there a big frontal face in the campaign to keep Britain in and most people in the house of commons think she's probably a bit of a Euro skeptic at heart and probably early stayed on that side to be loyal to David Cameron.

So, I think she's considered to have as good a chance of getting things settle down as anybody else available on the British political scene at the moment, Isha.

SESAY: We'll turn in to Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour Party. That house seems to be in complete disarray with a challenge now to his leadership. Take a listen to what he had to say really essentially about his platform and the road ahead as he sees it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JEREMY CORBYN, BRITISH LABOUR LEADER: Our party is determined that the next government will meet the needs of all of the people of this country. They will invest in health, in housing, in education, in jobs and infrastructure.

The next government will be a labour government, a labour government committed to ending the injustice and inequality that exists in Britain today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: So Robin, he was allowed on the labour party ballot and Angela Eagle is mounting this fight. She says that it's once she's ready for, can Corbyn survive?

OAKLEY: I think he can survive, Isha, and carries this really. One is that he does still have very strong support among the constituency activists who gave him backing 60 percent in a vote only last September.

The other reason is that today we've heard that Owen Smith, another of his labour M.P.'s in the House of Commons is going to enter the leadership race along side Angela Eagle.

Now, if both of those two manage to get the 50 M.P.'s they need, Angela Eagle has certainly got them to mount a challenge to Jeremy Corbyn, then that is going to split the anti-Corbyn vote. Owen Smith, former shadow well, secretary probably to the left of Angela eagle who says that she can be a uniting candidate. But a split vote can only help Jeremy Corbyn.

And if he does gets returned again as labour leader by the activists in the vote, then we could have a situation of a break away at Westminster and some at least of the present batch of labour M.P.'s going off to form a new party. It really is uncharted territory for the labour party at the moment, Isha.

SESAY: That really is. Turbulent times in British politics.

Robin Oakley, you're a steady hand. It's good to have you with us through it all. Thank you, Robin.

Now, there are a lot of questions, grief and anger after two trains crashed head on in southeastern Italy. More than two dozen people have been killed, dozens are injured. One survivor called the aftermath hellish. Many of the passengers are very badly injured. Helicopters flew into the remote site to carry them to hospital.

Italy Prime Minister rushed to the scene and he's demanding to know who's responsible.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTEO RENZI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Before being a politician, we are a father, a mother and I think we have to show responsibility. My thoughts go to the families of those the victims. We are together with you. We are not going to leave you now and we are together with you in this pain and despair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, journalist Lorenzo D'Agostino joins me now on the phone from Bari, Italy. Lorenzo, thank you for joining us.

I understand that you were able to make your way to the scene. Can you tell us about what you saw there?

LORENZO D'AGOSTINO, JOURNALIST: Good morning, Isha. Yes, indeed. I spent the evening on the scene and it wasn't denied all because the clash, was a clean frontal crash between two trains who were running at 100 kilometers per hour that is the roughly 60 miles per hour.

[02:10:06] So, they basically melted into each other for the crash. On the scene, we couldn't get too close to the trains because of course the rescue operation went on during all through the night. But a lot of people were there, of course, a lot of reporters, a lot of volunteers who came from the cities nearby to bring water, to bring some food to the medical operators, to the firefighters who had been working for 24 hours straight to try and see whether from this train, it was possible still to find someone alive.

Unfortunately, that toll kept rising throughout the day and then the night. And right now, the official count is 27 dead. Made less so that are in the hospitals of the region who are being treated for both sides being able to gather. And so right now not suppose to by -- but we can't say anything for sure yet.

SESAY: So, Lorenzo, I mean looking at the pictures, is it really is a terrible site. Twenty-seven dead, dozens injured. Have you been able to learn anything about the victims of this crash?

D'AGOSTINO: Yes. These are trains who are -- these are trains that used mostly by commuters because they link small towns in the province of Bari to the main city. One of the trains was a very modern, very new train that connected the province to the airport. It's one of the huge railways that connects the city to the airport. So, the users of this train are mostly professionals or even students.

Indeed the president of the rail company said that in this tragedy, we should still consider ourselves lucky for this thing happened during summer where schools are closed and university classes are over because otherwise the tragedy could have been much, much worse.

Unfortunately, the -- I cannot -- I still cannot give you names because the coroner is starting the operations to identifying the victims this morning. So, of course, until the coroner (inaudible) the name of all the victims, we cannot say much. But or when I was on the spot of the tragedy, I heard stories about students, I heard stories about very, very young children were being hugged to their mother in the train and extracted in this condition. So the stories are going to be really terrible when they start to come out.

SESAY: They are. They are indeed. We've heard some terrible anecdotes already about people seeing terrible, terrible injuries, those who were able to survive this.

Lorenzo D'Agostino, we so appreciate you joining us and sharing what you saw at the site and learning what you're learning about the victims. Thank you very much, Lorenzo.

D'AGOSTINO: Thank you, Isha.

SESAY: Now we've learned the gunman who killed five police officers in Dallas, Texas purchased an assault rifle through a Facebook firearms group in 2014.

The seller tell CNN he sold the gun for $600. It's not clear if this weapon was used in the attack. Police say they found bomb making materials and the journal in the gunman's home that suggest he had been practicing to take aim at larger targets.

U.S. President Barack Obama hailed the America's police in a powerful tribute to those five officers killed in Thursday's ambush. He also addressed the grievances of the African-American community and urged Americans to turn their anger into more justice and peace.

CNN's Kyung Lah reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The interfaith service to honor the five police officers lives lost too soon.

BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: Like police officers across the country, these men and their families shared a commitment to something larger than themselves.

[02:15:01] LAH: Then the nation's President acknowledged his own feelings.

OBAMA: I've seen how inadequate words can be in bringing about lasting change. I've seen how inadequate my own words have been.

If we are to honor these five outstanding officers who we lost, then we will need to act on the truth that we know.

LAH: Among those truths says the nation's first black president, there is biased in police shootings and bias in blaming all police for the actions of a few.

OBAMA: So much of the tensions between police departments and minority communities that they serve is because we ask the police to do too much and we ask too little of ourselves.

We flood communities with so many guns that it is easier for a teenager to buy a glock then get his hands on a computer or even a book.

And then we tell the police you're a social worker. You're the parent. You're the teacher. You're the drug counselor. We tell them to keep those neighborhoods in check at all costs and do so without causing any political blowback or inconvenience. Don't make a mistake that might disturb our own peace of mind and then we've been surprise when periodically the tensions boil over.

LAH: And a sign that pain is not partisan. Republicans joined the president on stage, including the 43rd president who calls Dallas home, echoing the message of unity.

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: We recognize that we are brothers and sisters, sharing the same grief moment on earth and owing each other the loyalty of our shared humanity. At our best we know we have one country, one future, one destiny.

We do not want the unity of grief, nor do we want the unity of fear. We want the unity of hope, affection, and high purpose.

LAH: Kyung Lah, CNN, Dallas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, up next, the strong reaction to a ruling from The Hague, the decision on disputed waters that has Chinese officials fuming, details and a live report from Beijing.

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[02:20:08] SESAY: China is going to defend its sovereignty in maritime interest often. International Tribunal rejected its claims in a territorial dispute. The ruling says China does not have a legal basis to claim historic rights to most of the South China Sea and that it violated the sovereignty of the Philippines.

Nearly $5 trillion of trade pass through so called nine-dash line each year. The tribunal admitted it had no powers to enforce Tuesday's ruling. Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. as Beijing is committed to negotiations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUI TIANICAI, CHINESE AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: China firmly standing for freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, because these sea lanes are the economic lifelines for China and for many regional countries. We'll do everything possible to safeguard the unimpeded flow of commerce and stop any attempt to destabilize the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, our CNN's Matt Rivers joins us now live from Beijing.

Matt, so this tribunal has no powers of enforcement and China has already said that they reject the ruling, so, should we anticipate China carrying on with its actions in the South China Sea? Will this change anything this ruling?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, if you listen to the rhetoric coming from Chinese officials, despite what you heard the ambassador say just there talking about negotiations. Really what we've been hearing from Chinese officials over the last several weeks. And then since this ruling came down is that no, nothing is really going to change, because they don't recognize the legitimacy of the court to rule on this matter.

China's argument this entire time is that the court case itself was illegal because it was ruling on sovereignty rather than just economic rights and The Hague does not have jurisdiction over sovereignty issues.

So, what you've heard in China since this ruling came down yesterday is very, very strong rhetoric, basically calling the ruling from The Hague completely baseless. And so at the very least then, China publicly stating that it will continue doing what it's been doing in the South China Sea.

Now, in terms of whether it's going to ramp up that action or whether it will maybe more privately engage more on a diplomatic channel that we're not really sure of yet. But we do know the Chinese government really and also an information offensive today in a press conference earlier this morning with the vice foreign minister.

They handed this out to reporters. This is a dozens of pages of facts, as China calls it, about their position with this ruling. Why that ruling was not correct.

And the vice foreign minister also called this ruling invalid and said that it will not be implemented. So that's what we're hearing from Chinese authorities at this point.

SESAY: Well, we know that at least five other governments have competing claims with China there in the South China Sea. Does this ruling open the door to further legal challenges? I mean, let's talk about the implications here more broadly.

RIVERS: Sure. Well, in terms of other legal challenges, in terms of other countries bringing legal challenges, perhaps if a country was deciding, a country like Brunei or Indonesia was considering bringing a similar case, they might be encouraged by this. But I think what you're more likely to see is if negotiations happen between China and these countries, what some of these other countries, you know, their claimance of economic zones in the South China Sea might do is use this ruling as leverage in negotiations.

And even though China doesn't respect this ruling, the fact that matter is it's going to have to respond to it one way or another.

So, you could potentially see these countries use it as leverage in negotiation. But beyond that, in terms of broader implications, I think it depends on what China does moving forward. Does it try and step back from some of the aggressive island building that it's done over the past several years and maybe engage more diplomatically or doe sit double down and build more islands? Isha, that really is the question here and as very broad implications moving forward.

SESAY: Many, many unknowns, Matt Rivers joining us there from Beijing. Thank you, Matt. Well, this just into us. South Korea's defense ministry has announced the sites of the missile defend system that meant to protect it from North Korea's growing threat. The THAAD system will be located at Seongju. THAAD stands for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense and it stirred up a lot of controversy in the region.

CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now live from Seoul. Paula just have it with us. What more can you tell us about this missile defense system and the decision to move ahead with it despite the fierce criticism from North Korea?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Isha, this is a system which can shoot down short range, medium range, intermediate range missiles from North Korea according to the United States and South Korea. They say it is necessary given the increased threat that they see from Pyongyang ...

[02:25:17] SESAY: Well, we appear to have lost Paula Hancocks there. Some technical difficulties. We shall see if we can get her back for you to get the latest on that THAAD missile defense system. Till then, I'll take a very quick break.

Coming up next for our viewers in Asia is CNN's stage of the race with Kate Baldwin.

And coming for everyone else, Hillary Clinton now has the endorsement of her former rival, Bernie Sanders. We'll talk to one of Sander's staunches supporters about whether die-hard Bernie fans will now switch to Clinton.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:15] SESAY: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay. The headlines for this hour.

(HEADLINES)

SESAY: It's been more than a month since Hillary Clinton secured the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidency and now her long-time rival, Bernie Sanders is offering his endorsement. CNN's Joe Johns reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bernie Sanders today throwing his full support behind Hillary Clinton.

BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have come here to make it as clear as possible as to why I am endorsing Hillary Clinton and why she must become our next president.

JOHNS: And Clinton welcoming the support of the Vermont senator.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I can't help but reflect how much more enjoyable this election is going to be now that we are on the same side. We are stronger together. JOHNS: The former rivals sharing a stage in Port Smith, New Hampshire. A state Sanders won big in the primaries and a general election battleground this fall.

CLINTON: We are joining forces to defeat Donald Trump.

JOHNS: Clinton praising Sanders for a hard fought campaign and extending an olive branch to his supporters hoping to rally them to her side.

CLINTON: To everyone here and everyone across the country who poured your heart and soul into Senator Sanders' campaign, thank you.

JOHNS: Sanders waited five weeks from the close of the primary before getting behind Clinton to make sure the Democratic platform included some of the progressive policies he touted during the campaign.

SANDERS: It is no secret that Hillary Clinton and I disagree on a number of issues. There was a significant coming together between the two campaigns. We produced by far the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party.

JOHNS: Another factor helping to unify the Democratic Party, a mutual foe, Donald Trump.

SANDERS: While Donald Trump is busy insulting Mexicans and Muslims and women and African-Americans and our veterans, Hillary Clinton understands that our diversity is one of our greatest strengths.

JOHNS: Trump blasting Sanders' endorsement writing, "Bernie Sanders who has lost most of his leverage has totally sold out to Crooked Hillary Clinton." And trying to sway Sanders supporters adding, "To all the Bernie voters who want to stop bad trade deals and global special interests, we welcome you with open arms, people first."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: The Sanders endorsement of Hillary Clinton has some critics calling him a sell-out. I put that question to former U.S. labor secretary and Sanders supporter, Robert Riech.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT REICH, FORMER U.S. LABOR SECRETARY: Bernie Sanders certainly hasn't sold out. Of all the politicians in America that I know of, Bernie Sanders is the least sold out politician. He came over and endorsed Hillary Clinton before the convention, I believe because not only was a lot of pressure put on him.

But he also felt with some justification that he didn't want to take any chance at all that his equivocation would be interpreted to favor Donald Trump or that he would encourage Donald Trump or that somehow his supporters might or a small fraction of his supporters might go over to Donald Trump.

And so he wanted to make it very, very clear before the convention that he was supporting Hillary Clinton.

SESAY: As we talk about Bernie Sanders supporters, according to the most Pew poll, among Democrats who back Sanders, 85 percent said they would now support Clinton, only 9 percent said they would go for Trump. So we're now looking at a unified Democratic Party. Have the insults of political pongees being forgotten?

[02:35:02]REICH: Not entirely. I think the real question mark hangs over the young voters, between 18 and 30. They have a propensity either to get very enthusiastic about a candidate as they did with Bernie Sanders and as they certainly did in 2008 with Barack Obama or alternatively stay home and not actually show up on Election Day. That's the real question mark and I think Hillary Clinton does have to work hard to get them out.

SESAY: Is there anything she can say or something specific she needs to say to get them in her camp?

REICH: These young voters -- and I think they were particularly attracted to Bernie Sanders, not because of Bernie Sanders magnetic personality or his good looks or his young youthful vigor. I think they were attracted to Bernie Sanders because of his message, particularly with regard to getting big money out of politics, making sure our democracy was working for everyone and reversing the trend of widening inequality.

If Hillary Clinton would make those three issues that are interrelated, very closely connected, very central to her campaign from here on out, I think young voters could be quite inspired.

SESAY: Well, Senator Sanders withholding his endorsement to this point was about leverage, gaining concessions from Secretary Clinton and the Democratic Party. Some of his ideas have been embraced as you know such as making higher education more affordable along with improving and expanding access health care. But there's a lot he didn't get. So on balance, how did he do? How much of a mark did he really make on the Democratic Party?

REICH: Well, I think with regard to the platform, the Democratic platform, he did do quite well. Better than most of us observers thought he would do. The one issue that he didn't do well on is the Transpacific Partnership, which a lot of Bernie Sanders supporters oppose.

Many of Hillary Clinton supporters actually oppose, which is why Hillary Clinton actually came out against it. But Barack Obama is very much in favor of. The Democratic Party decided not to go along with an opposition plank to the Transpacific Partnership.

I think that is a blow to Bernie Sanders and his supporters, but I think it's also going to make life a little difficult for Hillary Clinton at the margin, just at the margin.

Because Donald Trump has very vociferously come out against the Transpacific Partnership. Nonetheless, Hillary Clinton will do an excellent job. She has the experience. She certainly has the competence and needless to say, relative to Donald Trump, she must, in my view, become the next president.

SESAY: All right, Secretary Reich, it's always good to have you on the program. Thank you so much for spending time with us today.

REICH: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Well, a source tells CNN Donald Trump will likely name his vice presidential running mate on Friday. The Republican presidential hopeful campaigned with one of the frontrunners, Indiana Governor Mike Pence on Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I often joke you'll be calling up Mike Pence. I don't know if he's going to be your governor or your vice president. Who the hell knows?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: CNN source says that other favorite is former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. They campaigned together last week in Ohio.

The current U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan says he wants a vice president who shares his conservative values. Ryan appeared in the CNN Town Hall Tuesday and one audience member asked him how he justifies supporting Donald Trump especially considering their differences? Ryan said he would rather see Trump as president, not Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL RYAN, U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: She represents a third Obama term. I don't think that's good for America. I think that's the wrong direction. So, yes, things have been said that I too disagree with. Then I'll make that point then, but I'm going to fight for the principles and solutions that I believe in.

And the candidate that I think is so much more likely to put those into law because I know Hillary Clinton won't do that. It's a binary choice. It is either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. You don't get a third option, one or the other, and I know where I want to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Away from the presidential race now. In a new video from ISIS shows a British hostage they've held for nearly four years. In it, John Cantley (ph) refers the Mosul University in the background. Coalition war planes bombed parts of the university in March.

Cantley also shows a neighborhood destroyed by what he says was coalition bombing. He shows people shopping for Eid marking the end of Ramadan. The video is dated Tuesday. But CNN cannot confirm where and when it was shot. Cantley made it clear in a previous video that he was forced to share a message from ISIS. A Dutch woman is safe in Northern Iraq after she and her two children escaped from ISIS.

[02:40:04]Laura Hanson (ph) says her husband told her they were going to Turkey on vacation then he tricked her into entering Syria last September to help refugees.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA HANSON, ESCAPED FROM ISIS: They put me in Raqqa in a house all guarded with men. These men with the beards and the guns. They all stand there and you cannot go out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Hanson says from there she was taken to Mosul in Northern Iraq. She says her father contacted Kurdish Peshmurga fighters who rescued her and her children.

Still to come in CNN NEWSROOM, despair in Venezuela, people waiting for weeks for food and camping out with children just to get the basics. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Welcome back everyone. Several U.S. lawmakers want to block scheduled commercial flight between U.S. and Cuba pending the security review. These flights were planned after the U.S. eased restrictions on Cuba earlier this year.

Members of Congress want to know whether Cuba's airports have efficient screening technology for passengers, luggage, and cargo, whether the Cuban government will allow U.S. Air Marshals on flight and how local airport workers will be vetted.

And south of Cuba in Venezuela, people are facing a dire situation right now. They are facing off with riot police and sleeping outdoors just for a chance to get some food. CNN's Paula Newton reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The cheering and the taunting belies their desperation until you see what they're facing down the road.

[02:45:07]These Venezuelan families are ready to do combat and its primal, a fight for food. What about us? Screams Yolanda Rodon (ph). What about our children? What about our grandchildren? Nothing.

(on camera): The government is supposed to be distributing staples, but they have not seen it so that's why they're taking matters into their own hands and they are blocking the roads. They are waiting to see what will become of this confrontation with the riot police. As you can see right now they're showing no fear.

(voice-over): Feelings are raw but the scene far from rare now in Venezuela. The people in the suburb of Caracas tell us there's been no flour, pasta, rice, milk, none of the basics in nearly a month. Hunger gives way to anger, gives way to daring. A rebuke to those who arrive with guns and shields instead of flour and milk.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They approach us as if we're terrorists. We're just hungry.

NEWTON: But the hunger and rage of the day turns to quiet desperations in the dead of night. Like millions here, Carmen Escala (ph) gets up earlier and earlier to line up for food.

Sometimes she says we leave early and find nothing. We come back as we left. Carmen is just across the street from the presidential palace but food shortages stalk this neighborhood like all others.

So, Carmen grabs her purse, leaves her three children and husband behind in search for food on her government assigned shopping day. And she joins millions of others who walk the line, now sometimes for the entire night.

This is a bedroom community outside of Caracas and it's now taken on a whole new meaning. Hundreds of families, children in tow, sleeping rough the whole night in sidewalks, in ditches, desperate to keep their place in line before the suppliers run out of food.

"What did you come here to buy?" we asked (inaudible) Martinez, whatever there is, she says. The night vigil escapes no one. If you want to eat, join the line. And even then, it may not be enough. Day break comes and disappoints.

More and more, even standing in these lines is futile. Leaving Venezuela at loose ends and unraveling more quickly. Today the families only get assurances. Riot police say they will look into the shortages. The rage is allowed to simmer.

They eventually surrender the road for Venezuela's streets still look and feel like a battle ground for survival. Paula Newton, CNN, Caracas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Well, Venezuela is also facing an economic crisis and reports of children dying from a lack of medicine. One mother brought her ailing son to the hospital, but a lack of drugs left him struggling to survive.

Now doctors say without basic supplies, they don't know how they're going to keep patients alive. Stay with CNN as we continue to focus on this crisis.

Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, with no credible leads, the FBI is closing the case on D.B. Cooper. We'll look back as the decade's old mystery surrounding the infamous outlaw.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm meteorologist, Allison Chinchar. You're watching CNN Weather Watch. We have a very impressive frontal system moving through portions of the United States and Canada. Albeit a not very fast moving system.

You can see where a lot of the storms have developed the last 36 hours. It will edge its way a little bit farther east but not incredibly quickly. And as it's doing that, it does bring a pretty significant potential for severe weather.

We are talking cities like Green Bay, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Detroit, Indianapolis, even into Chicago, all dealing with potential threats of damaging wind, large hail and also the threat for some isolated tornados.

Here is a look at the forecast radar. We're also dealing with the impressive low pressure system in portions of Canada, Winnipeg. Not only getting their temperatures dropped down by cloud cover and rain, but they have the rain showers to go with it. High of only 17 on Wednesday in Winnipeg.

Much warmer out to the east ahead of that front, we are talking a high of 33 in Montreal, 31 in Chicago. Both locations, by the way, warmer than Los Angeles about 24 degrees.

If you go further inland, Sacramento and towards the desert, those temperatures are going to be warmer and we'll stay that way for the rest of the week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: U.S. pro-basketball star, Kevin Durant is sharing his skills with a group of young players in Hong Kong. Durant coached two dozen teenage boys Tuesday night at a basketball clinic. About 2,000 fans cheered them on.

He told the group he was excited to pass on his talent to them at an early age. Durant recently signed a two-year $54 million contract with the Golden State Warriors. He's scheduled to visit Taiwan later this week.

Astronomers have made a new discovery on Mars that looks a lot like Morse code. They snapped the photo in February, but scientists say it's not a message from ET rather it's an abnormality likely formed by the impact of an old asteroid with winds helping to create the pattern. I was rather hoping it was a message from ET.

While the FBI has closed the books on one of the longest running mysteries in American crime, it's the D.B. Cooper sky jacking case. It's taken 45 years to finally conclude they'll never find him. The agents in charge of the man hunt says all of the leads turned into dead ends.

CNN affiliate, KARE in Minneapolis has this report on an outlaw legend that took on a life of its own.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the area we're looking in.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER(voice-over): It was 1971 before skyjackers flew planes into buildings, when the approach to crew and passengers was different.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We felt he was assured that we were honoring his requests and therefore we made no attempt to impede the completion of his mission, if you will.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The mission of the man who came to be known as D.B. Cooper on FBI wanted posters who gave a note to the stewardess that said he had a bomb on board.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was not nervous. He seemed rather nice other than he wanted certain things to be done.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Cooper said the plane was to take him to Mexico with $200,000 in FBI ransom money in exchange for letting the passengers and some crew leave the plane in Seattle. But after taking off with the money and just three crew members, Cooper used the 727's air stairs at the rear of the plane and jumped with two parachutes into the cold rainy night.

Hundreds of searchers scoured a heavily wooded area north of Portland, but the skyjacker was never found. On his first day of retirement from Northwest Airlines in 1999, Co-pilot (inaudible) thinks either the jump or the remote area killed Cooper.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've thought of this with my heart and mind and I really believe that he's dead.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But every so often there are rumors that Cooper got away with most of the money. It was in $20 bills and thousands were found along the Columbian River in 1980 but not the rest of it and not Cooper.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My husband thinks that D.B. Cooper is dead, but I always tell him I don't think he'll ever die.

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SESAY: Fascinating.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay. The news continues next with Rosemary Church. Stay with us.

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